Ilion (AD 100-200) AE 21

Autonomous Issue, ca 2nd cent AD. AE21 (3.88g). Helmeted bust of Athena left / Aeneas walking right carrying Anchises, leading Ascanius by the hand. VF, brown and red patina, rough spot on reverse. Ex CNG 51 (9/1999), 873.

Founded in the seventh century BC by Aeolians on the site of ancient Troy, Ilion prospered and ultimately developed into a successful Hellenistic and Roman city. It possessed a famous temple of Athena (‘Ilias’) which was visited by King Xerxes of Persia and later by Alexander the Great. The Romans always had a high regard for Ilion because of the legend of Aeneas and the tradition that Rome's founders were of Trojan origin. His son Ascanius became king of Alba Longa, from which the first kings of Rome claimed descent. Ascanius was also known as Iulus, and the Julian gens claimed primacy of place as his direct heirs.