Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 124 23 Jun 2021
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Himera.
Chalcidian drachm circa 530-520, AR 5.85 g. Rooster walking r. within dotted border. Rev. Mill sail pattern incuse. Boston 249. Kraay-Hirmer group II.
In exceptional condition for the issue, among the finest specimens known. Perfectly
struck in high relief with a light tone. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Ex NAC sale 59, 2011, 517. From the Athos Dina Moretti collection.
In the early years of the 5th Century B.C. Sicily was rife with conflict involving not only the competing indigenous and Greek powers, but also the Carthaginians, who for centuries had been present in the western part of the island. In the eastern part of Sicily, the Syracusan tyrant Gelon had successfully transformed his city and its dependencies into a regional power. As part of his efforts Gelon had allied himself with Theron, the tyrant of Acragas, on the southern coast of central Sicily. In 483 B.C., Theron captured Himera, a Greek settlement in central Sicily, though far to the north. The ousted tyrant of Himera, Terillus, along with Anaxilas of Rhegium, appealed to the Carthaginians for assistance.
Though it took three years for them to commit and mobilise, the Carthaginians assembled a massive army and navy with which they hoped to liberate Himera and halt the brazen expansion of Syracusan-Acragantine authority so near their territories. In 480, the same year that the Persians led their second invasion of Greece, Carthaginians under the general Hamilcar besieged Himera. Theron, who led the defence of his newly acquired city, appealed to Gelon for aid.
Gelon responded with a large relief force that proved critical in defeating the Carthaginian siege effort, though different accounts exist of the course of victory. Herodotus indicates there was a pitched battle in which the Greeks emerged victorious and forced Hamilcar to commit suicide. Diodorus offers a different and more detailed version in which the Syracusan ca- valry infiltrated the Carthaginian camps in the guise of friendly reinforcements from Selinus, allowing the Greeks to triumph in the fighting that followed. This monumental defeat ushered in an enduring period of Syracusan authority and peace with the Carthaginians, who were allowed to maintain their settlements in the West.
It is in the context of these great events that the cock-crab didrachms of Himera are thought to have been struck – a theory that appears to be supported by hoard evidence. The conspi- cuous adoption of the crab as a reverse type at Himera has been seen as a reflection of Theron's intervention of 483, and of the conflict with Carthage that followed. The standing cock (which on earlier issues had been paired with reverse a punch die of the mill-sail pattern) clearly was a badge for Himera in the same way that the standing eagle was for Acragas. Both must have represented deities – the eagle of Acragas for Zeus, and the cock of Himera almost certainly for Asclepius, who likely was worshipped at the famous healing baths near the city.
Chalcidian drachm circa 530-520, AR 5.85 g. Rooster walking r. within dotted border. Rev. Mill sail pattern incuse. Boston 249. Kraay-Hirmer group II.
In exceptional condition for the issue, among the finest specimens known. Perfectly
struck in high relief with a light tone. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Ex NAC sale 59, 2011, 517. From the Athos Dina Moretti collection.
In the early years of the 5th Century B.C. Sicily was rife with conflict involving not only the competing indigenous and Greek powers, but also the Carthaginians, who for centuries had been present in the western part of the island. In the eastern part of Sicily, the Syracusan tyrant Gelon had successfully transformed his city and its dependencies into a regional power. As part of his efforts Gelon had allied himself with Theron, the tyrant of Acragas, on the southern coast of central Sicily. In 483 B.C., Theron captured Himera, a Greek settlement in central Sicily, though far to the north. The ousted tyrant of Himera, Terillus, along with Anaxilas of Rhegium, appealed to the Carthaginians for assistance.
Though it took three years for them to commit and mobilise, the Carthaginians assembled a massive army and navy with which they hoped to liberate Himera and halt the brazen expansion of Syracusan-Acragantine authority so near their territories. In 480, the same year that the Persians led their second invasion of Greece, Carthaginians under the general Hamilcar besieged Himera. Theron, who led the defence of his newly acquired city, appealed to Gelon for aid.
Gelon responded with a large relief force that proved critical in defeating the Carthaginian siege effort, though different accounts exist of the course of victory. Herodotus indicates there was a pitched battle in which the Greeks emerged victorious and forced Hamilcar to commit suicide. Diodorus offers a different and more detailed version in which the Syracusan ca- valry infiltrated the Carthaginian camps in the guise of friendly reinforcements from Selinus, allowing the Greeks to triumph in the fighting that followed. This monumental defeat ushered in an enduring period of Syracusan authority and peace with the Carthaginians, who were allowed to maintain their settlements in the West.
It is in the context of these great events that the cock-crab didrachms of Himera are thought to have been struck – a theory that appears to be supported by hoard evidence. The conspi- cuous adoption of the crab as a reverse type at Himera has been seen as a reflection of Theron's intervention of 483, and of the conflict with Carthage that followed. The standing cock (which on earlier issues had been paired with reverse a punch die of the mill-sail pattern) clearly was a badge for Himera in the same way that the standing eagle was for Acragas. Both must have represented deities – the eagle of Acragas for Zeus, and the cock of Himera almost certainly for Asclepius, who likely was worshipped at the famous healing baths near the city.