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Taras, Calabria
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333-331/30 BC (Period IV - Archidamos and the Third Lucanian War)
AR Didrachm (20mm, 7.54g)
Signed by the Kal... engraver.
O: Nude horseman right, wearing shield on left arm and holding two spears in left hand, preparing to thrust third spear held in right hand; |- behind, Δ before, ΚΑΛ and Δ below.
R: Phalanthos astride dolphin right, holding crested helmet; stars flanking, ΤΑΡΑΣ to left, ΚΑΛ below.
D'Andrea XXXII, 657; Vlasto 545; Cote 215; McGill II, 41; Evans IV, H3; HGC I, 794; HN Italy 896; SNG ANS 971; Sear 345
ex Monarch Beach
Archidamos III reigned as King of Sparta from 360 BC until his death in 338. Summoned by the Tarentines to assist them in the first Lucanian war, he lead a mercenary army to Manduria in Calabria, where he fell in battle against the combined forces of the Messapians and Lucanians.
The historian Diodorus suggests that the death of Archidamos and the massacre of his army was divine vengeance for his plundering of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.
The 4th century artist known to us only as the KAL engraver was arguably the finest die engraver in Magna Graecia. Specializing in common everyday scenes and eschewing the more aristocratic themes, his work had a certain elegance and sensitivity rarely seen in numismatic art.
The dolphin rider on this coin is bowing his head slightly and looking very pensively at the helmet in his hands. Is Phalanthos mourning for King Archidamos here? Sir Arthur Evans thought so, and the two stars on this reverse (one off flan), representing the Dioskouri and therefore Sparta the Mother City, lends credence to this idea. If so, then no other engraver could have captured this moment and this emotion quite like KAL…
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![Taras, Calabria
333-331/30 BC (Period IV - Archidamos and the Third Lucanian War)
AR Didrachm (20mm, 7.54g)
Signed by the Kal... engraver.
O: Nude horseman right, wearing shield on left arm and holding two spears in left hand, preparing to thrust third spear held in right hand; |- behind, Δ before, ΚΑΛ and Δ below.
R: Phalanthos astride dolphin right, holding crested helmet; stars flanking, ΤΑΡΑΣ to left, ΚΑΛ below.
D'Andrea XXXII, 657; Vlasto 545; Cote 215; McGill II, 41; Evans IV, H3; HGC I, 794; HN Italy 896; SNG ANS 971; Sear 345
ex Monarch Beach
[i]Archidamos III reigned as King of Sparta from 360 BC until his death in 338. Summoned by the Tarentines to assist them in the first Lucanian war, he lead a mercenary army to Manduria in Calabria, where he fell in battle against the combined forces of the Messapians and Lucanians.
The historian Diodorus suggests that the death of Archidamos and the massacre of his army was divine vengeance for his plundering of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.
The 4th century artist known to us only as the KAL engraver was arguably the finest die engraver in Magna Graecia. Specializing in common everyday scenes and eschewing the more aristocratic themes, his work had a certain elegance and sensitivity rarely seen in numismatic art.
The dolphin rider on this coin is bowing his head slightly and looking very pensively at the helmet in his hands. Is Phalanthos mourning for King Archidamos here? Sir Arthur Evans thought so, and the two stars on this reverse (one off flan), representing the Dioskouri and therefore Sparta the Mother City, lends credence to this idea. If so, then no other engraver could have captured this moment and this emotion quite like KAL…[/i]](albums/userpics/21312/normal_Vlasto_545.JPG "Click to view full size image
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Taras, Calabria
333-331/30 BC (Period IV - Archidamos and the Third Lucanian War)
AR Didrachm (20mm, 7.54g)
Signed by the Kal... engraver.
O: Nude horseman right, wearing shield on left arm and holding two spears in left hand, preparing to thrust third spear held in right hand; |- behind, Δ before, ΚΑΛ and Δ below.
R: Phalanthos astride dolphin right, holding crested helmet; stars flanking, ΤΑΡΑΣ to left, ΚΑΛ below.
D'Andrea XXXII, 657; Vlasto 545; Cote 215; McGill II, 41; Evans IV, H3; HGC I, 794; HN Italy 896; SNG ANS 971; Sear 345
ex Monarch Beach
[i]Archidamos III reigned as King of Sparta from 360 BC until his death in 338. Summoned by the Tarentines to assist them in the first Lucanian war, he lead a mercenary army to Manduria in Calabria, where he fell in battle against the combined forces of the Messapians and Lucanians.
The historian Diodorus suggests that the death of Archidamos and the massacre of his army was divine vengeance for his plundering of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.
The 4th century artist known to us only as the KAL engraver was arguably the finest die engraver in Magna Graecia. Specializing in common everyday scenes and eschewing the more aristocratic themes, his work had a certain elegance and sensitivity rarely seen in numismatic art.
The dolphin rider on this coin is bowing his head slightly and looking very pensively at the helmet in his hands. Is Phalanthos mourning for King Archidamos here? Sir Arthur Evans thought so, and the two stars on this reverse (one off flan), representing the Dioskouri and therefore Sparta the Mother City, lends credence to this idea. If so, then no other engraver could have captured this moment and this emotion quite like KAL…[/i]")
