Mark Antony's Great Great Grandson

M. Antonius Polemon (active AD 50–54) was the grandson of Polemon I and a great-grandson of the orator Zenon. He remained in the family's home city of Laodicea. He was a high-ranking Priest (Hiereus) and city official. He is also the great-great-grandson of Mark Antony by way Polemon I (the magistrate's grandfather) who married Pythodoris (the magistrate's great grandmother), the daughter of Antonia who was the daughter of Mark Antony.

The Coin

Phrygia, Laodicea. Claudius (AD 41-54). AE (27mm, 12h, 8.2g) Antonius Polemon, son of Zenon, as magistrate, ca. AD 50-54.

Obv: ΔΗΜΟΣ / ΛΑΟΔΙΚΕΩΝ / ΚΑΙ ΖΜΥΡΝΑΙΩΝ (People of the Laodiceans and Smyrnaeans) , confronting busts of laureate head of the Demos of Laodicea and laureate head of the Demos of Smyrna

Rev: ΕΠΙ ΙΕΡΕΩΣ / ΑΝΤΩΝΙΟΥ / ΠΟ (monogram)-ΥΙΟΥ / ΖΗΝΩΝΟC / TOA (under the priest Antonius Polemon, son of Zenon), Zeus Laodiceus standing left, with eagle and staff.

Ref: Franke-Nollé 1198 (dies A/17) = RPC I 2912.9 (this coin); SNG Copenhagen 613; BMC p. 324, 263. ex CNG EA 143, 12 July 2006, lot 130

British Museum coin Plate LII.7 from Head's catalog

During the reign of Claudius (AD 41–54), there was a fierce dynastic struggle between the supporters of Britannicus (Claudius’s biological son) and Nero (his adopted son). While the coin's legend explicitly names the Demoi (the People) of Laodicea and Smyrna, some scholars suggest that the physical portraits are intended to be portraits of the young princes Nero and Britannicus.

The introduction of B.V. Head's catalog notes that three members of the famous Zenon family of Laodiceia appear on coins from Augustus to Nero:

1) Antonius Polemo, Philopatris (Augustus to Caligula).

2) Antonius Zeno, son of Polemo, Hiereus (Priest) four times (Claudius and Nero as Caesar).

3) Zeno, son of Antonius Zeno, or Antonius Zeno, son of Zeno (Nero as Augustus)

Zeus Laodikeos

Zeus Laodikeos served as the supreme tutelary deity of Laodicea ad Lycum, a unique fusion of Hellenic tradition and local Phrygian identity. Unlike the thunderbolt-wielding, celestial Zeus of Olympia, the Laodicean manifestation was portrayed as a dignified, standing figure holding a long scepter (staff) in one hand and a small eagle in the outstretched palm of the other.

Frequently depicted on the reverse of the city's coinage, as the guardian of the city's civic order, its immense banking wealth, and its world-famous textile industry. Zeus Laodikeos was a figure of stability, often appearing on Homonoia (alliance) coinage to provide the divine support for the treaty between Laodicea and as Smyrna.

Zenon & Parthia

Zenon of Laodicea, great grandfather of our magistrate, was a distinguished orator and local leader whose legacy was defined by his unwavering loyalty to Rome during the Parthian invasion of 40/39 BC. Zenon famously led the defense of his home city against Parthian Pacorus I and the Roman renegade Quintus Labienus.

Antony, impressed by Zenon’s resistance and devotion, rewarded him with significant political support. He granted Roman citizenship to Zenon's family - giving them the prestigious name Antonius - and laid the groundwork for the family's transformation from local aristocrats to regional dynasts. Antony subsequently elevated Zenon's son, Polemon I, to the rank of client king, ultimately ruling over Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom. Polemon I married Pythodoris, Antony's granddaughter.

Polemon I's grandson was on the throne in Pontus at the time of his cousin's magistracy in Laodicea. Polemon II was the child of Polemon I's daughter Antonia Tryphaena and Cotys VIII.

Kings of Pontos. Polemon II 38-64 AD, (dated year 20 = 57-58 AD). Drachm AR 17mm., 3.38g.

Obv: BACIΛEωC ΠOΛEMωNOC, diademed head of Polemon right

Rev: ETOYC K, laureate head of Nero right

Ref: RPC 3832

Laodicea

"Laodiceia, though formerly small, grew large in our time and in that of our fathers, even though it had been damaged by siege in the time of Mithridates Eupator.⁠ However, it was the fertility of its territory and the prosperity of certain of its citizens that made it great: at first Hieron, who left to the people an inheritance of more than two thousand talents and adorned the city with many dedicated offerings, and later Zeno the rhetorician and his son Polemon,⁠ the latter of whom, because of his bravery and honesty, was thought worthy even of a kingdom, at first by Antony and later by Augustus."
-Strabo, Geography, XII.8.16

Strategically located at the crossroads of major trade routes in the Lycus River Valley, Laodicea ad Lycum was arguably the wealthiest city in the Roman province of Asia. Originally known as Diospolis ("City of Zeus"), it was refounded in the 3rd century BC by the Seleucid King Antiochus II, who named it after his wife, Laodice.

The city’s economy was built on a three industries: it was a premier banking and financial hub frequented by elite Romans like Cicero; a world-renowned textile center famous for its unique, glossy "raven-black" wool; and a sophisticated medical center home to a prestigious medical school and the production of a celebrated "Phrygian powder" eye salve.

This immense self-sufficiency was famously demonstrated in AD 60 when, after a devastating earthquake, the citizens rejected Imperial aid from Nero, proudly rebuilding their monumental theaters, stadium, and agoras entirely from their own private resources.

"In the same year, Laodicea, one of the famous Asiatic cities, was laid in ruins by an earthquake, but recovered by its own resources, without assistance from ourselves."
-Tacitus, Annals, XIV.27

Phrygian powder

The famous "Phrygian powder" explains the piercing irony found in the Book of Revelation (3:18). The author tells the Laodiceans to "anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see", he is using their most famous local pharmaceutical product as a metaphor for their spiritual blindness.

Galen (c. 130 – c. 210 AD), the influential Greek physician mentions in Hygiene:

"You will strengthen the eyes by the use of a dry collyrium made from Phrygian stone, applying the probe to the eyelids without touching the membrane of the eye within. This is what women who apply kohl (a dark eye makup) to the eyelids do every day."

Zinc carbonate is the mineral profile associated with the "Phrygian Stone" and "Cadmia" described by Galen as the base of the Laodicean salve. Zinc is a powerful astringent and antiseptic. Even today, zinc oxide is a standard ingredient in eye drops and skin ointments (like calamine) for its ability to reduce inflammation and inhibit bacterial growth.

For a modern analysis of a 2000 year old "eye wash" see:

Giachi, G., et al. (2013). "Ingredients of a 2,000-y-old medicine revealed by chemical, mineralogical, and botanical investigations." PNAS, 110(4). https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1216776110.

Harmony between Laodicea and Smyrna

A fierce rivalry lies behind this coin. Laodicea and Smyrna commemorate on this coin their Homonoia, Greek for "concord" or "unity", a strategic diplomatic and economic alliance within the Roman province of Asia. While Laodicea was a wealthy inland banking and textile hub in Phrygia, famous for its "black wool" and medical school, Smyrna was a prestigious, "first-rank" port city in Ionia and a primary center for the Roman Imperial cult. By minting this coin, the two cities signaled a mutual pledge of cooperation that likely facilitated trade routes connecting the Aegean coast to the Anatolian interior and shared participation in regional religious festivals.

Smyrna and Laodicea were constantly competing for the title "First of Asia". They fought over who got to host the Imperial games or build the biggest temple to the Emperor. This specific issue under the magistrate Antonius Polemon reflects a period where such "alliance" coinage was a sophisticated tool of civic branding, allowing these rival cities to demonstrate their collective stability and loyalty to the Emperor Claudius while elevating their own prestige through a public display of harmony.