Septimius Severus 193-211 CE
Ae Assarion 21mm 5.9gms
Obv: LOY CEP CEOYHPOC; Laureate, cuirassed bust right
Rev: KYPARICCIEWN; Athena standing left holding patera and spear, shield at her side
BCD Peloponnesos 793; NCP p. 70, 2; BMC –; Imhoof-Blumer+Gardner P XVIII
Kyparissia is a town I should have gone to, since I was in the neighborhood, but I sadly wasn’t aware of it at the time. The modern town is situated on a hillside and has a beautiful ruined castle, which should work well for sunrise or sunset shots.
Getting back to the ancient city, it’s believed to have had an artificial harbor, most likely setup by Epaminondas to serve as the port for nearby Messene. The city minted coinage during Roman times, though it’s rare.
It was visited by Pausanias, who came from Pylos and remarked that it contained shrines to Apollo and to Athena. The river Neda flowed through the city and formed the border between Messene and Elis. By the city was a spring supposedly caused when Dionysos struck the ground with his Thyrsos. Evidently he had to be careful with that thing. You can imagine the disaster if he just dragged it along the ground. I’m not sure if the spring still exists, but I did see that a watermill is the top attraction in the town, so maybe that’s what became of it.