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Chalkis, Euboia
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340-294 BC
AR Drachm (18mm, 3.46g)
O: Head of nymph Chalkis (or Hera?) right, hair rolled.
R: Eagle flying right, holding serpent in his talons and beak; trophy of arms below.
SNG Cop 432; Sear 2482
From the Wallace and BCD collections. ex Pegasi Numismatics
Chalkis was an important Ionian colony on the island of Euboia, and the homeland of many Greek colonies in Magna Graecia, including Cumae and Rhegium.
After the ruin of neighboring Eretria by Athens, Chalkis was left as the supreme power in the region. However Athens conquered Chalkis in 506 BC, establishing a settlement of 4000 Athenians on the island and leaving all of Euboea as a dependency. A rebellion in 446 was put down by Perikles of Athens, who sent more colonists to settle nearby Histiaea, establishing a firm control of this island which was so strategically important to the security of the mother city.
By 410 Euboea had once again regained its’ independence, but fell to the Macedonians under Phillip II, and then finally to Rome.
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