Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Macedon, Chalkidian League AR Tetradrachm. Olynthos, circa 355-352 BC. Ariston, magistrate. Laureate head of Apollo to right / Kithara with six strings, ΧΑΛΚΙΔΕΩΝ around, ΕΠΙ ΑΡΙΣΤΩΝΟΣ below; all within shallow incuse circle. Robinson & Clement Group V, 127 (A79/P109); SNG ANS 496 (same dies); HGC 3.1, 500. 14.47g, 27mm, 3h.
Extremely Fine; slight die shift to obv., struck on a broad flan and pleasantly toned. A beautiful portrait.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction III, 31 March 2012, lot 139;
Ex Numismatik Lanz München, Auction 149, 24 June 2010, lot 103;
Ex Heritage World Coin Auctions, New York Signature Sale 3008, 3 January 2010, lot 21237;
Ex Stack's Rare Coins, Auction 482, 6 December 1995, lot 74.
Following the Spartan expedition of 382, despite the agreement of Olynthos to dissolve the Chalkidean League in the following year it is listed among members of the Athenian naval confederacy, while twenty years later Demosthenes reported the power of the League as being much greater than before. Olynthos itself is at this time spoken of as a city of the first rank, and the Chalkidian League then comprising thirty-two cities.
Olynthus was allied with Macedon when Philip II and Athens went to war in 356 after Philip's capture of the Athenian colonies of Pydna and Potidea. Around this time Philip also allowed himself to be drawn into the Sacred War on behalf of the Thessalians; since Athens was also a combatant in the Sacred War, the war between Athens and Macedon became inextricably linked with the progress of the Sacred War.
Alarmed by Philip's aggressive policies and further invasions of neighbouring territories, Olynthos concluded an alliance with Athens in 352. The city made three embassies to Athens, the occasions of Demosthenes's three Olynthiac Orations. On the third, the Athenians sent soldiers from among its citizens to garrison the city and reinforce its defences. In response Philip attacked the Chalkidian League in 349, and by 348 he had completely dismantled it, whereupon he undertook to besiege the city itself in 348 BC. Through the treachery of the city's two leading citizens Euthykrates and Lasthenes, the city was betrayed to Philip, who sacked it, razed it to the ground and sold all those within, including the Athenian garrison, into slavery.
Extremely Fine; slight die shift to obv., struck on a broad flan and pleasantly toned. A beautiful portrait.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction III, 31 March 2012, lot 139;
Ex Numismatik Lanz München, Auction 149, 24 June 2010, lot 103;
Ex Heritage World Coin Auctions, New York Signature Sale 3008, 3 January 2010, lot 21237;
Ex Stack's Rare Coins, Auction 482, 6 December 1995, lot 74.
Following the Spartan expedition of 382, despite the agreement of Olynthos to dissolve the Chalkidean League in the following year it is listed among members of the Athenian naval confederacy, while twenty years later Demosthenes reported the power of the League as being much greater than before. Olynthos itself is at this time spoken of as a city of the first rank, and the Chalkidian League then comprising thirty-two cities.
Olynthus was allied with Macedon when Philip II and Athens went to war in 356 after Philip's capture of the Athenian colonies of Pydna and Potidea. Around this time Philip also allowed himself to be drawn into the Sacred War on behalf of the Thessalians; since Athens was also a combatant in the Sacred War, the war between Athens and Macedon became inextricably linked with the progress of the Sacred War.
Alarmed by Philip's aggressive policies and further invasions of neighbouring territories, Olynthos concluded an alliance with Athens in 352. The city made three embassies to Athens, the occasions of Demosthenes's three Olynthiac Orations. On the third, the Athenians sent soldiers from among its citizens to garrison the city and reinforce its defences. In response Philip attacked the Chalkidian League in 349, and by 348 he had completely dismantled it, whereupon he undertook to besiege the city itself in 348 BC. Through the treachery of the city's two leading citizens Euthykrates and Lasthenes, the city was betrayed to Philip, who sacked it, razed it to the ground and sold all those within, including the Athenian garrison, into slavery.