[ 2692] Elagabalus - Roman Emperor, 218-222 A.D. Bronze (19mm, 3.03 gm.) of Philippopolis in Thrace, 219 A.D. AVT K M AVP ANTΩNEINOC, Laureate head right. ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ, Telesphorus, son of Asclepius, standing facing, wearing hooded cloak. * Numismatic Note: This coin celebrates neocorate (ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ) status of the city of Philippopolis and heralds public Olympic-style games that such status called for. CERTIFIED AUTHENTIC TIC by Sergey Nechayev, PhD - Numismatic ExpertNeocorus was a Greek title which designated the individual who had charge of the interior of a temple and looked out for the temple's needs. In Roman times, provincial Greek cities often styled themselves as the neocori of the imperial cult. This was an obvious form of flattery, which insinuated the godliness of the emperor and indicated the city's devotion and loyalty. The neocorate of a city was a great and coveted honor, and not one which was presumed arbitrarily. The emperor allowed the bestowing of this right only to cities which had earned the status. Consequently, cities were eager to announce this consideration and usually did so on their coinage. The proclamation of a neocorate on coins was often accompanied by a depiction of the temple. Originally, it was imperial policy that only one neocorate would be allowed in a city. This rule was later relaxed, and several cities were allowed two or more neocorates. The subsequent awards were depicted on coins by showing two or three temples along with an appropriate inscription. The first neocorate of a city was usually mentioned in the inscription simply as NEΩKOPΩN. The second appeared as B NEΩKOPΩN, the third as F NEΩKOPΩN (e.g. Pergamum). The approval of neocorate was usually accompanied by games and festivals. The coins struck for these events often displayed a combination of neocorate and agonistic imagery. Like the number of temples depicted, there also seems to be a correlation between the imagery and the award on some of the "games" issues. Although this may be coincidental, coins bearing the single NEOKOPOC often have a singular agonistic crown or urn, which is in the center field between the temples. Those indicating a second or subsequent neocorate have two or more crowns. The iconography of neocorate and agonistic references is very complex and not fully understood by most numismatists. It is, however, a wonderful area for study, research and discovery. You may learn more about the interrelationships between these aspects of religion, civic administration and public events, and then we will undoubtedly be able to unravel some of the underlying symbology.In Greek mythology, Telesphorus (or Telesphoros; Τελεσφόρος) was a son of Asclepius. He frequently accompanied his sister, Hygieia. He was a dwarf whose head was always covered with a hood or cap. He symbolized recovery from illness, as his name means "the accomplisher" or "bringer of completion" in Greek. Representations of him are found mainly in Anatolia and along the Danube. Telesphorus is assumed to have been a Celtic god in origin, who was taken to Anatolia by the Galatians in the 3rd century BC, where he would have become associated with the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius, perhaps in Pergamon, an Asclepian cult center. and spread again to the West due to the rise of the Roman Empire, in particular during the 2nd century AD, from the reign of Hadrian, after Epidaurus, the main center of the cult of Asclepius, had adopted him. Plovdiv (Bulgarian: Пловдив) is the second-largest city in Bulgaria with a population of 380,683. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC. It is the administrative center of Plovdiv Province in southern Bulgaria and three municipalities (Plovdiv, Maritsa and Rodopi) and Bulgaria's Yuzhen tsentralen planning region (NUTS II), as well as the largest and most important city in Northern Thra ...
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