Apollonis (AD 139-161) AE 29 - Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius (as Caesar?), 139-161 AD. AE29 (17.20g), Aeschrion and Hermokrates, magistrates. AV KAI M AVPHΛIOC ΑΝΤΩΝΙΝΟC, bare-headed and draped bust right / ΑΠΟΛΩΝΙΔΕΩΝ across field, ΑΠ ΕPΜΟΚPΑΤΟC ΑΙCXPΙΩΝΟC, Zeus standing left, holding eagle and sceptre. Good VF, dark brown patina. Unpublished in the major references.

The magistrate Hermokrates is known for Apollonis through several coins of Lucius Verus. The portrait and titles suggest a date late in Aurelius' service as Caesar or immediately after he succeeded Antoninus Pius in 161 AD. The second magistrate, Aeschrion, is known from one other coin, also of Lucius Verus, from Apollonia, which has been identified as Apollonia Salbace in Caria, Mionnet III pg. 332, 173). It is tempting to see them as the same person. But Apollonis in Lydia and Apollonia Salbace are some distance apart, and it is difficult to see the connection. However, there are a number of other Apollonias in Asia Minor, and one of them, Apollonia on the Caicus in Mysia, is only some 20 miles from Apollonis. Perhaps the two close neighbors shared more than a similarity in names, and there was a civic connection.