Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
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Cyprus, Marion AR Stater. Sasmas, circa 470-450 BC. Lion standing right, licking its right foreleg; Boiotian shield above, [sa-sa-ma-o to-ka-ro-to-sa] (Sasmas, son of Doxandros) in Cypriot script across upper field, floral pattern in exergue / Phrixos standing left, clinging to the back of a ram advancing left; [ma-ri-eu-se] (of Marion) in Cypriot script to left and below, [Boiotian shield below]; all within incuse square. Zapiti & Michaelidou 1; Tziambazis 50; BMC p. 71, 1 = Traité II 1366; SNG Copenhagen 24; ACGC 1108 = E.S.G. Robinson, "British Museum Acquisitions for the Years 1933-1934" in NC 1936, 45; E.S.G. Robinson, "British Museum Acquisitions for 1930-31" in NC 1932, 10; Kunstfreund 168; Triton XVII, lot 356 = Triton XV, lot 1264 (all from the same obv. die). 11.31g, 25mm, 4h.
Very Fine. Extremely Rare, and exceptionally complete for the type.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
The city of Marion in Cyprus is first definitively mentioned by Diodorus Siculus who recounts how Kimon, an Athenian general, laid siege to the city in 449 BC. This siege removed the city from Persian domination and placed it under Athenian rule; it was thereafter often known by geographers such as Skylax as 'Marion Hellenikon'. Diodorus Siculus had cause to mention Marion again to record the destruction of the city in 312 BC at the hands of Ptolemy I. The king of Marion at this time was Stasioikos II, who aligned himself with Antigonous I Monophthalmos in opposition to Ptolemy I who at that time was attempting to assert suzerainty over all of Cyprus. Ptolemy ordered the city to be laid to waste; his troops razed it to the ground and all the inhabitants were transferred to Paphos. It was not until 270 BC that a new city was established on the site of the ruins, which eventually prospered under its new name of Arsinoe.
Very Fine. Extremely Rare, and exceptionally complete for the type.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
The city of Marion in Cyprus is first definitively mentioned by Diodorus Siculus who recounts how Kimon, an Athenian general, laid siege to the city in 449 BC. This siege removed the city from Persian domination and placed it under Athenian rule; it was thereafter often known by geographers such as Skylax as 'Marion Hellenikon'. Diodorus Siculus had cause to mention Marion again to record the destruction of the city in 312 BC at the hands of Ptolemy I. The king of Marion at this time was Stasioikos II, who aligned himself with Antigonous I Monophthalmos in opposition to Ptolemy I who at that time was attempting to assert suzerainty over all of Cyprus. Ptolemy ordered the city to be laid to waste; his troops razed it to the ground and all the inhabitants were transferred to Paphos. It was not until 270 BC that a new city was established on the site of the ruins, which eventually prospered under its new name of Arsinoe.