PHRYGIA. Eumeneia. Antoninus Pius, 138-161. Triassarion (Bronze, 25 mm, 10.12 g, 12 h). AYTO KAIC ANTΩNЄINOC Laureate and cuirassed bust of Antoninus Pius to right, wearing aegis. Rev. ЄYΜЄΝЄΩΝ ΑΧΑΙΩΝ Hump-backed bull walking left, about to be sacrificed by Nike standing to left behind him, grasping the bull's horns with her left hand and holding a knife above his neck with her right. BMC 56-57. RPC IV.2 online 1989. SNG von Aulock 3594. Light deposits, otherwise, very fine.


Eumeneia was founded by Attalos II (159-138 BC) in honor of his brother and predecessor, Eumenes II (197-158 BC). Unlike many of the other Attalid foundations, the city claimed Achaean rather than Macedonian heritage in Roman times (hence the ethnic ΑΧΑΙΩΝ on the reverse of our coin), indicating that its original settlers were not Macedonian veterans but Achaean colonists.