Perge (AD 253-268) AE 29 - Gallienus

Gallienus, 253-268 AD. AE29 (15.27g). AVT KAI ΠO ΛI ΓAΛΛIHN - OC CEB, draped, laureate bust right, I before (for 10 Assaria) / APTEMIDO - C - ΠEPΓAIAC, distyle temple, within cult statue of Artemis Pergaia decorated with relief of figures; above: sun left, crescent right, besides two burning torches(?); in pediment A, on architrav ACVΛOV. About VF, some roughness. Hoeft coll.

Artemis Pergeia, a pre-hellenic goddess, called in Pampylian dialect Vanassa Preiia, was one of the most important deities in the eastern Mediterranean. Its cult statue is known only from coins. The statue was hidden in a gold covered shrine. Ca 80 BC it was looted by the notorious Verres, Quaestor of Cilicia. M.T. Cicero included it in his inquiry after Verres' misdeeds in 79 BC (see Cicero 'In C. Verrem'). No remnants of the famous temple have been found.