BITHYNIA. Nicaea. Commodus, 177-192. Hemiassarion (Bronze, 17 mm, 3.81 g, 7 h). ΑΥ Κ Μ ΑΥΡΗ ΚΟΜ ΑΝΤ Laureate head of Commodus to right. Rev. OMHPOC - NIKAIЄΩN Draped bust of Homer to right, wearing taenia. Naumann E-Auction 138 (2024), 301 (same dies). RPC IV.1 online -, cf. 5527, 8432 and 9532 (all with differing legends). Extremely rare. Some deposits, otherwise, fine.



‘Sing, Goddess, of the wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus.’

Thus opens the Iliad, which, together with the Odyssey, is considered one of the greatest works of Western literature, composed by the most famous of Greek poets: Homer. So great was his reputation that other ancient authors often simply referred to him as "the Poet." Despite this fame, ancient scholarship was already rife with contention about Homer’s life and works. Several cities, for instance, claimed to be the poet’s birthplace, many of which were in western Asia Minor, such as Chios, Kolophon, Kyme, and Smyrna. This even became the butt of jokes, as an anonymous poet in the Anthologia Palatina (16.299) asks Homer where he is from, to which the latter replies that he would not tell, as he was sure to earn the enmity of all the other cities.

In the Hellenistic period, and continuing under the Romans, this rivalry took on a new dimension as civic communities would vie with one another culturally through grand building projects, festivals, and games. Coinage, it seems, was another way to compete, as several cities produced coins featuring Homer, clearly in order to lay claim to his legacy. This was also the case in the Bithynian city of Nicaea, which on its coins claimed a whole series of famous gods, demigods, and historical figures such as Dionysos, Herakles, and Alexander the Great as their forebears. In this series, the most famous of all poets, Homer, naturally could not be missing, as we see in this piece, which was minted under Commodus.