153, Lot: 108. Estimate $300. Sold for $425. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MOESIA INFERIOR, Marcianopolis. Macrinus, with Diadumenian as Caesar. AD 217-218. Æ Pentassaria (25mm, 14.27 g). Pontianus, magistrate. Laureate head of Macrinus right vis à vis bare head of Diadumenian left / Aesclepius standing left, leaning on serpent-staff; E in right field. AMNG I 749; Mouchmov 534. Good VF, dark green patina.

Aesclepius (Asklepios/Aesculapius), the son of the god Apollo and the mortal Coronis inherited his knowledge of healing from his father, a skill furthered by tuition under the wise centaur Cheiron. He ultimately achieved the goal of raising the dead, a feat of hubris that caused Zeus to strike him dead with a thunderbolt. The cult of the semi-divine Aesclepius had origins in Trikka and Messene, but his two greatest cult centers developed at Epidauros and Pergamon, where his Aesclepeia became destinations for those seeking cures for their ailments. These centers developed from mere temples of worship into facilities somewhat resembling modern nursing homes, where the sick would be tended, and occasionally cured. Probably the most famous patient was the emperor Caracalla, in the year 214 traveling to Pergamon, seeking relief from the psychosomatic illnesses plaguing him.