ROMAN. JUDAEA, Herodians. Herod IV Philip. 4 BC-A.D. 34. Bronze (6.26g). Caesarea Philippi (Panias) mint. Dated RY 5 (A.D. 1/2). Bare head of Philip right; L E (date) across lower field / Tetrastyle temple, the Augusteum of Panias, set on podium with two steps. Meshorer 96; Hendin 6251; RPC I 4939; Sofaer -. Dark brown surfaces, repatinated. VF. Extremely rare. Herod Philip, tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis and son of Herod the Great, governed a largely non-Jewish population centred on Panias at the foot of Mount Hermon. There he refounded the city as Caesarea Philippi and presided over a sanctuary complex dominated by the grotto of Pan and a marble Augusteum to the Roman emperor. It is in this cultural setting, imperial cult and Hellenised civic life, that Philip could break with Judaean tradition and place his own portrait on coins. As Hendin observes (p. 257), 'Philip was able to immortalize his face on his coins largely because so few Jews lived in the territories over which he ruled,' since a portrait would have been viewed by observant Jews as a 'graven image.' The present issue dates to Regnal Year 5 (L E = A.D. 1/2), still in the reign of Augustus, and pairs Philip's bare head with the facade of the Augusteum, a clear statement of loyalty to Rome and of the city's identity. The temple, shown tetrastyle on a two-step podium, evokes the sacred topography of Panias while advertising the imperial cult that anchored Philip's regime. Surviving examples are few and typically worn or corroded; this piece, with dark brown surfaces, a bold portrait, and a well-defined temple, is an especially choice representative of an extremely rare type linking Herodian rule, Roman authority, and the distinctive religious landscape of Caesarea Philippi. For the type and similar quality see; CNG Auction 114, lot 525, hammered USD 8,500. (P)

Estimate: AUD 2500