Diadumenian - Roman Emperor: 218 A.D. -
Bronze 15mm (1.9 grams) from Nicopolis ad Istrum in Moesia Inferior
K M OΠEΛ ΔΙAΔΟVΜΕΝΙANΟС, bare-headed bust right.
NIKOΠOLITΩN ΠPOCIC, Thanatos, the angel of death, leaning
right on torch of life.
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In
Greek mythology, Thánatos (in
Greek, Θάνατος – "Death")
was the
daemon personification of Death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology,
often referred to but rarely appearing in person. His name is transliterated in
Latin as
Thanatus, but his equivalent in
Roman mythology is
Mors or Letus/Letum, and he is sometimes identified
erroneously with
Orcus (Orcus himself had a Greek equivalent in the form of Horkos, God of
the Oath). Nicopolis ad Istrum was a
Roman
and Early
Byzantine town founded by Emperor
Trajan around
101–106, at the junction of the Iatrus (Yantra)
and the Rositsa
rivers, in memory of his victory over the
Dacians. Its
ruins are located at the village of
Nikyup, 20 km north of
Veliko Tarnovo in northern
Bulgaria.
The town reached its apogee during the reigns of Trajan,
Hadrian, the
Antonines and the
Severan dynasty.
The classical town was planned according to the orthogonal system. The
network of streets, the forum surrounded by an Ionic colonnade and many
buildings, a two-nave room later turned into a basilica and other public
buildings have been uncovered. The rich architectures and sculptures show a
similarity with those of the ancient towns in Asia Minor. Nicopolis ad Istrum
had issued coins, bearing images of its own public buildings.
In
447 AD, the town was destroyed by
Attila's Huns.
Perhaps it was already abandoned before the early 400s.
In the 6th century, it was rebuilt as a powerful fortress enclosing little more
than military buildings and churches, following a very common trend for the
cities of that century in the Danube area.The largest area of the extensive ruins (21.55 hectares) of the classical
Nicopolis was not reoccupied since the fort covered only one fourth of it (5.75
hectares), in the southeastern corner.
The town became an episcopal centre during the early Byzantine period. It was
finally destroyed by the Avar invasions at the end of the 6th century. A
Bulgarian medieval settlement arose upon its ruins later (10th-14th century).
Nicopolis ad Istrum can be said to have been the birthplace of
Germanic literary tradition. In the 4th century, the
Gothic bishop,
missionary and translator
Ulfilas (Wulfila)
obtained permission from Emperor
Constantius II to immigrate with his flock of converts to Moesia and settle
near Nicopolis ad Istrum in 347-8.
There, he invented the
Gothic alphabet and translated the
Bible from
Greek to
Gothic.
Marcus Opellius Antoninus Diadumenianus or Diadumenian
(208–218) was the son of the
Roman
Emperor
Macrinus, and served his father briefly as
Caesar (May 217–218) and as
Augustus (in 218). Diadumenian was born in 14th of September 208 a.C
or according to
Historia Augusta in 19th of
September
208 a.C because he
shared the same birthday with the emperor
Antoninus Pius. His mother was Empress
Nonia
Celsa, although her existence remains dubious, because she was only
mentioned by the
Historia Augusta. He was born Marcus Opellius Diadumenianus, but his
name was changed and added Antoninus to solidify connection to the family
of
Marcus Aurelius as done by
Caracalla.
Diadumenian had little time to enjoy his position or to learn anything from
its opportunities because the legions of
Syria revolted and declared
Elagabalus
ruler of the
Roman
Empire. When
Macrinus
was defeated on June 8, 218, at
Antioch,
Diadumenian followed his father's death.
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