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During the first half of the First Century A.D.,
following the exile of King Herod Archelaus,
Judea was ruled by a series of Procurators
appointed by the Rome. The lands of Ancient
Israel were annexed to the Roman province
of
Syria, with the administration centered in the
city
of Caesarea. Some of the Procurators, such
as
Antonius Felix, struck their own coins.
Although
these coins were technically minted under
Roman
authority, they take into account the religious
beliefs of the Jewish population and display
no
graven images, lest the rebellious population
be
offended. Felix ruled from 52-59 A.D.,
although
he only minted coins during two of those
years.
Today, Felix is perhaps best remembered as
the
Procurator before who St. Paul was brought
to
trial. "And after certain days, when Felix
came
with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, he
sent
for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith
in
Christ." - Acts 24:27
The coins of Antonius Felix are intimate
memorials of Ancient Israel. They knew the
scent
of spice-stalls, heard the ranting or
merchants,
and smelled the sweat and dust of daily
works.
They were alive to the sounds of Hebrew,
Aramaic, Greek and Latin voices haggling
over
prices in the marketplaces or offering prayers
to
YHVH, Jesus, or Jupiter in temples. This coin
is a
memorial to one of the most fabled times
words
have recorded, when the Jewish people
struggled
to be free from Roman occupation and when
the
teachings of the Jesus Christ were spread by
the
first Saints. We can still feel the power of
these
events resonate in the energy of this ancient
coin.
- (LC.401)
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