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Hemiassarion - Gaius Caesar ΠΟΛΕ ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΕΩΝ, Laodicea ad Lycum
| Issuer | Laodicea ad Lycum |
|---|---|
| Year | 5 BC |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of Gaius Caesar facing right, rendered in a youthful Hellenistic portrait style with neatly striated hair swept forward over the brow. The bust is lightly draped at the truncation. The Greek legend ΓΑΙΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ is disposed around the periphery, partially visible along the left and right fields. A dotted border frames the design. |
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| Reverse description | Eagle standing facing on a thunderbolt with wings spread, a prominent civic emblem of the city of Laodicea ad Lycum. Flanking the eagle are two large Greek monograms or civic abbreviations in the left and right fields, each surmounted by a small circular control mark. The abbreviated ethnic legend ΠΟΛΕ ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΕΩΝ is inscribed in the lower field and along the exergual line, identifying the issuing city. A plain border surrounds the design. |
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Laodicea ad Lycum had every reason to flatter Rome's designated heir. Gaius Caesar, Augustus's grandson and adopted son, was being groomed for imperial succession in the late first century BC, and cities across the eastern provinces scrambled to issue coins in his name as a display of loyalty. This piece belongs to that wave of civic flattery — the epithet ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤ(RIS) on the reverse, meaning "lover of his fatherland," applied as much to Roman expectations as to local pride. Gaius died in 4 AD of wounds sustained during a campaign in Armenia, never having ruled.