Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

Astrapatos^ Ast7^dpton 809
Of these the most instructive is that of Seleukeia in Syria, the
port of Antiocheia. Here—says Appian^—Seleukos i Nikator, when
founding the city, followed the guidance of a thunderbolt, regarding
it as a 'Zeus-sign' {Diosemia)-. He therefore bade the citizens treat
the thunderbolt as a god :
which
they did, worshipping it with
ritual and hymns. Probably the object of their veneration was an
actual bolt wrought of gold, like those that were borne along in the
great pageant of Ptolemy ii Philadelphosl In favour of this sup-
position is the fact that at Seleukeia in the reign of Seleukos iv
Fig. 771. Fig. 772.
Philopator (187— 175 B.C.) certain priests were annually appointed
to act as keraimophproi or ' thunderbolt-bearers-*.' Silver and bronze
coins of Seleukeia from c. 108 B.C. onwards have as their reverse
type (fig. 771) a large thunderbolt bound with a fillet and placed on
a cushioned stools That this was the missile of Zeus Keraunios
appears, not only from a gloss in Hesychios^ but also from sundry
bronze coins on which the same type is accompanied by the name
of the god (fig. 772y.
^ Appian. Syr. 58. - Supra p. 4 ff.
^ Athen. 202 E Kepavvovs xpv