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Abdera




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Andalusia, on the shores of the Mediteranean, near the gulph of Almeria. The coins of this place are Latin imperial, middle brass, and 1st brass. A second brass ofAbdera has the laureated head of Tiberius, and is inscribed TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS; and on its reverse a tetrastyle temple, of which two of the columns have the forms of fish, between which we read theletters A B D E R A. The characters inscribed in the pediment of the temple, form, according to competent interpreters, the Phoenician word for the city in question. An article, by the late M. Falbe, in a recent number of the Numismatic Chronicle, leaves scarcely a doubt of such being its signification. On this point reference may, with advantage, also be made to the authority of Mr Akerman, who in his scientific and accurate work on "Ancient Coins of CIties and Princes," has given a fac simile illustration of this remarkable coin, from the collection of the British Museum, whence the present wood-cut is faithfully copied. Referring to Athenaeus, lib. vii. c. 17, he observes, that the two singularly formed columns are supposed to represent the tunny fish, which abounded on the shores of the Mediterranean, and were sacred to Neptune, to whom it was the practice of the fisherme to offer one as a propitiation. Abdera Baeticae seems to have been one of the few colonies established by Tiberius, although it does not, as Vaillant remarks, appear to have been honoured with the rank either of Colonia or of Municipium. Temples were erected (as Tacitus states, l. i.) after the apotheosis of Augustus, by imperial license, on the petition of the Spaniards, in honour of the deceased Emperor.
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Abdera




Please add updates or make corrections to the NumisWiki text version as appropriate.
Andalusia, on the shores of the Mediteranean, near the gulph of Almeria. The coins of this place are Latin imperial, middle brass, and 1st brass. A second brass of

Abdera has the laureated head of Tiberius, and is inscribed TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS; and on its reverse a tetrastyle temple, of which two of the columns have the forms of fish, between which we read theletters A B D E R A. The characters inscribed in the pediment of the temple, form, according to competent interpreters, the Phoenician word for the city in question. An article, by the late M. Falbe, in a recent number of the Numismatic Chronicle, leaves scarcely a doubt of such being its signification. On this point reference may, with advantage, also be made to the authority of Mr Akerman, who in his scientific and accurate work on "Ancient Coins of CIties and Princes," has given a fac simile illustration of this remarkable coin, from the collection of the British Museum, whence the present wood-cut is faithfully copied. Referring to Athenaeus, lib. vii. c. 17, he observes, that the two singularly formed columns are supposed to represent the tunny fish, which abounded on the shores of the Mediterranean, and were sacred to Neptune, to whom it was the practice of the fisherme to offer one as a propitiation. Abdera Baeticae seems to have been one of the few colonies established by Tiberius, although it does not, as Vaillant remarks, appear to have been honoured with the rank either of Colonia or of Municipium. Temples were erected (as Tacitus states, l. i.) after the apotheosis of Augustus, by imperial license, on the petition of the Spaniards, in honour of the deceased Emperor.

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