Many things have been posted on this board about the so-called Tyche of Antioch. Antioch on the Orontes was a Greek city founded by Seleukos I Nikator on 22 Artemisios (= May) 300 BC on the site of a pre-existing village called Bottia. Seleukos built a temple there dedicated to Zeus Bottios - Zeus of Bottia, le local Syrian Baal traditionally worshipped there - and commissioned a monumental bronze statue of the Tyche (the Fortune) of the new city. He entrusted for this a then famous artist, Eutychides of Sicyon who was a pupil of Lysippus. Eutychides created a new concept which would become a popular icon: a veiled virgin wearing a turreted crown, sitting on a rock, a small nude masculine figure swimming in a water stream at her feet. Small-scale reproduction of the Tyche of Antioch, found in Antarados (Tartus, Syria). Louvre Museum. The walled or turreted crown may have had an Assyrian origin, for in the 7th c. BC it was the crown worn by Libbali-sharrat, queen of Assyria and wife of Assurbanipal; and in the 4th c. BC it was also the crown worn by Aphrodite on Evagoras of Cyprus' coins, or by Cybele on coins from Asia Minor. What was new was crowning a veiled virgin with it, and of course the swimming figure under her feet, symbolizing the Orontes river, while in Greek tradition river-gods were always depicted as human faced bulls. Some time after several cities in Asia Minor and Phoenicia started minting coins with the profile of their own turreted-crowned Tyche on the obverse, but most were depicted like Cyprian Aphrodite, I mean not veiled. In the 2nd c. BC cities like Sidon and Arados adopted the Antioch-style veiled Tyche. In Antioch itself the veiled and seated Tyche by Eutychides did not appear on coins until the Armenian occupation, in 70/69 BC. After this, the statue became the symbol of Antioch and would often be represented on coins from the reign of Augustus until Justinian in 527/8. Elagabalus, Antioch, AE tetrassarion. Obv.: AY KAI M AY ANTΩNЄINOC CЄ Laureate head of Elagabalus to right. Rev.: ANTIOXЄΩN M KOΛΩNIA / Δ - Є / S - C The Tyche of Antioch, turreted and veiled, seated left on rock, holding grain ears in her right hand; above; ram running left; below, river-god Orontes swimming left. Antioch, c. 310-313 under Maximinus Daia. This Tyche was copied by several North Syrian and Mesopotamian cities who adopted on their own coins a veiled Tyche seated on a rock with a swimming river-god at her feet. For example in Samosata, Commagene, under Antiochos I Theos (c. 69-34 BC), in Nisibis, Carrhae and Edessa in the 3rd c., even as far as Side in Pamphylia. Not only on coins : in Palmyra for example there are reliefs of the Tyche of Palmyra modeled after the Antioch prototype. Philip the Arab, Samosata. The river-god is replaced by Pegasus. Severus Alexander, Carrhae. The Tyche of Palmyra (Yale Museum) In Antioch itself this Tyche became a matter of local folklore, especially after christianity had become the religion of the Empire and Paganism denigrated as a satanic religion with human sacrifices. The Byzantine historian John Malalas, who was from Antioch, included in his Chronographia (c. 570) popular stories about the Tyche. He said she was originally a young virgin named Aimathe who was sacrificed by order of Seleukos when he founded the city, after which "he set up a bronze statue of the slaughtered girl as Tyche in the city above the river, and immediately made a sacrifice to Tyche." There was also a gilded bronze group in Antioch theatre showing the muse Calliope in the guise of Tyche being crowned by one or two emperors, and for Malalas it was another poor virgin girl sacrificed by Trajan after the devastating 115 earthquake : "He completed the theatre of Antioch, which was unfinished, and he placed in it a gilded bronze statue of the girl he had sacrificed. The statue stood above four columns in the middle of the nymphaion in the proscenium; she was seated above the river Orontes and was being crowned by the emperors Seleukos and Antiochos in the guise of the city's Tyche." (11, 9). This is probably the group which is represented on Severus Alexander coins. Severus Alexander, Antioch. The Tyche on the reverse is flanked by another Tyche without the turreted crown and an emperor who is crowning her. This must be a depiction of the Calliope group described by John Malalas. The Antiochians nevertheless held on to their Tyche, despite such anti-pagan stereotypes. Antioch was perhaps the city of the Empire in which Christianity was the most deeply rooted: it was in Antioch that the very term "Christian" was first coined, and it is likely that the majority of Antiochians were Christians as soon as the 3rd c. But, obviously, there were still influent Pagans in Antioch in the early 6th c. and this is reflected on local coinage. The pentanummia of Justin I (518-527) and of the beginning of the reign of Justinian in 527/8 minted in Antioch show on their reverse the Tyche of Antioch in a distyle shrine. These 6th c. coins are probably the very last ones in the Empire with a clearly Pagan type. Justin I (518-527), pentanummion of Antioch. In 528 a devastating earthquake wiped Antioch off the map. Justinian rebuilt it entirely and re-founded the city with a new name, a pious and Christian one this time, Theoupolis ('City of God'). The old Tyche idol who could not protect the city against God's wrath probably disappeared and - was it on purpose or not? - the new follis and half-follis soon minted in Theoupolis had an original obverse, like in no other mint: the emperor enthroned facing, holding vertical sceptre and globus cruciger. Justinian, follis of Theoupolis (former Antioch). At first sight, there is no relation between this enthroned Justinian and the Tyche of Antioch (except that both are seated). But it is likely that there was one, that this enthroned Justinian was seen by some as the new form of the Tyche. In the late 13th c. a western monk copied the Peutinger Table, after a late Roman document which no longer exists. On this 13th c. copy three city-goddesses are represented : Roma, Constantinopolis and Antiochia. The city-goddess of Antioch is enthroned facing, wearing a curious crown with three protruding elements, holding a vertical spear and putting her left hand on the head of a small nude figure at her feet, extending right arm. This city-goddess very much resembles the enthroned Justinian of Antioch coins of c. 530, much more than the classical Tyche of Antioch... But the little nude figure at her feet extending arm was not on Justinian coins, and is obviously reminiscent of the river-god Orontes on Eutychides' statue. Please (if you were patient enough to read all this) post your Tyches of Antioch, your Tyches imitating Antioch and your enthroned Justinians !
Thanks for the fascinating article! I have only two coins depicting Tyche of Antioch: Trajan AR Tetradrachm, 112 AD, Seleucis & Pieria, Antioch Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, club below to left and eagle (standing right) below to right, AYTOKP KAIC NER TPAIANOC CEB ΓEPM ΔAK / Rev. Tyche of Antioch, wearing mural crown, seated on rocks, right, holding two ears of wheat and a poppy-head in her right hand, river god Orontes at her feet in river swimming right, looking up at Tyche, left arm extended and left forefinger pointed, ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞ ΙϚ ΥΠΑΤ Ϛ [= TR POT XVI, COS VI]. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 4076 (2015); RPC Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/3543, McAlee 471 [Richard McAlee, The Coins of Roman Antioch (2007)]; Prieur 1499 [Michel and Karin Prieur, Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms (London, 2000)]; Sear GIC 1089 at p. 100 (ill.), attributed to Tyre [D. Sear, Greek Imperial Coins and their Values (1982)]. 25 mm., 13.88 g. (I have no idea why Sear attributed this type to Tyre rather than to Antioch.) Anonymous civic issue, reign of Maximinus II, AE quarter follis [?][Sear] or 1/12 nummus [?][McAlee], Antioch Mint (3rd Officina), ca. 311-312 AD. Obv. Tyche (city-goddess of Antioch) wearing mural crown, seated facing on rock, holding wheat or grain ears with right hand and, with left hand, holding a two-handled basket (filled with wheat or grain ears[?]) resting on ground to right, river god Orontes swimming below, GENIO ANTIOCHINI / Rev. Apollo standing left, pouring libation from patera held in right hand, and holding lyre in raised left hand, Γ [gamma, signifying 3rd Officina] in right field, APOLLONI SANCTO around; in exergue, SMA [meaning Sigmata Moneta Antioch (money struck at Antioch) or Sacra Moneta Antioch]. [Not in RIC; see http://www.notinric.lechstepniewski.info/6ant_civ_4v.html.] Sear RCV IV 14927 (ill); Vagi 2954; McAlee 170; Van Heesch Type 3 [Van Heesch, J. "The last civic coinages and the religious policy of Maximinus Daza (AD 312)" in Numismatic Chronicle (1993), pp. 63-75 & Pl. 11]; ERIC II, “Anonymous Religious Coinage of the Fourth Century,” pp. 1198-1199, No. 2. 16 mm., 1.35 g. [Struck either (1) to promote propaganda against Christians and aid in their persecution (and thus traditionally denominated the “Persecution issue”; or (2) as proposed by David Kalina, for use in festivals, including the Festival of Apollo at Daphne, held in conjunction with the Olympics in Antioch in 312 AD. See Kalina, David, “Anonymous Civic Coinage,” Series 1, at http://allcoinage.com/anonymous_civic.php.]
Informative article, @GinoLR! Here's a tetradrachm of Augustus with Tyche and Orontes, and a link to an associated write-up: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/antioch-on-the-orontes.370411/ Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 15.10 g, 12h). Antioch mint, Seleucis Pieria, Syria. Dated year 29 of the Actian Era and Cos. XII = October-December 3 BC. ΚAIΣAPOΣ ΣΕ-BAΣTOY (‘of Augustus Caesar’), laureate head of Augustus right, bead and reel border / ETOYΣ ΘΚ NIKHΣ ( 'Year 29 of the victory'), Tyche, holding palm frond in right hand, seated right on rocky outcropping; at her feet, half-length figure of river-god Orontes swimming right; in right field two monograms and IB (consular date) to right, border of dots.
Frankly, I am quite shocked to read that Seleukos and Trajan, of all men, would sacrifice a young maiden. In fact, I don’t believe it…..IMHO.
Nice writeup! It never occurred to me that there were parallels between the depiction of Tyche, with a three point crown, and the new coinage of Justinian I, following the earthquake of 528 AD. I've been interested in the enthroned Justinian I follis of Antioch for the past couple of years. Prior to that all of my Justinian I folles that I have, going back to the 1980s, are either the pre-reform type, with the often crude profile portraits, or the facing portraits of the reform folles. The Antioch enthroned folles are in a class of their own, and locating nice examples is not an easy task. Here are a couple of my better coins: Byzantine Empire Justinian I, AD.527-565 Æ Follis Theoupolis (Antioch). DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG (or AVGS), Justinian seated facing on throne, holding scepter and cross on globe / Large M, star left, cross above, right, officina letter B below, mintmark +THEVP. Slightly crude, but well struck overall – scarce in this condition. Good VF for this type. 8 varieties known. SB 214, DOC 206. From group lot 1736, Roma E-Sale 88 14.9 grams Byzantine Empire Justinian I, AD.527-565 Æ Follis Theoupolis (Antioch). DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG (or AVGS), Justinian seated facing on throne, holding scepter and cross on globe / Large M, star left, cross above, right, officina letter Γ below, mintmark +THEVP. Nicely struck obverse, die shift on the reverse. Nice patina – scarce in this condition. Good VF for this type. 8 varieties known. SB 214, DOC 206. From group lot 1736, Roma E-Sale 88 17.0 grams
I don't believe it too , and these assassinations of innocents are mentioned by no other source. For me it is just typical medieval Christian propaganda, in order to defame Paganism, telling it was mostly about offering human sacrifices to idols.
Very well done, enlightening and entertaining write up @GinoLR I've thoroughly enjoyed every post you've given and am appreciative to have you on this board I wasn't aware of Eutychides creation of our turret topped goddess. Nor of all the Christian silliness and antipagan propaganda, though am hardly surprised Here's my favorite bronze giving those Christians the evil eye:
Great post and photos. Here’s another Tyche of Antioch, one of my favorite reverses. Trebonianus Gallus, 251-253, Seleucis and Pieria, Antioch, AE Octassarion (30 mm, 18.53 g). Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of T. Gallus to right./ Rev.ANTIOXEΩN MHTPO KOΛΩN / Δ-E / S C Tyche of Antioch seated facing with river god Orontes swimming left below; all within tetrastyle portable shrine surmounted by ram leaping right; on bottom of shrine, carrying poles. RPC IX 1851.
Here's an AE 28 from Petra, Geta, with Tyche seated left, within a temple. BMC p. 36 same. 15.76 grams
Actually, the way you juxtapose the two sides, she looks more like she's giving the evil eye to the horse's behind!
Gino, I think it's worth mentioning that Jews also participated in the founding of Antioch in 300 BC, & may have been part of the native population before that. Jewish mercenary soldiers under the command of Alexander the Great were among those given the right to settle in Antioch by Seleukos I. As reported by Josephus, they were given full citizenship & the same rights as Greeks who settled there. The Jews lived in the southeastern corner of the city, outside the walls that Seleukos I built, but inside the walls of Tiberius. Jewish slaves were also brought to Antioch after losing two wars against Rome. Jews living in Antioch belonged to all social & economic classes, from the educated elite to the ghettoized poor who did manual labor & farm work. They also had a large population living in the wealthy suburb of Daphne. The demise of the Jews began under the rule of Christian Roman emperors who promulgated legislation against pagans & Jews, by restricting their rights. An attractive series of tetradrachms depicting the turreted head of Tyche was coined in Seleukeia, see the example below. Seleukis & Pieria, Seleukeia. AR Tetradrachm: 15.00 gm, 34 mm, 12 h, dated Year 18 (92-91 BC).
