Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 132 30-31 May 2022
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Metapontum
Nomos circa 500, AR 8.05 g. META Ear of barley; in r. field, grasshopper. Rev. Ear of barley incuse; in l. field, outline of a dolphin. Gorini 10 and p. 136. SNG ANS 1207. AMB 130. Noe 104. Historia Numorum Italy 1472.
Extremely rare and undoubtedly the finest specimen known. Perfectly struck
and centred in high relief on a full flan and exceptionally fresh metal.
Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Ex Roma Numismatics sale XIII, 2017, 28.
In around 720 B.C. Metapontum was founded in southern Italy by Achaean colonists escaping hard times in the Peloponnesos. In time all of southern Italy came to be known as Magna Graecia ("Greater Greece") because of the extensive Greek colonization there. Jealous of the fertility of the surrounding region and nursing ethnic hatreds, the Metapontum joined with the neighbouring Achaean cities of Kroton and Sybaris in destroying the Ionian colony of Siris (ca. 550 B.C.), but when conflict arose between these allies, Metapontum did nothing to save Sybaris from destruction at the hands of Kroton in 510 B.C. The city did, however, provide a safe haven for the ascetic philosopher Pythagoras and his followers after they were driven out of Kroton. In the fifth century B.C. Metapontum supported the disastrous Athenian expedition against Syracuse (414-413 B.C.) and resisted attack by Dionysios I of Syracuse, but gradually seems to have fallen into decline. By the fourth century B.C., Metapontum and other neighbouring cities were threatened by the rise of the Italic Lucanians. Although there is no evidence of direct Lucanian attack on Metapontine territory, the menace was serious enough that Metapontum entered into alliance with its long-time rival, Taras, and the Molossian king, Alexander I, with a view to breaking Italic power in 334 B.C. Unfortunately, despite several victories, Alexander was treacherously killed at the Battle of Pandosia (331 B.C.), leaving Metapontum and the other cities of Magna Graecia to face the Italic threat on their own.
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Nomos circa 500, AR 8.05 g. META Ear of barley; in r. field, grasshopper. Rev. Ear of barley incuse; in l. field, outline of a dolphin. Gorini 10 and p. 136. SNG ANS 1207. AMB 130. Noe 104. Historia Numorum Italy 1472.
Extremely rare and undoubtedly the finest specimen known. Perfectly struck
and centred in high relief on a full flan and exceptionally fresh metal.
Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Ex Roma Numismatics sale XIII, 2017, 28.
In around 720 B.C. Metapontum was founded in southern Italy by Achaean colonists escaping hard times in the Peloponnesos. In time all of southern Italy came to be known as Magna Graecia ("Greater Greece") because of the extensive Greek colonization there. Jealous of the fertility of the surrounding region and nursing ethnic hatreds, the Metapontum joined with the neighbouring Achaean cities of Kroton and Sybaris in destroying the Ionian colony of Siris (ca. 550 B.C.), but when conflict arose between these allies, Metapontum did nothing to save Sybaris from destruction at the hands of Kroton in 510 B.C. The city did, however, provide a safe haven for the ascetic philosopher Pythagoras and his followers after they were driven out of Kroton. In the fifth century B.C. Metapontum supported the disastrous Athenian expedition against Syracuse (414-413 B.C.) and resisted attack by Dionysios I of Syracuse, but gradually seems to have fallen into decline. By the fourth century B.C., Metapontum and other neighbouring cities were threatened by the rise of the Italic Lucanians. Although there is no evidence of direct Lucanian attack on Metapontine territory, the menace was serious enough that Metapontum entered into alliance with its long-time rival, Taras, and the Molossian king, Alexander I, with a view to breaking Italic power in 334 B.C. Unfortunately, despite several victories, Alexander was treacherously killed at the Battle of Pandosia (331 B.C.), leaving Metapontum and the other cities of Magna Graecia to face the Italic threat on their own.
View a video of this lot