Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 138 18-19 May 2023
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Syracuse.
16 litrae 214-212, AR 13.59 g. Laureate head of Zeus l.; below neck truncation, AΓ ligate. Rev. ΣYPAKOΣΙΩΝ Walking biga r., driven by Nike; above, ΣΩ. Jameson 890 (these dies). Burnett, SNR 62, 71 and pl. 18 and pl. 8, D2 (these dies). McClean 2959 (these dies).
Extremely rare. A spectacular portrait of the finest Hellenistic style struck on fresh metal
and with a light iridescent tone. Minor traces of overstriking on obverse,
otherwise extremely fine
Ex NAC sale 9, 1996, 268. From an Exceptional Collection assembled between the early 70s and late 90s.
When Hieron II died in 215 B.C., he left his kingdom to his fifteen-year-old grandson, Hieronymos. Knowing that Hieronymos' character was essentially debauched, Hieron made provisions for a council of fifteen guardians to supervise the young king and act as his regents, providing guidance until Hieronymos was of an age and maturity to rule in his own stead. One of the counsellors who also happened to be the son-in-law of Hieron, Adranodoros, however, desired power for himself. Adranodoros connived to have the other guardians dismissed, thereupon becoming the young king's chief counsellor, and in the wake of the Roman disaster at Cannae, he convinced Hieronymos to change Syracuse's allegiance from Rome to that of Carthage. This brought Rome and Syracuse into direct conflict, and in 214 B.C. the Romans under Marcus Claudius Marcellus began besieging the city. Hieronymus was assassinated after a reign of only thirteen months, and a republican government known as the Fifth Democracy was restored. The city failed to change its Carthaginian allegiance, however, and despite a protracted siege of two years in which the Romans had to contend with uprisings throughout Sicily as well as the mechanical defences of the great Archimedes, the city finally fell in 212 B.C. Despite the political turmoil at Syracuse during the Roman siege after Hieronymos' elimination, the mint managed to issue a remarkable series of coinage, the dies of which were engraved by some very talented artists. The largest and rarest denomination was this most impressive 16-litrae piece showing an exceptionally handsome portrait of Zeus that exhibits a rare grace and vitality for the period, and which has artistic parallels with the contemporary Carthaginian-allied Brettian League issues produced probably at Lokroi. The reverse depicting the goddess Nike driving a galloping four-horse chariot is rendered expressively, and alludes to the forlorn desire that Syracuse could yet withstand the might of the Romans.
16 litrae 214-212, AR 13.59 g. Laureate head of Zeus l.; below neck truncation, AΓ ligate. Rev. ΣYPAKOΣΙΩΝ Walking biga r., driven by Nike; above, ΣΩ. Jameson 890 (these dies). Burnett, SNR 62, 71 and pl. 18 and pl. 8, D2 (these dies). McClean 2959 (these dies).
Extremely rare. A spectacular portrait of the finest Hellenistic style struck on fresh metal
and with a light iridescent tone. Minor traces of overstriking on obverse,
otherwise extremely fine
Ex NAC sale 9, 1996, 268. From an Exceptional Collection assembled between the early 70s and late 90s.
When Hieron II died in 215 B.C., he left his kingdom to his fifteen-year-old grandson, Hieronymos. Knowing that Hieronymos' character was essentially debauched, Hieron made provisions for a council of fifteen guardians to supervise the young king and act as his regents, providing guidance until Hieronymos was of an age and maturity to rule in his own stead. One of the counsellors who also happened to be the son-in-law of Hieron, Adranodoros, however, desired power for himself. Adranodoros connived to have the other guardians dismissed, thereupon becoming the young king's chief counsellor, and in the wake of the Roman disaster at Cannae, he convinced Hieronymos to change Syracuse's allegiance from Rome to that of Carthage. This brought Rome and Syracuse into direct conflict, and in 214 B.C. the Romans under Marcus Claudius Marcellus began besieging the city. Hieronymus was assassinated after a reign of only thirteen months, and a republican government known as the Fifth Democracy was restored. The city failed to change its Carthaginian allegiance, however, and despite a protracted siege of two years in which the Romans had to contend with uprisings throughout Sicily as well as the mechanical defences of the great Archimedes, the city finally fell in 212 B.C. Despite the political turmoil at Syracuse during the Roman siege after Hieronymos' elimination, the mint managed to issue a remarkable series of coinage, the dies of which were engraved by some very talented artists. The largest and rarest denomination was this most impressive 16-litrae piece showing an exceptionally handsome portrait of Zeus that exhibits a rare grace and vitality for the period, and which has artistic parallels with the contemporary Carthaginian-allied Brettian League issues produced probably at Lokroi. The reverse depicting the goddess Nike driving a galloping four-horse chariot is rendered expressively, and alludes to the forlorn desire that Syracuse could yet withstand the might of the Romans.