In a bit of an eery coincidence, I’d just finished the first chapter of my upcoming novel “Nicholas Phoebus”, and the astute among you will already know who the main character is. Pictured just inside the temple on this coin is a statue of Apollo.
These coins were minted entirely to Faustina, joining a large series of coins on similar topics immediately after her death. Only Faustina appears on this coinage, though they were minted under her husband Antoninus Pius. After her death, Antoninus Pius started a cult to honor her as a goddess.
Perhaps no temple could better honor her than the Temple to Apollo, and thus these coins were largely commemorative. They served to both strengthen her deification and honor her. Several show the temple from different angles, and thus they’re very useful for numismatists to study the depiction of ancient temples on Roman provincial coinage. Personally, I like this somewhat 3-dimensional view, since it gives a great impression of what the temple used to look like.
One crazy aspect is I can tell from roughly where the engraver took his image. I took this photo a bit further down the path.
There were actually five temples built at this location. The one depicted here, and which all tourists see, was built at the end of the 6th century BCE, though it was rebuilt following an earthquake in 330 BCE. The money to finance it came from across the Greek world and even from the Egyptian king Amasis II.
The following are only those we have reported as visiting.
Alexander the Great – he visited on a non-oracular day (prophecies could only be performed on particular days) and insisted on receiving a prophecy. When the Pythia responded that he was invincible in his insistence, he took that as his prophecy and left.
Solon of Athens – According to Pausanias, it was he who added the famous maxims “Know Thyself” and “Nothing in excess”
Thales of Miletos – supposedly the first philosopher to calculate how far from shore were ships, and the height of the Pyramids
Pittacus of Mytilene – legendary philosopher and general of Miletos
Bias of Priene – One of the Seven Sages along with Pittacus and Thales
Plutarch – well known as a priest of the Temple of Apollo. He lives his entire life near Delphi.
Pausanias – covers the temple well in his Description of Greece
Cicero – consulted the oracle on how to obtain the greatest glory, and was advised to make his own nature rather than follow public opinion
Nero – went there during his grand tour
Hadrian – visited during his travels across the empire
Diocletian – reportedly consulted the Oracle, though we don’t know if he visited himself