Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "3501",
    "label": "Medallion with Roman Emperor Caracalla",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/59.3"
}

{
    "id": "3501",
    "sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/59.3",
    "contentType": "object",
    "stage": "normalized",
    "title": "Medallion with Roman Emperor Caracalla",
    "description": "Together with 59.1 and 59.2, this piece was discovered in Egypt as part of a hoard that comprised about twenty similar medallions (now dispersed among various museums), eighteen gold ingots, and six hundred gold coins issued by Roman emperors from Severus Alexander (r. 222-235 CE) to Constantius I (r.  293-306 CE). One of the medallions, now in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, bears an inscription that possibly reads \"Olympic games of the year 274\", a date corresponding to 242-243 CE. It is possible that the medallions were intended as prizes to be given out at that event. Alternatively, they may have been issued by Emperor Caracalla (ruled 198-217 CE), who is potrayed on the this medallion in profile, bearing a shield on his shoulder decorated with the image of Nike in a racing-chariot. The back depicts Caracalla's distant predecessor King Alexander of Macedon (r. 336-323 BCE) in short chiton and chlamys (a cloak) hunting a boar. This depiction of a royal hunt was intended to emphasize the prowess that Alexander also showed in battle.",
    "provenance": "[Found at Aboukir, Egypt, 1902]; Panayotis Kyticas, Cairo, [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Dikran Kelekian, Constantinople and Paris [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.",
    "date": "ca. 215-243 CE (Imperial Roman)",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/59.3",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Coins & Medals",
        "medallions (medals)"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS1_59.3_Rev_DD_T07.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS1_59.3_Rev_DD_T07.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS1_59.3_Rev_DD_T07.jpg",
    "imageCount": 8,
    "pageCount": 8,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensions": [
        {
            "units": "cm",
            "width": 0.6,
            "height": 5.7
        }
    ],
    "dimensionsRaw": "3/16 x 2 1/4 in. (0.6 x 5.7 cm) (d. x diam.)"
}

{
    "cul": "Roman",
    "style": "Hellenistic",
    "inscriptions": [
        "[Inscription",
        "Greek] ΒΑCΙΛΕΟC ΑΛΕΧΑΝΔΡΟΥ [Transliteration and Translation]  BASILEOS ALEXANDROY;  Alexander the King"
    ],
    "dynasty": "Severan Dynasty",
    "med": "gold",
    "creator_ids": [
        "6191"
    ],
    "collection_ids": [
        "ROM",
        "EGY"
    ],
    "exhibition_ids": [
        "2637",
        "2896",
        "3673"
    ]
}

{
    "seq": 8,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/raw/PS1_59.3_Rev_DD_T07.jpg",
    "mediaId": "9cad0b71d7a1ff43"
}