[ 2393] Caracalla, 211-217 A.D. Silver Denarius (2 ...

[ 2393] Caracalla, 211-217 A.D. Silver Denarius (21mm, 3.22 gm), Rome, 203 A.D. Reference: RIC130a. RSC-97. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG., his laureate and draped bust r. INDVLGENTIA AVGG, Dea Caelestis riding a lion r., holding a thunderbolt and sceptre, IN CARTH. in ex. The reverse features Dea Caelestis seated facing on a springing lion, with water gushing from a rock at left below. This reverse was used to mark a special favor that was granted by Severus to Carthage, the capital of his native province. This favor was most likely an aqueduct. Provided with Certificate of Authenticity. CERTIFIED AUTHENTIC by Sergey Nechayev, PhD - Numismatic Expert The Dea Caelestis ("Heavenly Goddess") figurine, which Asclepiades always carried with him, was the Roman name for Tanit, the patron goddess of Carthage. Asclepiades was apparently still alive around 390, when a female relative of his was commended to Magnillus by Symmachus.Tanit was a Phoenician lunar goddess, worshipped as the patron goddess at Carthage where from the fifth century BCE onwards her name is associated with that of Baal Hammon and she is given the epithet pene baal ("face of Baal") and the title rabat, the female form of rab (chief) (Markoe 2000:130). Tanit was worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades into Hellenistic times. In North Africa, where the inscriptions and material remains are more plentiful, she was, as well as a consort of Baal Hammon, a heavenly goddess of war, a virginal mother goddess and nurse, and, less specifically, a symbol of fertility. Several of the major Greek goddesses were identified with Tanit by the syncretic interpretatio graeca, which recognized as Greek deities in foreign guise the gods of most of the surrounding non-Hellene cultures.Her shrine excavated at Sarepta in southern Phoenicia revealed an inscription that identified her for the first time in her homeland and related her securely to the Phoenician goddess Astarte (Ishtar).[3] One site where Tanit was uncovered is at Kerkouan, in the Cap Bon peninsula in Tunisia.The origins of Tanit are to be found in the pantheon of Ugarit, especially in the Ugaritic goddess Anat (Hvidberg-Hansen 1982), a consumer of blood and flesh. There is significant, albeit disputed, evidence, both archaeological and within ancient written sources, pointing towards child sacrifice forming part of the worship of Tanit and Baal Hammon.Tanit was also a goddess among the ancient Berber people.Her symbol, found on many ancient stone carvings, appears as a trapezoid/trapezium closed by a horizontal line at the top and surmounted in the middle by a circle: the horizontal arm was often terminated either by two short upright lines at right angles to it or by hooks. Later, the trapezoid/trapezium was frequently replaced by an isosceles triangle. The symbol is interpreted by Hvidberg-Hansen as a woman raising her hands.In Egyptian, her name means Land of Neith, Neith being a war goddess.Long after the fall of Carthage, Tanit was still venerated in North Africa under the Latin name of Juno Caelestis, for her identification with the Roman goddess Juno.In modern times the name, with the spelling "Tanith", has been used as a female given name, both for real people and, more frequently, in occult fiction. Antoninus (Called 'Caracalla') Caesar: 195-198 A.D. Augustus: 198-217 A.D. ( 198-209 A.D. - with Septimius Severus) ( 209-211 A.D. - with Septimius Severus and Geta) ( 211-217 A.D. - Sole Reign)Caracalla (April 4, 188 – April 8, 217. Caracallus ), born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 to 217. He was one of the most nefarious of Roman emperors. Caracalla's reign was notable for: the Constitutio Antoniniana, granting Roman citizenship to freemen throughout the Roman Empire, according to Cassius Dio in o ...

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