Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 126 17 Nov 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Catana
Tetradrachm signed by Heracleidas circa 405-402, AR 17.32 g. Laureate head of Apollo, facing three-quarters l., his hair falling in loose curls around his face; in field r., [ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΑΣ]. Rev. Fast quadriga driven l. by charioteer holding reins with both hands; in field above, Nike flying r., holding taenia and wreath to crown the charioteer. In exergue, [KATANAIΩΝ / fish l.]. Kraay-Hirmer pl. 15, 43 (these dies). Rizzo pl. XIV, 10 and XVI, 2 (these dies). Gulbenkian 190 (these dies). C.C. 62 (these dies). SNG Spencer-Churchill 38 (this coin). AMB 337 (these dies).
Very rare. A portrait of masterly style struck on a narrow flan and with a lovely
old cabinet tone. Reverse off-centre, otherwise good very fine / very fine
Ex Ars Classica XVI, 1933, Spencer-Churchill, 480; Glendining's-Baldwin & Sons 10 December 1986, Olga H. Knoepke, 63 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 134 sales.
Katane was founded near Mount Aetna by colonists from Sicilian Naxos in c. 729 BC. The city was famous in antiquity both for its laws and the piety of its inhabitants. In the late sixth century BC, the lawgiver Charondas (a pupil of Pythagoras) composed a set of laws for the city, written entirely in verse, that were said to have been so just that they were widely adopted by many of the other Chalkidian colonies of Sicily. Alas, Charondas was unable to personally compose law codes specific to these other cities because he committed suicide after he realized that he had accidentally broken one of his own laws: he had entered the public assembly while wearing a sword. The upright character of the inhabitants of Katane is also expressed in the legend of Amphinomos and Anapios- often known simply as \the Katanaian Brothers\\-who took no heed for their personal possessions and property when Mount Aetna erupted (perhaps in 427 BC) and instead carried their elderly parents to safety on their shoulders. These brothers became instant symbols of filial piety and served as an archetype for later Roman representations of the hero Aeneas carrying his father Anchises. Unfortunately, the evident moral superiority of the Katanaians did little to aid them in their long history of conflict with Syracuse and its frequently amoral tyrants. In 476 BC, Hieron I of Syracuse ejected the Chalkidian Greek Katanaians from their city in order to use it to settle 10,000 Dorian Greeks from the territory of Syracuse and the Peloponnesos. However, once the tyrant was safely dead, in 461 BC, the Katanaians returned to expel the interlopers and reclaim their city. Continued animosity towards Syracuse led the Katane to join Leontinoi in seeking aid from the Athenians and in supporting the ultimately disastrous Athenian expedition against Syracuse in 413-413 BC. The city also opposed the expansionist policies of the Syracusan tyrant Dionysios I (405-367 BC), which devolved into open warfare in 403/2 BC. The Katanaians prepared to stand firm against the tyrant and weather a siege, but they were betrayed to Dionysios I by Arkesilos, one of their own generals. Thus, Katane fell into the hands of the tyrant, who immediately ordered the plunder of the city and the enslavement of the entire population. He subsequently walked in the footsteps of Hieron I and populated the empty city with Campanian mercenaries in his employ. The present tetradrachm was struck in the period of conflict between Katane and Dionysios I of Syracuse. It is a little ironic that this coinage, struck to finance the defense of the city against the Syracusan tyrant, should be so strongly influenced by the contemporary coinage of Syracuse. The racing quadriga type is closely modeled on the Syracusan chariot type of the engraver Kimon while the wonderful facing head of Apollo is a local adaptation of the facing head of Arethusa also engraved by Kimon for tetradrachms of Syracuse under Dionysios I. Also like at contemporary Syracuse, the obverse die used to strike this Katanaian tetradrachm has been signed by its engraver, Herakleidas, although his signature is off-flan here. Despite serious political opposition from cities like Katane, this coin illustrates the ultimate inability of the Sicilian enemies of Syracuse to resist its cultural and economic influence.
View a video of this lot
"
Tetradrachm signed by Heracleidas circa 405-402, AR 17.32 g. Laureate head of Apollo, facing three-quarters l., his hair falling in loose curls around his face; in field r., [ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΑΣ]. Rev. Fast quadriga driven l. by charioteer holding reins with both hands; in field above, Nike flying r., holding taenia and wreath to crown the charioteer. In exergue, [KATANAIΩΝ / fish l.]. Kraay-Hirmer pl. 15, 43 (these dies). Rizzo pl. XIV, 10 and XVI, 2 (these dies). Gulbenkian 190 (these dies). C.C. 62 (these dies). SNG Spencer-Churchill 38 (this coin). AMB 337 (these dies).
Very rare. A portrait of masterly style struck on a narrow flan and with a lovely
old cabinet tone. Reverse off-centre, otherwise good very fine / very fine
Ex Ars Classica XVI, 1933, Spencer-Churchill, 480; Glendining's-Baldwin & Sons 10 December 1986, Olga H. Knoepke, 63 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 134 sales.
Katane was founded near Mount Aetna by colonists from Sicilian Naxos in c. 729 BC. The city was famous in antiquity both for its laws and the piety of its inhabitants. In the late sixth century BC, the lawgiver Charondas (a pupil of Pythagoras) composed a set of laws for the city, written entirely in verse, that were said to have been so just that they were widely adopted by many of the other Chalkidian colonies of Sicily. Alas, Charondas was unable to personally compose law codes specific to these other cities because he committed suicide after he realized that he had accidentally broken one of his own laws: he had entered the public assembly while wearing a sword. The upright character of the inhabitants of Katane is also expressed in the legend of Amphinomos and Anapios- often known simply as \the Katanaian Brothers\\-who took no heed for their personal possessions and property when Mount Aetna erupted (perhaps in 427 BC) and instead carried their elderly parents to safety on their shoulders. These brothers became instant symbols of filial piety and served as an archetype for later Roman representations of the hero Aeneas carrying his father Anchises. Unfortunately, the evident moral superiority of the Katanaians did little to aid them in their long history of conflict with Syracuse and its frequently amoral tyrants. In 476 BC, Hieron I of Syracuse ejected the Chalkidian Greek Katanaians from their city in order to use it to settle 10,000 Dorian Greeks from the territory of Syracuse and the Peloponnesos. However, once the tyrant was safely dead, in 461 BC, the Katanaians returned to expel the interlopers and reclaim their city. Continued animosity towards Syracuse led the Katane to join Leontinoi in seeking aid from the Athenians and in supporting the ultimately disastrous Athenian expedition against Syracuse in 413-413 BC. The city also opposed the expansionist policies of the Syracusan tyrant Dionysios I (405-367 BC), which devolved into open warfare in 403/2 BC. The Katanaians prepared to stand firm against the tyrant and weather a siege, but they were betrayed to Dionysios I by Arkesilos, one of their own generals. Thus, Katane fell into the hands of the tyrant, who immediately ordered the plunder of the city and the enslavement of the entire population. He subsequently walked in the footsteps of Hieron I and populated the empty city with Campanian mercenaries in his employ. The present tetradrachm was struck in the period of conflict between Katane and Dionysios I of Syracuse. It is a little ironic that this coinage, struck to finance the defense of the city against the Syracusan tyrant, should be so strongly influenced by the contemporary coinage of Syracuse. The racing quadriga type is closely modeled on the Syracusan chariot type of the engraver Kimon while the wonderful facing head of Apollo is a local adaptation of the facing head of Arethusa also engraved by Kimon for tetradrachms of Syracuse under Dionysios I. Also like at contemporary Syracuse, the obverse die used to strike this Katanaian tetradrachm has been signed by its engraver, Herakleidas, although his signature is off-flan here. Despite serious political opposition from cities like Katane, this coin illustrates the ultimate inability of the Sicilian enemies of Syracuse to resist its cultural and economic influence.
View a video of this lot
"