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Sicily, Messana, Mamertinoi, SNG ANS 456-8
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Messana, Sicily, Mamertinoi Hemilitron, 289-270 B.C. AE, 23/20mm 6.84g, CNS I p. 112, 47; SNG ANS 456-8
O: Laureate head of Apollo right; lyre (?) behind
R: Nike standing left, holding wreath and palm-branch; six pellets in right field
MAMERTINI or "children of Mars," was the name taken by a band of Campanian (or Samnite) freebooters who about 289 B.C. seized the Greek colony of Messana at the north-east corner of Sicily, after having been hired by Agathocles to defend it (Polyb. 1. 7. 2). - 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
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