Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 800. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $475. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CILICIA, Tarsus. Caracalla. 198-217 AD. Æ 31mm (16.32 gm). M AURHLIOC ANTWNEINOC CEB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / KOINOC TWN TRIWN EPARXEIWN, TAPCEWN within Ciliciarch crown with eleven busts and B G. SNG Levante 1033 (this coin); SNG France 1484; BMC Lycaonia pg. 200, 206 (Elagabalus); SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock -. Good VF, dark green patina, somewhat rough. ($500)

During the third century AD, an especially strong rivalry existed between Tarsus and Anazarbus, as each considered itself to be the most important city in Cilicia. The appearance of the demiourgos crown on the local coinage, whether by itself, or as an adornment of the emperor’s bust, was the clearest indication of imperial preference. Here Caracalla wears both the crown and the chiton of the demiourgos, or public worker, who oversaw the operation of regional festivals and games. The mature portrait on this coin indicates it was struck late in his reign, perhaps during his journey through the eastern provinces in 214/15 AD while preparing to fight the Parthians. Caracalla’s favoritism toward Tarsus carried into the reign of Elagabalus (see lot 806 below). By the last year of Elagabalus’ reign, however, imperial preference shifted to rival Anazarbus. Elagabalus’ fickle change of heart, however, did not long endure, as Severus Alexander show that by the time of the Persian campaign of 232 AD, Tarsus had recovered its earlier accolades.