Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 70 7 May 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Cilicia, Tarsos AR Stater. Circa 440-400 BC. Horseman (Syennesis?) riding to left, holding lotus flower in right hand and reins in left, bow in bowcase on saddle; ankh symbol below horse / Two Persian soldiers, standing vis-a-vis, each holding spear, with bow in bowcase over shoulder; Aramaic legend 'TRZ' between, letters 'L R' before right hand figure. BMC -; SNG von Aulock -; SNG Copenhagen -; SNG France -; SNG Levante -; Traité II, 526, pl. CVI, 6 = Casabonne Type D1, pl. 2, 9 = Hunterian p. 546, 3 and pl. LX, 6; MIMAA -. 10.54g, 21mm, 9h.
Good Very Fine; test cut. Of the greatest rarity, apparently only the fifth known example, one of just four in private hands.
Babelon considered the two figures on the reverse of this coin to be "deux rois de Perse", noting that J. P. Six (NumChron 1884, p. 155) identified them as soldiers, but countering this description with the observation that they both wear 'le costume royal'. In fact, as shown on the 'Relief of the Immortals' at the Apadana Palace, Persepolis, their attire may be considered to be generic, and not necessarily indicative of any special status. While probably not simply representing the frontier guards of Syria and Cilicia as suggested by Six, the type likely does hold some military significance. Certainly, the Syrian Gates (the Belen pass) were of great strategic importance, as attested first-hand by both Xenophon and Alexander the Great, however garrison of this natural choke-point would logically fall not to Cilicia whose territory one would have to pass through before reaching the gates, but to the forces of the satrapy beyond. Indeed Xenophon informs us that they were guarded by a garrison of the King's troops.
The Cilician Gates (a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau) which were of no less importance were guarded by the Cilician troops of the Syennesis, local ruler of Cilicia, and could well be represented here, but in this case it is quite an oblique reference.
The paucity of surviving specimens suggests that this issue, along with the other related types of the period, was perhaps either a payment for the services of a small group of mercenary Greek soldiers (for the native Cilician troops would not themselves be paid by their overlords) or part of a tribute which was then melted down into bullion again almost in its entirety, leaving only a couple of surviving specimens.
Good Very Fine; test cut. Of the greatest rarity, apparently only the fifth known example, one of just four in private hands.
Babelon considered the two figures on the reverse of this coin to be "deux rois de Perse", noting that J. P. Six (NumChron 1884, p. 155) identified them as soldiers, but countering this description with the observation that they both wear 'le costume royal'. In fact, as shown on the 'Relief of the Immortals' at the Apadana Palace, Persepolis, their attire may be considered to be generic, and not necessarily indicative of any special status. While probably not simply representing the frontier guards of Syria and Cilicia as suggested by Six, the type likely does hold some military significance. Certainly, the Syrian Gates (the Belen pass) were of great strategic importance, as attested first-hand by both Xenophon and Alexander the Great, however garrison of this natural choke-point would logically fall not to Cilicia whose territory one would have to pass through before reaching the gates, but to the forces of the satrapy beyond. Indeed Xenophon informs us that they were guarded by a garrison of the King's troops.
The Cilician Gates (a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau) which were of no less importance were guarded by the Cilician troops of the Syennesis, local ruler of Cilicia, and could well be represented here, but in this case it is quite an oblique reference.
The paucity of surviving specimens suggests that this issue, along with the other related types of the period, was perhaps either a payment for the services of a small group of mercenary Greek soldiers (for the native Cilician troops would not themselves be paid by their overlords) or part of a tribute which was then melted down into bullion again almost in its entirety, leaving only a couple of surviving specimens.