Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 124 23 Jun 2021
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Arcadia, Megalopolis.
1/4 stater circa 320s-275, AV 2.04 g. Horned head of Pan l. Rev. AP ligate; to l., thunderbolt and below, syrinx. For the type cf. BCD Peloponnesos 1531.2 (obol).
Apparently unique and unrecorded. An issue of tremendous importance, several
minor marks, otherwise good very fine
Ex Nomos 3, 2011, 101. From the Mieza collection and reportedly once in the Paul Lambros collection.
In 371 BC, the Boeotian League and its Peloponnesian allies accomplished the previously impossible feat of defeating Sparta in battle at Leuctra. This victory heralded the end of Spartan hegemony in Greece and the dawning of the new Theban hegemony. In the aftermath of Leuctra, Thebes supported the creation of a new federal state-the Arcadian League-to protect the small cities of Arcadia from Spartan aggression and to prevent Sparta from returning to its former status as the major power of the Peloponnesus and mainland Greece as a whole. The members of the Arcadian League were governed from a newly built capital called Megalopolis ("Great City"), but were frequently divided by the traditional animosity between Mantinea and Tegea. In 368 BC, the League suffered a setback when Spartan raiders destroyed an Arcadian force without taking a single casualty, but rebounded to defeat Elis in 365 BC and intervene in the internal politics of Sicyon the following year. However, crisis struck in 363 BC, when Mantinea seceded from the League and established its own anti-Theban league in alliance with Athens, Sparta and Elis. The Mantineans and their allies were defeated by the Arcadians and Thebans in 362 BC, but the political divisions within the League caused it to largely disintegrate soon thereafter. Megalopolis also would have been depopulated if the Thebans had not prevented its population from returning to the old Arcadian cities that had contributed it. It is thought that some kind of reduced Arcadian League may have survived into the third century BC, but its makeup is very uncertain. It had certainly disappeared by 234 BC, when Megalopolis was formally incorporated into the expanding Achaean League.
The present, apparently unique, quarter stater is the first gold issue known to have been struck by the Arcadian League. It features the same Pan head and monogram with syrinx (pan pipes) types that were employed for League obols. Both Pan and his musical instrument were popular types for Arcadian League issues due to the regional association of this rustic god. Arcadia was the original center of his cult in Greece. Unfortunately, it is impossible to be sure when this remarkable gold fraction was struck, but it seems most likely that it was produced in the 360s, when the Arcadian League was at the height of its power and faced the greatest threats to its survival.
1/4 stater circa 320s-275, AV 2.04 g. Horned head of Pan l. Rev. AP ligate; to l., thunderbolt and below, syrinx. For the type cf. BCD Peloponnesos 1531.2 (obol).
Apparently unique and unrecorded. An issue of tremendous importance, several
minor marks, otherwise good very fine
Ex Nomos 3, 2011, 101. From the Mieza collection and reportedly once in the Paul Lambros collection.
In 371 BC, the Boeotian League and its Peloponnesian allies accomplished the previously impossible feat of defeating Sparta in battle at Leuctra. This victory heralded the end of Spartan hegemony in Greece and the dawning of the new Theban hegemony. In the aftermath of Leuctra, Thebes supported the creation of a new federal state-the Arcadian League-to protect the small cities of Arcadia from Spartan aggression and to prevent Sparta from returning to its former status as the major power of the Peloponnesus and mainland Greece as a whole. The members of the Arcadian League were governed from a newly built capital called Megalopolis ("Great City"), but were frequently divided by the traditional animosity between Mantinea and Tegea. In 368 BC, the League suffered a setback when Spartan raiders destroyed an Arcadian force without taking a single casualty, but rebounded to defeat Elis in 365 BC and intervene in the internal politics of Sicyon the following year. However, crisis struck in 363 BC, when Mantinea seceded from the League and established its own anti-Theban league in alliance with Athens, Sparta and Elis. The Mantineans and their allies were defeated by the Arcadians and Thebans in 362 BC, but the political divisions within the League caused it to largely disintegrate soon thereafter. Megalopolis also would have been depopulated if the Thebans had not prevented its population from returning to the old Arcadian cities that had contributed it. It is thought that some kind of reduced Arcadian League may have survived into the third century BC, but its makeup is very uncertain. It had certainly disappeared by 234 BC, when Megalopolis was formally incorporated into the expanding Achaean League.
The present, apparently unique, quarter stater is the first gold issue known to have been struck by the Arcadian League. It features the same Pan head and monogram with syrinx (pan pipes) types that were employed for League obols. Both Pan and his musical instrument were popular types for Arcadian League issues due to the regional association of this rustic god. Arcadia was the original center of his cult in Greece. Unfortunately, it is impossible to be sure when this remarkable gold fraction was struck, but it seems most likely that it was produced in the 360s, when the Arcadian League was at the height of its power and faced the greatest threats to its survival.