Ancient Greece - AE Bronze - Ares (God of War) - Circa 120-63 BCE

Denomination: AE (Bronze)                                                                    

Date: 120 - 63 BCE

Mint: Amisos                                                                                        

Mount: Sterling Silver Ring

Description: Amisos, Pontos. AE20. Time of Mithradates VI. Ca 120-63 BC. AE 19mm 10.05 g). Obverse: Helmeted head of Ares right. Reverse: AMI-ΣOY across fields, sword in sheath, star in crescent at upper left, IB at upper right, ΡΠMK monogram at lower left, &Phi:Λ monogram at lower right.

History: Amisos was a flourishing Greek city on the Black Sea coast commanding an important trade route to the south. Amisos was founded in the 6th century B.C. It was re-settled by Athenians in the following century, and was renamed Peiraeus. The city is mentioned three times in the New Testament: Acts 2: 9-10, Acts 18:2 & 1 Peter 1:1. The early Greek historian Hecataeus wrote that Amisos was formerly called Enete, the place mentioned in Homer's Iliad. It has also been known as Peiraieos by Athenian settlers and even briefly as Pompeiopolis by a Roman statesman who wanted it named after him.

The city was called Simisso by the Genoese and during the Ottoman Empire the present name was written in Ottoman Turkish. Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In a Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and generalship.