Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XII 29 September 2016
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Sicily, Katane AR Drachm. Circa 405-403/2 BC. Facing head of Silenos / Diademed head of Apollo left, olive leaf and berry behind, ΚΑΤΑΝΑΙΩΝ before; all within circular incuse. Mirone 103; SNG ANS 1262 var. (no leaf and berry); Jameson 554 (same dies). 3.56g, 17mm, 5h.
Very Fine. Very Rare.
During the ill-fated Athenian expedition to Sicily of 415-413 BC, Diodoros reports that Katane was at first in favour of Syracuse, though upon hearing the case of the Athenian strategoi Thucydides relates that the Katanaians were compelled to espouse the alliance of the invaders. Katane thus became the headquarters for the Athenian force, and remained its principal base of operations throughout the campaign. It was to this city that the survivors of Nicias' massacred army escaped, finding refuge there until they could return to Athens. Despite the utter destruction of their ally's forces, Katane appears to have emerged from the war largely unscathed, and may indeed have gained some economic benefit from the 300 talents of silver that the Athenian reinforcements brought with them in 414 to hire Sicilian cavalry, as well as the money the Athenians spent within the city. In any case, Katane remained free from Syracusan rule until 403, when a force under Dionysios I was able to capture the city by surprise thanks to the treachery of the strategos Arkesilaos. Dionysios then sold its people into slavery and granted the city itself to his Campanian mercenaries.
It is to this late classical period, beginning with the Athenian alliance, that this drachm belongs. This brief span saw a second flourishing of the die engraver's art at Katane, with such masters as Herakleidas producing magnificent dies of remarkable skill and beauty (see the following lot). Though the present coin is not signed, the level of technical ability required to engrave such a high relief facing portrait is indicative of it being the work of a master of the first order. Indeed, the style of Apollo's portrait on the reverse is remarkably similar to those produced and signed by the 'Maestro della foglia', cf. Rizzo pl. XII, 1-10; pl. XIII, 4; pl. XV 1-2. It is conceivable therefore that this could be an unsigned work by the same individual.
The depiction of Silenos is an unexpected departure from the typical Apollo/chariot issues of the main period; though Silenos features prominently on the coinage of Katane as a reference to its chief export, he had never been depicted by the Katanaians as the principal subject on a denomination greater than a litra. It is probable that the artist took some inspiration from an earlier electrum issue of Phokaia (Bodenstedt 43), struck c.521-478 that also featured a facing portrait of Silenos, and which has been described as a masterpiece of the Archaic period.
Very Fine. Very Rare.
During the ill-fated Athenian expedition to Sicily of 415-413 BC, Diodoros reports that Katane was at first in favour of Syracuse, though upon hearing the case of the Athenian strategoi Thucydides relates that the Katanaians were compelled to espouse the alliance of the invaders. Katane thus became the headquarters for the Athenian force, and remained its principal base of operations throughout the campaign. It was to this city that the survivors of Nicias' massacred army escaped, finding refuge there until they could return to Athens. Despite the utter destruction of their ally's forces, Katane appears to have emerged from the war largely unscathed, and may indeed have gained some economic benefit from the 300 talents of silver that the Athenian reinforcements brought with them in 414 to hire Sicilian cavalry, as well as the money the Athenians spent within the city. In any case, Katane remained free from Syracusan rule until 403, when a force under Dionysios I was able to capture the city by surprise thanks to the treachery of the strategos Arkesilaos. Dionysios then sold its people into slavery and granted the city itself to his Campanian mercenaries.
It is to this late classical period, beginning with the Athenian alliance, that this drachm belongs. This brief span saw a second flourishing of the die engraver's art at Katane, with such masters as Herakleidas producing magnificent dies of remarkable skill and beauty (see the following lot). Though the present coin is not signed, the level of technical ability required to engrave such a high relief facing portrait is indicative of it being the work of a master of the first order. Indeed, the style of Apollo's portrait on the reverse is remarkably similar to those produced and signed by the 'Maestro della foglia', cf. Rizzo pl. XII, 1-10; pl. XIII, 4; pl. XV 1-2. It is conceivable therefore that this could be an unsigned work by the same individual.
The depiction of Silenos is an unexpected departure from the typical Apollo/chariot issues of the main period; though Silenos features prominently on the coinage of Katane as a reference to its chief export, he had never been depicted by the Katanaians as the principal subject on a denomination greater than a litra. It is probable that the artist took some inspiration from an earlier electrum issue of Phokaia (Bodenstedt 43), struck c.521-478 that also featured a facing portrait of Silenos, and which has been described as a masterpiece of the Archaic period.