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Auction 54 11 Jan 2022
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Sicily, Leontinoi. Silver Tetradrachm (17.28 g), after 480 BC. Dies engraved by the "Demareteion Master". Charioteer, holding kentron and reins, driving slow quadriga tight; above, Nike flying left, crowning the driver with wreath; in exergue, lion running to right. Reverse: ΛEO-NTIN-O-N, laureate head of Apollo right, his hair is combed over the forehead and tied in back of head; below, lion running right; around, three laurel leaves. Rizzo pl. 22, 14 = Hirmer 19, pl. 6 (same dies); Chantraine pl. 1, 5; Holloway pl. 1, 4. Schwabacher pl. 6; SNG ANS 217; SNG Munich 549. Of the highest rarity!. Choice Very Fine. Estimated Value $50,000 - UP
In the late eight century BC, the Sicilian city of Naxos became overburdened by its population and therefore dispatched colonists to found a settlement further down the eastern coast of Sicily. This new colony was known as Leontinoi and enjoyed years of prosperity under its oligarchic government until ca. 608 BC, when the traditional constitution was overthrown and power was seized by a local strong man named Panaitios. Leontinoi thus became the first city of Sicily to be ruled by a tyrant. Panaitios' success opened a veritable Pandora's Box for the island and many cities subsequently found their old institutions subverted by tyrants and despite occasional revolutions, tyrants tended to rule many of the Sicilian cities down to the third century BC, long after this form of government had died out in many Greek cities outside of Sicily. Panaitios had released the idea of tyranny into Sicily, but he did not foresee what others would do to his city through tyrannical power. In the fifth century BC, Sicilian tyrants created whole empires on the island, dominating not only their own people, but also the populations of neighboring cities. In ca. 496/5 BC, Leontinoi was conquered by Hippokrates, the tyrant of Gela. After his death in 491 BC, the city passed under the authority of his successor, Gelon I, who in 485 BC also seized Syracuse and became tyrant in that city as well. This impressive tetradrachm of Leontinoi was struck during the period of Gelon's domination of the city, probably in connection with his great victory over the vast Punic army that the general Hamilcar led against him and his ally, Theron of Akragas, at the Battle of Himera (480 BC). Large quantities of silver were plundered from Hamilcar's camp and the peace treaty that followed compelled the Carthaginians to pay an indemnity of 2,000 talents of silver. It is perhaps from this great influx of silver that coins like this Leontine tetradrachm were struck. The types eloquently speak to the influence of Syracuse over the issuing city, as one might expect from dies executed by the Demarateion Master - the celebrated Syracusan engraver responsible for designing the dekadrachms of Syracuse in the same period. The slow quadriga obverse is taken directly from contemporary Syracusan tetradrachms and dekadrachms while the head of Apollo on the reverse mirrors features of the head of Arethusa on Syracusan issues. Whereas the head of Arethusa is regularly encircled by four dolphins, here the head of Apollo is encircled by three laurel leaves and a lion. The lion (leon in Greek) served as the punning badge of the city.
Ex Hess-Leu 31 (6 December 1966), 113; Ars Classica XV (2 July 1930), 291; Gutekunst Collection (Jacob Hirsch XXXI, 6 May 1912), 163.
In the late eight century BC, the Sicilian city of Naxos became overburdened by its population and therefore dispatched colonists to found a settlement further down the eastern coast of Sicily. This new colony was known as Leontinoi and enjoyed years of prosperity under its oligarchic government until ca. 608 BC, when the traditional constitution was overthrown and power was seized by a local strong man named Panaitios. Leontinoi thus became the first city of Sicily to be ruled by a tyrant. Panaitios' success opened a veritable Pandora's Box for the island and many cities subsequently found their old institutions subverted by tyrants and despite occasional revolutions, tyrants tended to rule many of the Sicilian cities down to the third century BC, long after this form of government had died out in many Greek cities outside of Sicily. Panaitios had released the idea of tyranny into Sicily, but he did not foresee what others would do to his city through tyrannical power. In the fifth century BC, Sicilian tyrants created whole empires on the island, dominating not only their own people, but also the populations of neighboring cities. In ca. 496/5 BC, Leontinoi was conquered by Hippokrates, the tyrant of Gela. After his death in 491 BC, the city passed under the authority of his successor, Gelon I, who in 485 BC also seized Syracuse and became tyrant in that city as well. This impressive tetradrachm of Leontinoi was struck during the period of Gelon's domination of the city, probably in connection with his great victory over the vast Punic army that the general Hamilcar led against him and his ally, Theron of Akragas, at the Battle of Himera (480 BC). Large quantities of silver were plundered from Hamilcar's camp and the peace treaty that followed compelled the Carthaginians to pay an indemnity of 2,000 talents of silver. It is perhaps from this great influx of silver that coins like this Leontine tetradrachm were struck. The types eloquently speak to the influence of Syracuse over the issuing city, as one might expect from dies executed by the Demarateion Master - the celebrated Syracusan engraver responsible for designing the dekadrachms of Syracuse in the same period. The slow quadriga obverse is taken directly from contemporary Syracusan tetradrachms and dekadrachms while the head of Apollo on the reverse mirrors features of the head of Arethusa on Syracusan issues. Whereas the head of Arethusa is regularly encircled by four dolphins, here the head of Apollo is encircled by three laurel leaves and a lion. The lion (leon in Greek) served as the punning badge of the city.
Ex Hess-Leu 31 (6 December 1966), 113; Ars Classica XV (2 July 1930), 291; Gutekunst Collection (Jacob Hirsch XXXI, 6 May 1912), 163.