Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXIII 24-25 Mar 2022
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Bruttium, Terina AR Stater. Circa 420-400 BC. Signed by unknown die engraver 'Π'. Head of the nymph Terina to left, wearing sphendone decorated with meander pattern and necklace; TEPINAION around, Π behind / Nike seated to left on a cippus shown in perspective, holding wreath and resting hand on cippus; Π above cippus base. SNG ANS 836 (same dies); Regling, Terina 61 (CC/ωω); Holloway & Jenkins 60; cf. H. von Fritze & H. Gaebler, "Terina", Nomisma 1, 1907, pl. II (this die combination unlisted); HN Italy 2615; HGC 1, 1747. 7.90g, 21mm, 5h.
Good Extremely Fine; a masterpiece of classical die engraving. Very Rare; one of the finest known examples of the type struck from this die-pair, and in the first rank of all known staters of Terina.
Ex Hess-Divo AG, Auction 339, 22 October 2020, lot 10.
Little is known of Terina; even its location is lost, though it is thought to have been in the vicinity of S. Eufemia Lamezia. The city was founded sometime before 460 BC by settlers from Kroton, probably after the Krotoniate defeat of Sybaris c.510. It was regarded as the burial place of the siren Ligeia, which suggests a more ancient settlement at this spot predating the Krotoniate colony. The city appears little in the histories of Magna Graecia, though we learn from an incidental note in Polyaenos' Strategems (2.10.1) that the city was engaged in war with Thourioi under Kleandridas a few years after 444/3 - proof that Terina was significant in both size and power. That it was an important centre of trade, culture and wealth is further attested by the quality, diversity and number of its coins, as well as by evidence that a citizen of Terina was victorious at Olympia in 392 (Olympionikai 376).
Diodoros (16.15.2) reports that Terina was conquered by the Bruttians in 356, noting that it was the first Greek city to fall to the rising power of that people. The history of the Bruttian people is almost as obscure as that of the city of Terina, the few sources that do refer to them all seem to suggest that they had a turbulent existence. Strabo describes them as being the ex-slaves of their neighbours to the north, the Lucanians, against whom they rose up and took their freedom (Geographica, vi.1.4) and that their name 'Brettii' derives from the Lucanian dialect for 'rebels'. Diodorus Siculus seemingly corroborates this view of their origin, casting the Brettii as runaway slaves who happened to gather in that part of southern Italy in the middle of the 4th Century BC, perhaps attracted by the mountainous terrain which lent itself to spontaneous attacks, and who proceeded to antagonise and attack inhabitants of nearby Greek poleis and the settlements of the Lucanians. In a nuanced difference from Strabo, Diodorus states that the local Lucanian word from which he claims their name evolved meant 'runaway slaves' (Biblioteca Historica, xvi.15).
The present coin hails from the age of prosperity and power of Terina, and is directly influenced by the works on the coinage of both Olympia and Syracuse. The nymph Terina's form is evidently inspired by Euainetos' Arethusa, particularly in the naturalistic curls of her hair and her soft jawline.
Good Extremely Fine; a masterpiece of classical die engraving. Very Rare; one of the finest known examples of the type struck from this die-pair, and in the first rank of all known staters of Terina.
Ex Hess-Divo AG, Auction 339, 22 October 2020, lot 10.
Little is known of Terina; even its location is lost, though it is thought to have been in the vicinity of S. Eufemia Lamezia. The city was founded sometime before 460 BC by settlers from Kroton, probably after the Krotoniate defeat of Sybaris c.510. It was regarded as the burial place of the siren Ligeia, which suggests a more ancient settlement at this spot predating the Krotoniate colony. The city appears little in the histories of Magna Graecia, though we learn from an incidental note in Polyaenos' Strategems (2.10.1) that the city was engaged in war with Thourioi under Kleandridas a few years after 444/3 - proof that Terina was significant in both size and power. That it was an important centre of trade, culture and wealth is further attested by the quality, diversity and number of its coins, as well as by evidence that a citizen of Terina was victorious at Olympia in 392 (Olympionikai 376).
Diodoros (16.15.2) reports that Terina was conquered by the Bruttians in 356, noting that it was the first Greek city to fall to the rising power of that people. The history of the Bruttian people is almost as obscure as that of the city of Terina, the few sources that do refer to them all seem to suggest that they had a turbulent existence. Strabo describes them as being the ex-slaves of their neighbours to the north, the Lucanians, against whom they rose up and took their freedom (Geographica, vi.1.4) and that their name 'Brettii' derives from the Lucanian dialect for 'rebels'. Diodorus Siculus seemingly corroborates this view of their origin, casting the Brettii as runaway slaves who happened to gather in that part of southern Italy in the middle of the 4th Century BC, perhaps attracted by the mountainous terrain which lent itself to spontaneous attacks, and who proceeded to antagonise and attack inhabitants of nearby Greek poleis and the settlements of the Lucanians. In a nuanced difference from Strabo, Diodorus states that the local Lucanian word from which he claims their name evolved meant 'runaway slaves' (Biblioteca Historica, xvi.15).
The present coin hails from the age of prosperity and power of Terina, and is directly influenced by the works on the coinage of both Olympia and Syracuse. The nymph Terina's form is evidently inspired by Euainetos' Arethusa, particularly in the naturalistic curls of her hair and her soft jawline.