Kremna (AD 198-217) AE 19 - Caracalla

Caracalla, 198-217 AD. AE19 (4.97g). IMP C M AV R ANT P F AV, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / COL. CREM. MID. DEAE, Mida seated left, in Cybele-form, holding phiale. Good Very Fine. Hoeft coll.

Mida, the Greek goddess of oaths, was principally worshipped in Phrygia. She was often equated with the earth and mother goddess Cybele - whose form she takes on this coin. Evidence of her worship, in fact, has caused one of the great archeological misconceptions of the modern era: the discovery of what was believed to be the tomb of King Midas at the site of Midas Sehr in the 19th Century was, in fact something less remarkable: a shrine dedicated to Midas as the equivalent of Cybele.