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Calabria, Tarentum (Circa 280 BC)
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AR Nomos
22.5mm, 7.58 g
Obverse: Youth on horseback right, crowning horse; [ΣA to left, APE/ΘΩN in two lines below]
Reverse: Phalanthos, holding tripod, riding dolphin left; TAΡAΣ above [CAΣ below]
Vlasto 666–7; HN Italy 957
280 BC was the last year the original Tarentine weight standard of 7.8 g remained in place before being reduced to about 6.6 grams, perhaps to match the Roman weight standard of 6 scruples. Likely not coincidentally, this was also the year that Tarentum enlisted the help of the famous general King Pyrrhus of Epirus to fight against the Romans. King Pyrrhus had long dreamed of emulating his cousin Alexander the Great's conquests and saw the conflict with Rome as an opportunity to do so. He arrived in Italy with his army and several war elephants and defeated the Romans twice, but the second victory at Asculum came at such a high cost that he famously said, "If we win one more victory against the Romans, we will be completely ruined." Hence the phrase, a "Pyrrhic victory." He eventually left Southern Italy for Sicily. In the end, Rome won the Pyrrhic War (280-272 B.C.) and forced Tarentum to accept a permanent Roman garrison on its acropolis.
Taras coins minted between 425 and 209 BC typically depict a horseman on the obverse and a young man riding a dolphin on the reverse (Phalanthos, the half-Spartan divine founder of Tarentum supposedly carried to shore by a dolphin after a shipwreck). The horseman designs are believed to represent the worship of the Dioscuri, the twin deities Castor and Pollux (deities of horsemanship, athletes, and soldiers) worshipped in Taras' mother city of Sparta. This particular didrachm features a peaceful scene of a young man crowning a horse, which may commemorate a victory in an athletic contest.
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![Calabria, Tarentum (Circa 280 BC)
AR Nomos
22.5mm, 7.58 g
Obverse: Youth on horseback right, crowning horse; [ΣA to left, APE/ΘΩN in two lines below]
Reverse: Phalanthos, holding tripod, riding dolphin left; TAΡAΣ above [CAΣ below]
Vlasto 666–7; HN Italy 957
280 BC was the last year the original Tarentine weight standard of 7.8 g remained in place before being reduced to about 6.6 grams, perhaps to match the Roman weight standard of 6 scruples. Likely not coincidentally, this was also the year that Tarentum enlisted the help of the famous general King Pyrrhus of Epirus to fight against the Romans. King Pyrrhus had long dreamed of emulating his cousin Alexander the Great's conquests and saw the conflict with Rome as an opportunity to do so. He arrived in Italy with his army and several war elephants and defeated the Romans twice, but the second victory at Asculum came at such a high cost that he famously said, "If we win one more victory against the Romans, we will be completely ruined." Hence the phrase, a "Pyrrhic victory." He eventually left Southern Italy for Sicily. In the end, Rome won the Pyrrhic War (280-272 B.C.) and forced Tarentum to accept a permanent Roman garrison on its acropolis.
Taras coins minted between 425 and 209 BC typically depict a horseman on the obverse and a young man riding a dolphin on the reverse (Phalanthos, the half-Spartan divine founder of Tarentum supposedly carried to shore by a dolphin after a shipwreck). The horseman designs are believed to represent the worship of the Dioscuri, the twin deities Castor and Pollux (deities of horsemanship, athletes, and soldiers) worshipped in Taras' mother city of Sparta. This particular didrachm features a peaceful scene of a young man crowning a horse, which may commemorate a victory in an athletic contest.
Keywords: Calabria Tarentum Pyrrhus](albums/userpics/47002/normal_image00021.jpg "Click to view full size image
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Calabria, Tarentum (Circa 280 BC)
AR Nomos
22.5mm, 7.58 g
Obverse: Youth on horseback right, crowning horse; [ΣA to left, APE/ΘΩN in two lines below]
Reverse: Phalanthos, holding tripod, riding dolphin left; TAΡAΣ above [CAΣ below]
Vlasto 666–7; HN Italy 957
280 BC was the last year the original Tarentine weight standard of 7.8 g remained in place before being reduced to about 6.6 grams, perhaps to match the Roman weight standard of 6 scruples. Likely not coincidentally, this was also the year that Tarentum enlisted the help of the famous general King Pyrrhus of Epirus to fight against the Romans. King Pyrrhus had long dreamed of emulating his cousin Alexander the Great's conquests and saw the conflict with Rome as an opportunity to do so. He arrived in Italy with his army and several war elephants and defeated the Romans twice, but the second victory at Asculum came at such a high cost that he famously said, \"If we win one more victory against the Romans, we will be completely ruined.\" Hence the phrase, a \"Pyrrhic victory.\" He eventually left Southern Italy for Sicily. In the end, Rome won the Pyrrhic War (280-272 B.C.) and forced Tarentum to accept a permanent Roman garrison on its acropolis.
Taras coins minted between 425 and 209 BC typically depict a horseman on the obverse and a young man riding a dolphin on the reverse (Phalanthos, the half-Spartan divine founder of Tarentum supposedly carried to shore by a dolphin after a shipwreck). The horseman designs are believed to represent the worship of the Dioscuri, the twin deities Castor and Pollux (deities of horsemanship, athletes, and soldiers) worshipped in Taras' mother city of Sparta. This particular didrachm features a peaceful scene of a young man crowning a horse, which may commemorate a victory in an athletic contest.
Keywords: Calabria Tarentum Pyrrhus")
