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ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚA ΙΩΝΙΑ ΚΟΛΟΦΩΝ - νομίσματα της αρχαία πόλης των κολοφών - Greek Ionia - Kolophon
Kolophon [ΚΟΛΟΦΩΝ] was an ancient city in Ionia. Its ruins are south of the town Değirmendere in the Menderes district of Izmir Province, Turkey.
Kolophon was famous in antiquity for its control of the temple of Apollo at Klaros. This sanctuary, mentioned already in the Homeric Hymns, possessed an oracle that was widely consulted in the Greek and later Roman world.
According to the ancient travel-writer Pausanias, the priest was only told the names and number of the people seeking answers to their questions. Armed only with this information, the priest then withdrew into a cave where he drank water from a hidden fountain. When he later emerged from the cave he miraculously delivered responses-in verse no less-to the questions each person had in his mind. One can only presume that the responses were so vague that they could apply to just about any situation.
However, the oracle of Apollo at Klaros seems to have been frighteningly clear when it reportedly foretold the death of Germanicus, the popular presumed heir of Tiberius.
Due to the importance of the oracle, the obverse head of Apollo was a staple feature of Kolophonian civic coins since the fifth century BC and continued in the mid-second century BC with a series of wreathed tetradrachms.
Click for more coin images of the ancient city Kolophon.
Kolophon [ΚΟΛΟΦΩΝ] was an ancient city in Ionia. Its ruins are south of the town Değirmendere in the Menderes district of Izmir Province, Turkey.
Kolophon was famous in antiquity for its control of the temple of Apollo at Klaros. This sanctuary, mentioned already in the Homeric Hymns, possessed an oracle that was widely consulted in the Greek and later Roman world.
According to the ancient travel-writer Pausanias, the priest was only told the names and number of the people seeking answers to their questions. Armed only with this information, the priest then withdrew into a cave where he drank water from a hidden fountain. When he later emerged from the cave he miraculously delivered responses-in verse no less-to the questions each person had in his mind. One can only presume that the responses were so vague that they could apply to just about any situation.
However, the oracle of Apollo at Klaros seems to have been frighteningly clear when it reportedly foretold the death of Germanicus, the popular presumed heir of Tiberius.
Due to the importance of the oracle, the obverse head of Apollo was a staple feature of Kolophonian civic coins since the fifth century BC and continued in the mid-second century BC with a series of wreathed tetradrachms.
Click for more coin images of the ancient city Kolophon.