Greek PB Tessera. Circa 4th century BC. Head of Hera Lakinia facing slightly to right, wearing necklace and stephane; Π..ΩΔ-A (sic) around. For similar depictions of Hera Lakinia, cf. HGC 1, 1611-3 (Pandosia) and HN Italy 2159ff (Kroton). 4.74g, 16mm.
Condition as seen.
From the Vitangelo Collection, collector's ticket included.
The depiction of the Hera Lakinia on this tessera suggests that it may have intended for use in connection with the worship of the goddess whose cult centre was situated 10 kilometres away from Kroton at Lakinion, now Cape Colonna. The site takes its name from the sole surviving column of the temple built upon that spot in around 470 BC, which was largely intact until the sixteenth century when it was extensively quarried. Theocritos' Korydon sings the praises of the 'Lakinian shrine that faces the dawn', and Livy 24.3.3-7 tells us that it was 'a building more famous even than the city itself and held in reverence by all the peoples there around' and that within was a column of solid gold dedicated to the goddess. By the time of Livy's writings however, the temple had long been plundered.