MOESIA INFERIOR, Marcianopolis. Caracalla, with Julia Domna. Æ Pentassaria . Quintilianus, magistrate.

MOESIA INFERIOR, Marcianopolis. Elagabalus, with Julia Soaemias. AD 218-222. Æ Pentassarion (26mm, 12,05 g). Julius Antonius Seleucus, legatus consularis.

The serpent seen on the reverse of this bronze pentassarion from Marcianopolis (now Devnya, in Bulgaria) is a snake god known as ‘Glykon’. A cult that worshipped the snake god was introduced by the Greek prophet, Alexander of Abonutichus, in the mid-second century AD. The contemporary writings of Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata (c. AD 120-190) were extremely hostile, and comical, on the subject of Alexander and his snake cult. In his essay titled "Alexander the Oracle Monger" Lucian describes the protagonist as a false prophet and explains that the cult is a hoax with the Glykon god being nothing more than a hand-puppet! The cult itself was real enough, and an impressive and beautiful marble statue of the Glykon was discovered in 1962 in Constanta, Romania. The statue dates from the 2nd century and is currently the only cult statue of the deity known throughout the Roman Empire. The snake had some human features, such as hair and ears, and on this coin we can see that the snake has been given a beard. The cult may have originated in Macedonia, and spread beyond the Aegean by the mid second century AD. As with other snake cults, the focus of worship at the temple was fertility. Women would bring offerings to Glykon to increase their chances of becoming pregnant. According to Lucian, Alexander also had more ‘conventional’ methods of ensuring the Glykon worshippers became pregnant....

Tiberius Julius Festus, consular legate