Decapolis, Antiochia ad Hippum
Marcus Aurelius 161-180 CE
Æ 24mm, 8,53g
Obv: ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ Μ ΑΥΡ ΑΝΤωΝΕΙΝΟϹ. Laureate head of Marcus Aurelius with traces of drapery, right.
Rev: ΑΝΤΙΟ Τω ΠΡ ΙΠ ΤΗϹ ΙΕΡ Κ ΑϹΥΛΟΥ. Turreted Tyche standing, left, holding cornucopia and bridle of horse standing, left.
RPC 6567; Spijkerman 9.
The ancient site of Hippos was built on top of a flat-topped mountain in the Golan Heights. It was founded in the 2nd century BCE by the Ptolemies, with “Hippos” the Greek word for “horse.” For this reason, Tyche on this coin holds a horse’s bridle.
The city sat at the border between the Seleukids and Ptolemies, and was thus most likely a fortress. In the 1st century BCE, it was conquered by the Hasmoneans and its inhabitants forcibly converted to Judaism. A fair amount of the ruins exist today.
27 BCE
Antiochia ad Hippum given to Herod the Great
4 BCE
On the death of Heron the Great, Antiochia ad Hippum and Gadara are returned to the province of Syria
749 CE
Antiochia ad Hippum abandoned after an earthquake