Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XII 29 September 2016
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Calabria, Tarentum AV Hemistater. Circa 276-272 BC. Head of youthful Herakles in lion-skin headdress to right / Ephebe driving galloping biga to right; ΣΩΚ above to right, ΤΑΡΑΝΤΙΝΩΝ in exergue. Fischer-Bossert G 33; HN Italy 985; Vlasto 29. 4.28g, 15mm, 1h.
Extremely Fine. Rare.
At the beginning of the 3rd century BC the increasing power and influence of Rome in Southern Italy became a source of great concern to Tarentum. Aggravated by what they perceived as Roman interference within their area of dominion, increasing numbers of Roman colonies in Apulia and Lucania, and a growing fleet which threatened Tarentine naval supremacy in Italy, the Tarentines came to an agreement with Rome in 282 BC, part of which forbade Roman ships from entering the Gulf of Taranto. In the same year, ten Roman ships were caught in a storm and driven into the gulf, arriving in the sea off Tarentum during the festival of Dionysos. Considering this a hostile act, the Tarentines attacked the Roman flotilla, sinking four ships and capturing a fifth. A Roman delegation sent to negotiate and seek redress from the Tarentines was insulted and mocked, resulting in the Roman Senate declaring war on Tarentum, and the latter calling for assistance from Pyrrhos of Epeiros.
The 'victories' of Pyrrhos at Herakleia and Asculum did little more than grant the Tarentines and their allies a temporary reprieve. After these battles Pyrrhos embarked on a Sicilian adventure that brought him no better fortune, but in the meantime the Magna Graecians were left to their own devices. After returning and fighting another costly but inconclusive engagement at Beneventum, Pyrrhos abandoned Italy for good, leaving Magna Graecia to its fate. Pyrrhos' departure was followed swiftly by the Roman conquest of Lucania, Samnium, and finally in 272, after fighting on for a further three years after Pyrrhos' departure, Tarentum itself was forced to surrender.
This coin, struck as a last-resort war issue by a Tarentum that was determined but increasingly desperate (evidenced by the use of its emergency bullion reserves), is the legacy of a pivotal moment in history frozen in time and gold. The defeat of Pyrrhos and Tarentum marked a great turning point in the affairs of the world - the Roman conquest of Italy was complete, and the defeat of a powerful Greek king with a trained, professional army by an unheard-of Italian republic had sent shockwaves throughout the Hellenistic east. The successor states of the Alexandrine empire took note: a new power had emerged in the central Mediterranean, and less than a decade later the emboldened Rome would embark on a major overseas war, challenging the might of Carthage for control of Sicily.
Extremely Fine. Rare.
At the beginning of the 3rd century BC the increasing power and influence of Rome in Southern Italy became a source of great concern to Tarentum. Aggravated by what they perceived as Roman interference within their area of dominion, increasing numbers of Roman colonies in Apulia and Lucania, and a growing fleet which threatened Tarentine naval supremacy in Italy, the Tarentines came to an agreement with Rome in 282 BC, part of which forbade Roman ships from entering the Gulf of Taranto. In the same year, ten Roman ships were caught in a storm and driven into the gulf, arriving in the sea off Tarentum during the festival of Dionysos. Considering this a hostile act, the Tarentines attacked the Roman flotilla, sinking four ships and capturing a fifth. A Roman delegation sent to negotiate and seek redress from the Tarentines was insulted and mocked, resulting in the Roman Senate declaring war on Tarentum, and the latter calling for assistance from Pyrrhos of Epeiros.
The 'victories' of Pyrrhos at Herakleia and Asculum did little more than grant the Tarentines and their allies a temporary reprieve. After these battles Pyrrhos embarked on a Sicilian adventure that brought him no better fortune, but in the meantime the Magna Graecians were left to their own devices. After returning and fighting another costly but inconclusive engagement at Beneventum, Pyrrhos abandoned Italy for good, leaving Magna Graecia to its fate. Pyrrhos' departure was followed swiftly by the Roman conquest of Lucania, Samnium, and finally in 272, after fighting on for a further three years after Pyrrhos' departure, Tarentum itself was forced to surrender.
This coin, struck as a last-resort war issue by a Tarentum that was determined but increasingly desperate (evidenced by the use of its emergency bullion reserves), is the legacy of a pivotal moment in history frozen in time and gold. The defeat of Pyrrhos and Tarentum marked a great turning point in the affairs of the world - the Roman conquest of Italy was complete, and the defeat of a powerful Greek king with a trained, professional army by an unheard-of Italian republic had sent shockwaves throughout the Hellenistic east. The successor states of the Alexandrine empire took note: a new power had emerged in the central Mediterranean, and less than a decade later the emboldened Rome would embark on a major overseas war, challenging the might of Carthage for control of Sicily.