Berytos, Phoenicia (hippocamp coll.)

[B]Berytos, Phoenicia (reign of Caracalla; 198-217 AD.) AE 23[/B] [U]Obv[/U]: Laureate head of Caracalla wearing paludamentum, facing right; IMP M AVR SEV ANTON AVG legend surrounding. [U]Rev[/U]: Neptune (or Baal-Berit) draped and wearing kalathos while shouldered trident and riding upon a biga of hippocamps, facing left; COL - BER legend on either side in the upper fields. [u]Attribution[/u]: BMC Phoencia 75, 156 var.; SNG Cop. 111 var.; SGI 2671 [u]Provenance[/u]: ex. Den of Antiquity, 4.7.08 [u]Weight[/u]: 9.64 gm [u]Maximal Diameter[/u]: 23 mm [u]Axis[/u]: 6 [u]Note[/u]: Caracalla (April 4, 186 – April 8, 217). Caracalla, of Berber and Arab descent (from Syria), was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus in Lugdunum, Gaul (now Lyon, France), the son of the later Emperor Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. At the age of seven, his name was changed to Marcus Aurelius Septimius Bassianus Antoninus to solidify connection to the family of Marcus Aurelius. He was later given the nickname Caracalla, which referred to the Gallic hooded tunic he habitually wore and which he made fashionable. Caracalla's reign was notable for the Constitutio Antoniniana, granting Roman citizenship to freemen throughout the Roman Empire in order to increase taxation; debasing the silver content in Roman coinage by 25% in order to pay the legions; and the construction of a large thermae outside Rome, known as the Baths of Caracalla. RP281