Nomos AG
obolos 26 18 Dec 2022
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BITHYNIA. Nicaea. Caracalla, 198-217. (Bronze, 30 mm, 10.78 g, 7 h). ANTNΩNINOC AVΓOVCTOC Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Caracalla to right, seen from behind. Rev. NIKA-I-EΩN Hercules standing right and holding club, breaking Horses of Diomedes. RG 451 corr. (laureate and cuirassed only). Weiser, Nicaea -. Voegtli 5f. SNG Copenhagen -. Extremely rare, the only other specimen in an auction we are aware of, was sold in CNG Mail Bid Sale 76, 2007, 998 for USD 1,450 (from the same dies). Some surface corrosion and hairline flan crack at 10H, otherwise, very fine.
From the B.L. collection, Switzerland.
Assisted by his friend Abderus, one of the Labors of Hercules was the theft of the horses of the Thracian king, Diomedes. The horses were wild, man-eating, and uncontrollable. The young Abderus was left in charge of them while Hercules fought Diomedes. Unfortunately, the horses ate the young Abderus. In revenge, Hercules fed Diomedes to them. At the spot, the hero then founded the city of Abdera. Another version relates that Heracles, having first scared the horses onto the high ground of a peninsula, quickly dug a trench through the peninsula, which filled with water and created an island. When Diomedes arrived, Hercules killed him with the axe he had used to dig the trench, and then fed the corpse to the horses. Since eating calmed the horses, Hercules used that opportunity to bind their mouths shut, and easily took them back to King Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to Hera. According to a later tradition, Bucephalus, Alexander's steed, was supposed to have been descended from one of these horses.
From the B.L. collection, Switzerland.
Assisted by his friend Abderus, one of the Labors of Hercules was the theft of the horses of the Thracian king, Diomedes. The horses were wild, man-eating, and uncontrollable. The young Abderus was left in charge of them while Hercules fought Diomedes. Unfortunately, the horses ate the young Abderus. In revenge, Hercules fed Diomedes to them. At the spot, the hero then founded the city of Abdera. Another version relates that Heracles, having first scared the horses onto the high ground of a peninsula, quickly dug a trench through the peninsula, which filled with water and created an island. When Diomedes arrived, Hercules killed him with the axe he had used to dig the trench, and then fed the corpse to the horses. Since eating calmed the horses, Hercules used that opportunity to bind their mouths shut, and easily took them back to King Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to Hera. According to a later tradition, Bucephalus, Alexander's steed, was supposed to have been descended from one of these horses.