Gods of healing as a symbol of the independence of the Greek cities of the Roman province of Asia

Abstract

The spiritual life of the Greeks and Romans is an interesting and important area of study. At the same time, such research usually encounters misunderstanding or prejudice regarding the “labels” of ancient deities. Moreover, the late antique written tradition, under the influence of the crisis of the religious worldview, sometimes contains very confusing interpretations of the functions of deities. The use of the entire possible range of sources allows us to trace not only the peculiarities of the cult but also the non-religious functions of a particular divine figure. Asclepius is extremely interesting in this regard. Even Pseudo-Cornutus suggested that Asclepius was originally a hero, and only later was he endowed with divine functions, relatives, and attributes. Plato drew attention to the fact that medicine and the attention of Asclepius should be focused only on those people who benefit the state. There was also a controversial attitude to the meaning of the term “Asklepiades”, which mostly included physicians as heirs of Asclepius, not his direct mythical children. The situation was also complicated with regard to the figure of Hygeia, who, in our understanding, along with Panacea, is the daughter of Asclepius, but the Orphic Hymns call her the wife of the god of healing. The situation is even more complicated with Telesphorus, a minor deity associated with the medical profession. At the same time, Asclepius of Pergamum was called Telesphorus, as reported by Pausanias. However, coins, finds of terracotta or stone figurines confirm the existence of a deity in the form of a hooded boy associated with Asclepius and Hygieia.
On the other hand, the traditional centres of worship of Asclepius in the province were the island of Kos and Pergamum, where Asclepius were present, but this fact is hardly represented in coinage. Instead, the figure of Asclepius was actively used by the magistrates of the relatively small Lydian cities of Akrasus, Hyrcanis, Hypaipa, Saitta, and others. During the Severus dynasty, Asclepius became extremely popular in the minting of coins with the emperor’s bust and various medallions on the occasion of city alliances or confirmation of the right of neocorat. From this point of view, this topic was not the subject of special research. This is its scientific novelty.
Keywords: Asclepius, Hygieia, Telesphorus, Pergamum, Severus, Antoninus, coins, Roman province of Asia