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Æ23 - Antoninus Pius ΖΕΥϹ ΑΚΡΑΙΟϹ ΜΑΓΝΗΤωΝ
| Issuer | Magnetes (Achaea) |
|---|---|
| Year | 138-161 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and draped bust of Antoninus Pius facing right, rendered in the provincial Hellenic style typical of Achaean civic coinage. The emperor's portrait occupies the central field, with the laureate wreath rendered in moderate relief. The circular Greek legend surrounds the effigy, reading ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ΑΝΤωΝΕΙΝοϹ. |
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| Reverse description | Full-length figure of Zeus Akraios depicted nude and standing facing right, his weight borne on his right leg in a composed stance. In his right hand he holds a long sceptre extending upward, while his left hand extends forward bearing a thunderbolt. The figure is rendered in the provincial Greek style characteristic of Thessalian civic bronzes of the Antonine period. The encircling legend ΖΕΥϹ ΑΚΡΑΙΟϹ ΜΑΓΝΗΤωΝ identifies the deity and the issuing community of the Magnetes. |
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Zeus Akraios — Zeus of the Mountain Peaks — was a cult specific to the region around Magnesia on the Maeander, where worship at elevated shrines predated the Hellenistic city itself. The Magnetes' decision to invoke this epithet under Antoninus Pius, rather than the more politically convenient Olympian Zeus, was a deliberate assertion of local religious identity at a moment when Greek civic coinages were increasingly homogenizing around imperial flattery.
Antoninus Pius encouraged provincial bronze issues as a matter of policy, reducing pressure on the central silver supply. The Magnetes were among dozens of Achaean communities that took advantage of this latitude.