LAODICEA AD MARE, AUTONOMOUS TIME, HGC 1398, Date 67-6 BC, Silver Tetradrachm Laodicea, Tyche, Zeus

★ Extremely fine, near extremely fine condition - stunning silver golden rainbow patina color toning - rare Date type - beautiful style - high relief mint - lovely Tyche head - fantastic fine detailed reverse presentation ★

SELEUCIS AND PIERA - AUTONOMOUS
Mint: Laodicea ad Mare, Syria
Date: c. 67/6 BC (Date CY 15)
Nominal: Tetradrachm
Material: Silver
Diameter: 26mm
Weight: 15.14g

Pedigree: Ex Bruun Rasmussen Numismatics, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

Reference: HGC 9, 1398
Reference: Morkholm, Autonomous 8a

Obverse: Turreted bust of Tyche right
Inscription: -
Translation: -

Reverse: Zeus Nikephoros seated left; IE (date) to inner left, monogram below throne, ΣΕ in exergue; all within wreath
Inscription: ΛΑΟΔΙΚΕΩΝ ΤΗΣ ΙΕΡΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΥΤΟΝΟΜΟΥ
Translation: Laodikeon tes ieras kai autonomou
Translation: Of (the people of) Laodicea, Sacred and Autonomous

Comment: In the 2nd millennium BC, there was a small settlement called Ramatha on the site of Latakia, which belonged to the sphere of influence of Ugarit. Alexander the Great passed through the town after his victory over the Persians in the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. It was only after his death in 323 BC, when Syria had fallen to the Seleucids, that Seleucus I founded a city around 300 BC, which he named after his mother Laodicea. Together with Antioch, Apameia and Seleucia, Laodicea formed a tetrapolis. These city complexes were similarly divided into rectangular blocks of houses (insulae) measuring around 120 by 57 metres and formed the basis for the Hellenisation of Syrian Asia Minor. The harbour has been in use since the early Roman Empire. In today's Latakia, a tetrapylon erected by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus at a crossroads and four columns of a temple of Bacchus are the only remains of an ancient building. The framework of the ancient city was formed by the Cardo running from north to south, one of its three intersecting transverse axes led to the Tetrapylon, another connected the harbour with the citadel. With the division of the empire in 395 AD, the city became part of the Byzantine Empire. The Church of St Nicholas was built in the 6th century AD.