Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
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Islands off Ionia, Teos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 165-140 BC. Head of young Dionysos right, wreathed with ivy leaves and flower in rolled hair from which a spiral lock falls on neck and shoulders / ΤΗΙΩΝ, draped statue of Apollo standing left, naked to hips with himation end over left arm, extending kantharos in his left hand and holding thyrsus with right; to right, high pedestal surmounted by a small figure of Marsyas, standing right holding wineskin; in left field, monogram Λκ. Unpublished in the standard references, for reverse type as a symbol cf. Teos tetradrachm in the name of Alexander dated to circa 204-190 BC by Price (no. 2310), and P. Kinns, Studies in the coinage of Ionia: Erythrae, Teos, Lebedus, Colophon, c. 400-30 BC, unpublished Cambridge University Ph.D. dissertation, 1980 pp. 220-1 and 519-20. 16.67g, 36mm, 1h.
Good Extremely Fine, of excellent style; very minor flan crack. Unique and unpublished.
Of all the gods worshipped at Teos, Dionysos was held above all - he was the legendary founder and protector of Teos, and such was the relationship between the city and its god that at the end of the 3rd century BC the city and its territory were declared sacred and inviolate to Dionysos by the Seleukid king Antiochos III, who also released the city from tribute.
The Anthesteria, a festival of Dionysos celebrating new wine, was in the early 5th century BC already one of the chief religious occasions at Teos, and from the 4th century onwards, the god appeared on civic coinage; in the second century BC the city was able to attract wider regional attention by enlarging the festival of Dionysos, and inviting to Teos the famous Association of Dionysiac Technitai. A professional guild of actors since around 279/8 BC, the Dionysiac Technitai were musicians, actors and other artists devoted to Dionysos and who participated in the festivals and contests across the Greek world in the classical and Hellenistic periods, enjoying pan-Hellenic freedom of travel and immunity from hostile action. Organised into three corporate bodies or chapters at Athens, in the Peloponnesos, and in Asia Minor, the latter was based in Teos from circa 207/6 until sometime during the second century.
The Association of Dionysiac Technitai struck, presumably at Teos, a coinage issue survived by a single specimen ('An Unpublished Tetradrachm Issued by the Artists of Dionysos' in NC 163, 2003, pp. 59-68, p. 15, 1) which is the only known ancient coin struck in the name of a professional guild; it may have been intended as a prize or gift for visiting dignitaries. The present issue should be considered to have been issued contemporaneously with the tetradrachm of the Dionysiac Technitai (that is to say circa 165-140 BC as evidenced by finds such as the Cilicia 1972 Hoard from near Kirikhan dated to about 140 BC - cf. Coins Hoards I, 1975, 87A) along with the other great outputs of stephanophoric coinage from other western Asia Minor mints including (but not limited to) Kyme, Myrina, Herakleia, Lebedos, Magnesia ad Maeandrum, and Smyrna. If it should be considered possible that the Dionysiac Technitai tetradrachm was issued in connection with a major festival event for the specific use or promotion of the Association, then in such an event we might also find the cause for a parallel civic issue.
The obverse portrait of Dionysos of this unique issue is analogous to that of the Dionysiac Technitai tetradrachm, but unlike the latter's simple stephanophoric thyrsos design, the reverse of the present coin is nearly identical in pose to the symbol employed on the Teos tetradrachm issue in the name of Alexander dated to circa 204-190 BC by Price (no. 2312) and P. Kinns ( Studies in the coinage of Ionia: Erythrae, Teos, Lebedus, Colophon, c. 400-30 BC, unpublished Cambridge University Ph.D. dissertation, 1980, p. 519, 125); the present coin in all probability therefore depicts a statue of Dionysos that we might infer stood within the temple precinct at Teos. The temple itself was the largest Temple of Dionysos in the ancient world, and was considered the finest example of the Ionic style of architecture in the Greek world; this celebrated monopteral temple was attributed by Vitruvius to the architect Hermogenes of Priene (see De architectura 1.0.12). Nothing appears to be recorded concerning the statue we must expect to have stood within the temple; it is possible therefore that the present coin represents its only surviving depiction. If Vitruvius was correct in his attribution of the temple to Hermogenes, said construction must have taken place in the late third to early second century BC, which period would certainly fit with the naturalistic contrapposto composition of the type. In any case, despite the great importance of the cult of Dionysos to the city, the Dionysiac coinage from this mint is excessively rare, and the present specimen represents a welcome addition to our understanding of the coinage of Teos.
Good Extremely Fine, of excellent style; very minor flan crack. Unique and unpublished.
Of all the gods worshipped at Teos, Dionysos was held above all - he was the legendary founder and protector of Teos, and such was the relationship between the city and its god that at the end of the 3rd century BC the city and its territory were declared sacred and inviolate to Dionysos by the Seleukid king Antiochos III, who also released the city from tribute.
The Anthesteria, a festival of Dionysos celebrating new wine, was in the early 5th century BC already one of the chief religious occasions at Teos, and from the 4th century onwards, the god appeared on civic coinage; in the second century BC the city was able to attract wider regional attention by enlarging the festival of Dionysos, and inviting to Teos the famous Association of Dionysiac Technitai. A professional guild of actors since around 279/8 BC, the Dionysiac Technitai were musicians, actors and other artists devoted to Dionysos and who participated in the festivals and contests across the Greek world in the classical and Hellenistic periods, enjoying pan-Hellenic freedom of travel and immunity from hostile action. Organised into three corporate bodies or chapters at Athens, in the Peloponnesos, and in Asia Minor, the latter was based in Teos from circa 207/6 until sometime during the second century.
The Association of Dionysiac Technitai struck, presumably at Teos, a coinage issue survived by a single specimen ('An Unpublished Tetradrachm Issued by the Artists of Dionysos' in NC 163, 2003, pp. 59-68, p. 15, 1) which is the only known ancient coin struck in the name of a professional guild; it may have been intended as a prize or gift for visiting dignitaries. The present issue should be considered to have been issued contemporaneously with the tetradrachm of the Dionysiac Technitai (that is to say circa 165-140 BC as evidenced by finds such as the Cilicia 1972 Hoard from near Kirikhan dated to about 140 BC - cf. Coins Hoards I, 1975, 87A) along with the other great outputs of stephanophoric coinage from other western Asia Minor mints including (but not limited to) Kyme, Myrina, Herakleia, Lebedos, Magnesia ad Maeandrum, and Smyrna. If it should be considered possible that the Dionysiac Technitai tetradrachm was issued in connection with a major festival event for the specific use or promotion of the Association, then in such an event we might also find the cause for a parallel civic issue.
The obverse portrait of Dionysos of this unique issue is analogous to that of the Dionysiac Technitai tetradrachm, but unlike the latter's simple stephanophoric thyrsos design, the reverse of the present coin is nearly identical in pose to the symbol employed on the Teos tetradrachm issue in the name of Alexander dated to circa 204-190 BC by Price (no. 2312) and P. Kinns ( Studies in the coinage of Ionia: Erythrae, Teos, Lebedus, Colophon, c. 400-30 BC, unpublished Cambridge University Ph.D. dissertation, 1980, p. 519, 125); the present coin in all probability therefore depicts a statue of Dionysos that we might infer stood within the temple precinct at Teos. The temple itself was the largest Temple of Dionysos in the ancient world, and was considered the finest example of the Ionic style of architecture in the Greek world; this celebrated monopteral temple was attributed by Vitruvius to the architect Hermogenes of Priene (see De architectura 1.0.12). Nothing appears to be recorded concerning the statue we must expect to have stood within the temple; it is possible therefore that the present coin represents its only surviving depiction. If Vitruvius was correct in his attribution of the temple to Hermogenes, said construction must have taken place in the late third to early second century BC, which period would certainly fit with the naturalistic contrapposto composition of the type. In any case, despite the great importance of the cult of Dionysos to the city, the Dionysiac coinage from this mint is excessively rare, and the present specimen represents a welcome addition to our understanding of the coinage of Teos.