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Velia, Lucania
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350-310 BC (Period VI: Kleudoros Group)
AR Didrachm (21mm, 7.50g)
O: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with griffin, swan's head at front of visor.
R: Lion prowling left; Φ above, >E monogram (Kleudoros) below, YEΛHTΩN in ex, all within linear circle.
Williams 297; SNG ANS 1312; SNG Ashmolean 1233; HGC I, 1311; HN Italy 1289; Sear 460v
ex Jack H. Beymer
In 545 BC the Persian King Cyrus the Great conquered the Ionian colony of Phocaea in Asia Minor. The survivors fled by sea, and after a settlement on Corsica was destroyed by the Carthaginians the Phocaean refugees finally reached the south-west coast of Lucania between 538 and 535 BC, where they founded Velia on a promontory between two rivers.
Its’ natural harbor and fortunate situation on the road between Rome and Rhegion made Velia a prime center of commerce, and it soon became known throughout the Mediterranean as a profitable destination and a safe shelter from the harsh winds of the Tyrrhenian Sea. This allowed the colony to thrive, and by the middle of the 5th century BC the Eleatic school of philosophy took form here under Xenophanes and Parmenides, the latter also writing the city's constitution.
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![Velia, Lucania
350-310 BC (Period VI: Kleudoros Group)
AR Didrachm (21mm, 7.50g)
O: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with griffin, swan's head at front of visor.
R: Lion prowling left; Φ above, >E monogram (Kleudoros) below, YEΛHTΩN in ex, all within linear circle.
Williams 297; SNG ANS 1312; SNG Ashmolean 1233; HGC I, 1311; HN Italy 1289; Sear 460v
ex Jack H. Beymer
[i]In 545 BC the Persian King Cyrus the Great conquered the Ionian colony of Phocaea in Asia Minor. The survivors fled by sea, and after a settlement on Corsica was destroyed by the Carthaginians the Phocaean refugees finally reached the south-west coast of Lucania between 538 and 535 BC, where they founded Velia on a promontory between two rivers.
Its’ natural harbor and fortunate situation on the road between Rome and Rhegion made Velia a prime center of commerce, and it soon became known throughout the Mediterranean as a profitable destination and a safe shelter from the harsh winds of the Tyrrhenian Sea. This allowed the colony to thrive, and by the middle of the 5th century BC the Eleatic school of philosophy took form here under Xenophanes and Parmenides, the latter also writing the city's constitution.[/i]](albums/userpics/21312/normal_Velia_Kleudoros.jpg "Click to view full size image
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Velia, Lucania
350-310 BC (Period VI: Kleudoros Group)
AR Didrachm (21mm, 7.50g)
O: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with griffin, swan's head at front of visor.
R: Lion prowling left; Φ above, >E monogram (Kleudoros) below, YEΛHTΩN in ex, all within linear circle.
Williams 297; SNG ANS 1312; SNG Ashmolean 1233; HGC I, 1311; HN Italy 1289; Sear 460v
ex Jack H. Beymer
[i]In 545 BC the Persian King Cyrus the Great conquered the Ionian colony of Phocaea in Asia Minor. The survivors fled by sea, and after a settlement on Corsica was destroyed by the Carthaginians the Phocaean refugees finally reached the south-west coast of Lucania between 538 and 535 BC, where they founded Velia on a promontory between two rivers.
Its’ natural harbor and fortunate situation on the road between Rome and Rhegion made Velia a prime center of commerce, and it soon became known throughout the Mediterranean as a profitable destination and a safe shelter from the harsh winds of the Tyrrhenian Sea. This allowed the colony to thrive, and by the middle of the 5th century BC the Eleatic school of philosophy took form here under Xenophanes and Parmenides, the latter also writing the city's constitution.[/i]")
