★ The philosopher Chrysippos ★

CILICIA. Pompeiopolis. Pseudo-autonomous issue. Assarion (Bronze, 20 mm, 5.48 g, 12 h), CY 209 = 143/4 AD. XΡΥCΙΠ-ΠΟC Draped, bearded and bald bust of the philosopher Chrysippos to right. Rev. ΠΟΜΠΗΙΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩN - ƆΘ Asklepios standing front, head to left, holding branch over altar in his right hand and his left hand before his chest; behind to right, serpent coiled around tree. Nomos 21 (2020), 228 corr. ( same obverse die, but reverse image misdescribed, dating overlooked and the coin hence misdated) = Themis E-Auction 6 (2020), 476 corr. (same). Of the highest rarity, the second known example. A very interesting piece with beautiful earthen highlights. Very fine.

Chrysippos of Soloi (circa 279-206 BC) was a Greek philosopher, who became the third head of the Stoic school in Athens. Born in Soloi-Pompeiopolis of Phoenician descent, he was reportedly trained as a long-distance runner at a young age and moved to Athens when he lost his property to either Ptolemy II or Antiochos I. Chrysippos was an extremely prolific writer on a variety of subjects such as physics, mathematics and ethics, but he was most famous for his work as a logician, which deeply influenced many of the stoics that came after him. It is perhaps no surprise that Soloi-Pompeiopolis honored its famous citizen with coin portraits in the Antonine period, an era that saw the heyday of the 'younger Stoa', whose last important representative was the emperor Marcus Aurelius (138/161-180) himself. Our coin was struck in CY 209 = 143/4 and forms the half piece to a larger denomination showing, on the obverse, Pompey 'the Great', the refounder of the city (RPC IV.3 online 3580) in the 1st century BC.