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Geta - Roman Caesar: 198-209 - Emperor: 209-211 A.D. -
Bronze 16mm (2.5 grams) (Assarion) of Nicopolis ad Istrum in Moesia Inferior
198-209 A.D.
Λ AVP KAI ΓETAC, youthful, draped bust right.
NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠPOCI, Crescent moon with four stars within.
* Numismatic Note: Interesting reverse type alluding to the importance of
astrology.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
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.
 Publius Septimius Geta (March
7, 189–December
26, 211),
was a
Roman Emperor co-ruling with his father
Septimius Severus and his older brother
Caracalla
from 209 to his death.
Early
life
Geta was the younger son of Septimius Severus by his second wife
Julia
Domna. Geta was born in
Rome, at a time
when his father was only a provincial governor at the service of emperor
Commodus.
Geta was always in a place secondary to his older brother Lucius, the heir
known as Caracalla. Perhaps due to this, the relations between the two were
difficult from their early years. Conflicts were constant and often required the
mediation of their mother. To appease his youngest son, Septimius Severus gave
Geta the title of Augustus in 209. During the campaign against the
Britons of the early 3rd century, the imperial propaganda publicized a happy
family that shared the responsibilities of rule. Caracalla was his father's
second in command, Julia Domna the trusted counsellor and Geta had
administrative and bureaucratic duties. Truth was that the rivalry and antipathy
between the brothers was far from being improved.
Joint
Emperor
When Septimius Severus died in
Eboracum in the
beginning of 211, Caracalla and Geta were proclaimed joint emperors and returned
to Rome.
Regardless, the shared throne was not a success: the brothers argued about
every decision, from law to political appointments. Later sources speculate
about the desire of the two of splitting the empire in two halves. By the end of
the year, the situation was unbearable. Caracalla tried to murder Geta during
the festival of
Saturnalia
without success. Later in December he arranged a meeting with his brother in his
mother's apartments, and had him murdered in her arms by
centurions.
Following Geta's assassination, Caracalla
damned his memoryy and ordered his name to be removed from all inscriptions.
The now sole emperor also took the opportunity to get rid of his political
enemies, on the grounds of conspiracy with the deceased.
Cassius
Dio
[1]
stated that around 20,000 persons of both sexes were killed and/or proscribed
during this time.
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