Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction X 27 September 2015
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Sicily, Syracuse AR 8 Litrai. Fifth Democracy, circa 214-212 BC. Signed by the engraver Ly(sid...). Head of Demeter to left, wearing wreath of grain leaves, triple pendant earring and pearl necklace; behind, owl standing left / Nike, holding goad in her right hand and reins in her left, driving quadriga galloping to right; above, monogram of ΑΡΚ; on ground line, in tiny letters, ΛΥ; [ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ in exergue]. Burnett D 53 = De Luynes 1395; Jameson 894 (this obverse die). 6.76g, 21mm, 12h.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica N, 26 June 2003, lot 1176.
This issue belongs to the series of silver coins that continued to be minted while Syracuse was under siege by the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus.
Syracuse had been ably and wisely ruled by Hieron II, who steadfastly maintained the city's alliance with Rome. However, upon his death the throne passed to his grandson Hieronymos, who at the age of only fifteen allowed himself to be influenced by the pro-Carthaginian faction in Syracuse into renouncing the alliance his grandfather had so carefully preserved. This course of action resulted in revolution within the city; Hieronymos and his family were slain and democratic government was restored, but the following year a Roman army arrived to lay siege to the city.
Though the defenders held out for three years, in part thanks to the engineering genius of Archimedes, the Romans finally stormed the city under cover of darkness. Much of the population fell back to the citadel, but this too fell after an eight month siege. As retribution for the city having changed its allegiance to Carthage at the height of the Second Punic War, and for having forced the Romans into a lengthy and costly siege while Italy and Rome herself remained in peril, the city was thoroughly sacked and the inhabitants put to the sword or enslaved. Though Marcellus gave instruction that Archimedes was to be spared, he too was slain in the sack.
This extensive series of siege coinage reflects the last flourishing of Syracusan numismatic art; the diversity of the coinage is all the more impressive given that the city was being subjected to protracted warfare during this period. The series is special too for its depiction of so many deities, for whose divine assistance the people clamoured to deliver them from disaster.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica N, 26 June 2003, lot 1176.
This issue belongs to the series of silver coins that continued to be minted while Syracuse was under siege by the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus.
Syracuse had been ably and wisely ruled by Hieron II, who steadfastly maintained the city's alliance with Rome. However, upon his death the throne passed to his grandson Hieronymos, who at the age of only fifteen allowed himself to be influenced by the pro-Carthaginian faction in Syracuse into renouncing the alliance his grandfather had so carefully preserved. This course of action resulted in revolution within the city; Hieronymos and his family were slain and democratic government was restored, but the following year a Roman army arrived to lay siege to the city.
Though the defenders held out for three years, in part thanks to the engineering genius of Archimedes, the Romans finally stormed the city under cover of darkness. Much of the population fell back to the citadel, but this too fell after an eight month siege. As retribution for the city having changed its allegiance to Carthage at the height of the Second Punic War, and for having forced the Romans into a lengthy and costly siege while Italy and Rome herself remained in peril, the city was thoroughly sacked and the inhabitants put to the sword or enslaved. Though Marcellus gave instruction that Archimedes was to be spared, he too was slain in the sack.
This extensive series of siege coinage reflects the last flourishing of Syracusan numismatic art; the diversity of the coinage is all the more impressive given that the city was being subjected to protracted warfare during this period. The series is special too for its depiction of so many deities, for whose divine assistance the people clamoured to deliver them from disaster.