BITHYNIA. Nicaea. Commodus, as Caesar, 166-177. Hemiassarion (Bronze, 18 mm, 3.23 g, 8 h), circa 175-177. Λ ΑΥΡ ΚΟΜΜΟΔΟϹ ΚΑΙϹ ΓΕΡΜ Bare-headed and draped bust of Commodus to right. Rev. ΝΕΙΚΑΙЄΩΝ Infant Dionysos seated right in cradle (liknon), extending both arms; to left behind him, thyrsos. BMC 43. RG 239. RPC IV.1 online 5125. SNG von Aulock 7026. Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Slightly smoothed and with minor weakness and very light deposits, otherwise, about extremely fine.



The remarkable reverse of this coin depicts the infant god Dionysos seated in a cradle with his arms outstretched. We recognize him by the thyrsos behind him - a staff made of fennel, traditionally topped with a pine cone (not visible here) - which served as the god’s emblem. Dionysos was the Greek god of wine-making, fertility, madness, theater, and religious ecstasy in ancient Greece. His origins remain uncertain, with Thrace often suggested as his place of origin, and he is portrayed in Greek religion as a foreign figure who arrived from elsewhere. Nevertheless, his roots run deep, reaching back to Mycenaean times, and the suffix of his name, -dios, signifies that Zeus was his father - an element consistent across all mythological accounts.