Numismatic sketches for the portrait of Zeus Lydios (Zeus of Lydia)

The few numismatic evidences about one of the local variants of Zeus – Zeus Lydios (Zeus of Lydia) are analyzed. It is stated that Zeus of Lydia was believed to be a way of “reincarnation” of the Phrygian Meno, and, along with Cybele, became one of the “fathers” of the region. The name of this god appeared infrequently in epigraphic monuments, but it is reliably attested by coins of some cities of Lydia. Independently of each other, in different time periods, the magistrates of the cities placed on coins the image of the statue of Zeus of Lydia, the iconography of which is different from the appearance of the statue of Phidias. The bust or statue of Zeus of Lydia can most often be seen on the coins of Sardis from the beginning of the 2nd century BC, that is, since the time of autonomous minting within the Pergamon kingdom. With the spread of Roman power in the region and the creation of the Roman province of Asia, images of Zeus of Lydia continued to be actively used in the decoration of coins. The idea of the independence and guardianship of the main gods over the city and the region can be seen in the placement of a bust of Zeus or his statue with an eagle and a scepter in his hands on one side and a bust of Tyche on the other. Although he is called Lydian in inscriptions, not all cities in the region have evidence of the spread of the cult. The cities in which coins mentioning Zeus of Lydia were minted were located on the slopes of the mountain passes of Tmolus (Sardis, Attalea), Sipylum (Magnesia) and Katakekaumene (Maeonia, Sala, Daldis, Bagis, etc.) and for the latter group of cities, given the geographical features, the continuity of the cult of Zeus of Lydia is more understandable. It is interesting that in Roman times this archaic deity becomes one of the relevant ways to show if not Greek, then local identity in combination with general Roman values. In Asia Minor there were several local variants of Zeus and their study allows us to see the variability of the pantheons of the Asia Minor Greeks.