Kyrenaica (Cyrenaïca)ReferencesAlexandropoulos, J. Les monnaies de l'Afrique antique: 400 av. J.-C. - 40 ap. J.-C. (Toulouse, 2000). Amandry, M., A. Burnett & J. Mairat. Roman Provincial Coinage III, From Nerva to Hadrian (AD 96–138). (London & Paris, 2015). Asolati, M. Nummi Aenei Cyrenaici: Struttura e cronologia della monetazione bronzea cirenaica di età greca e romana (325 a.C.-180 d.C.). (Rome, 2011). Babelon, E. Traité des Monnaies Grecques et Romaines. Vols I. (Paris, 1901). Bompois, H. Médailles grecques autonomes frappée dans la Cyrénaïque. (Paris, 1869). Available Online Burnett, A., M. Amandry, et al. Roman Provincial Coinage. (1992 - ). Buttrey, T. "Coins and Coinage at Euesperides" in Libyan Studies XXV. (1994). Buttrey, T. "Part I: The Coins from the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone" in Buttrey-McPhee. (Philadelphia, 1997). Babelon, J. Catalogue de la collection de Luynes: monnaies greques. (Paris, 1924-1936). Lorber, C. Coins of the Ptolemaic Empire. (New York, 2018). Malter, J. The Coinage of Ancient Egypt, Auction II, February 23 and 24, 1978. (Encino, CA, 1978). Müller, L. et. al. Numismatique de l'ancienne Afrique. (Copenhagen, 1860-1862). Noeske, H. Die Münzen der Ptolemäer. (Frankfurt, 2000). Pitchfork, C. The Jon Hosking Collection of Ptolemaic Coins. Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney. (Sydney, 2000). Polk, R. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, the Ptolemies, Kings of Egypt. (London, 1882). Roman Provincial Coinage Online - http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/ Robinson, E. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, The Greek Coins of Cyrenaica. (London, 1927). Sear, D. Greek Coins and Their Values, Vol. 2, Asia and Africa. (London, 1979). Sear, D. Greek Imperial Coins and Their Values. (London, 1982). Strauss, P. Collection Maurice Laffaille - monnaies grecques en bronze. (Bàle, 1990). Svoronos, J. Ta Nomismata tou Kratous ton Ptolemaion. (Athens, 1904-1908). Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Denmark, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Vol. 8: Egypt, North Africa, Spain - Gaul. (1994). Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Italy, Milano, Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche, XIV. Cyrenaica-Mauretania. (Milan, 1989). Weiser, W. Katalog Ptolemäischer Bronzemünzen der Sammlung des Instituts für Altertumskunde, Universität Köln. (Opladen, 1995). CyreneCyrene was founded by Dorians from the island of Thera, under the leadership of one Battus, the ancestor of the dynasty called after him the Battiadae, who ruled the country of the Cyrenaïca from about B.C. 631 to about B.C. 450. Situate in a land of unexampled fertility, on the northern slope of the plateau of Libya, where it breaks into spacious terraces descending step by step to the sea, and sheltered by the higher ground in the rear from the parching winds of the desert, Cyrene rapidly rose to wealth and splendor, the enterprising Hellenes becoming the intermediaries between the native Libyan population of the interior and the outer world. Of all the varied products of this beautiful country, the far-famed silphium plant (a form of assafoetida, now extinct) was the most important, and was highly prized through the whole ancient world, both for its medicinal virtues and for the perfumes extracted from its flowers. The bearded head with the ram’s horn on the coins of Cyrene is that of Zeus Ammon, while the youthful head, also with the ram’s horn, is perhaps intended for Aristaeos, the protected of the corn-field and the vine and of all growing crops and bees and flocks and shepherds, and the averter of the scorching blasts of the Sahara. This beneficent god was the son of Apollo and of the nymph Kyrene, and his cultus in the Cyrenaïca appears to have been closely allied to that of the Libyan Ammon, who was also a pastoral god. The female head, of rarer occurrence, is the nymph Kyrene. The silphium plant as a Cyrenaean coin-type, like the bee at Ceos (supra, p. 483), may have had a religious origin in connexion with the cult of Aristaeos, cf. Schol. in Aristoph. Eq. 894 ‘Αρισταιος δε, ο ‘Απολλωνος και Κνρηνης, πρωτος την εργασιαν του σιλφιου εζευρεν, ωσπερ και του μελιτος. Circ. B.C. 631-530. The earliest money attributed to Cyrene consists of extremely archaic electrum and silver coins of the Euboic-Attic standard. This seems to point to commercial relations between Euboea and the Libyan coast at a time when the Euboean cities, Chalcis and Eretria, exercised a predominate influence in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea. The very rare electrum coins which Müller (op. cit.) has attributed to Cyrene may be thus described:—
For other electrum coins conjecturally attributed to Cyrene see B. M. C. Ionia, Pl. I. 2, 12, and p. 6, No. 30. M. Babelon (Rev. Num., 1885, p. 390 sq., and 1894, p. 254) disputes the attribution of these electrum coins to Cyrene, and would assign them to Asia Minor. He also publishes a coin of pure gold, which may possibly be of Cyrenean origin. It is of the Phoenician standard.
The prevailing types of the earliest silver coins (some of which may belong to other cities of the Cyrenaïca) are:— (i) The fruit or seed-vessel of the silphium, resembling a heart in shape repeated on the larger denominations twice or four times. (ii) The sprouting bud or shoot of the silphium often repeated, and arranged in a conventional floral pattern. (Num. Chron., 1899, Pl. XVI, 8, 9, 15, 16.)
(iii) The leaf of the silphium
(iv) The entire plant of the silphium, represented with a thick tall stem, having at the top a round clustered head or blossom.
To these types are sometimes added accessories in the field, such as a lion, a lion’s head, or a boar (Rev. Num., 1885, Pl. XV. 2), &c. The reverses are in this period always incuse without any ornament. The square is sometimes divided diagonally, as on the primitive coins of Euboea, sometimes it is quartered, sometimes divided by a board band into two oblong parts, sometimes filled with narrow lines; there are also certain specimens with a triangular incuse (Z. f. N., xxii, p. 244). For illustrations see Babelon, Traité, ii, Nos. 1973 ff. For other coins which have been attributed to Cyrene, but which may be of Macedonian origin (running female figure holding flowers, winged figure holding wreath, boar), see Rev. Num., 1885, pp. 393 f.; 1903, p. 311. Circ. B.C. 530-480. Euboic-Attic Standard.
The coins which may be assigned to this period are—
To the same period (early in the fifth century) belong two coins which seem to indicate an immigration of Rhodian colonists into the Cyrenaïca, although the attribution of the second coin is not quite certain. FIG. 384.
For a group of Euboic-Attic staters (obv. Bunch of grapes; rev. Incuse square, containing winged male figure running, holding wreaths; Head of Herakles; or Helmet) formerly attributed to Cyrenaïca (Num. Chron., 1891, pp. 1 ff.) see above, p. 312, under Peparethus. In this period coins of Phoenician weight (drachms of 52 and half drachms of 26 grs.) were introduced at Cyrene, and issued side by side due to trade-connexions with various parts of the world. Phoenician Standard
For other varieties see Babelon, Traité, ii, Nos. 1993, 1995 ff. Circ. B.C. 480-431. Euboic-Attic and Phoenician Standards.
FIG. 385.
Circ. B.C. 431-323. In B.C. 431 the rule of the Battiadae was replaced by a republican form of government, under which Cyrene attained the highest point of her prosperity, as is sufficiently evident from the plentiful issue of fine gold pieces, as well as of silver tetradrachms in large numbers. The Euboic-Attic standard was now almost entirely abandoned in the case of the silver money for coins of the Phoenician weight of the Samian variety. Tetradr. 210-200 grs. The gold coins, from the stater down to the half-drachm, were probably not issued much before B.C. 400, and follow the Euboic-Attic weight, but the smallest denominations are a piece of 13.5 grs., equivalent to one-tenth of the stater, a fraction which is also found in Cyprus, and a piece of 6.9 grs. (see Babelon, Traité, i. 422). FIG. 386.
The magistrates’ names, which occur either in full or abbreviated form in the nominative or genitive case, are ΑΡΙΣΤΙΟΣ, ΑΡΙΣΤΑΓΟΡΑ, ΔΑΜΩΝΑΚΤΟΣ, ΘΕΥΦΕΙΔΕΥΣ, ΙΑΣΩΝ, ΙΑΣΟΝΟΣ, ΚΥΔΙΟΣ, ΚΥΘ, ΠΟΛΙΑΝΘΕΥΣ, ΧΑΙΡΕΦΩΝ, ΧΑΙΡΙΟΣ. The silver coinage of Cyrene in this period consists in the main of tetradrachms of 210-200 grs.
FIG. 387.
The smaller denominations are drachms, ½ drachms, trihemiobols, and obols of the same standard. Types—Head of Zeus Ammon (on the obol, facing), or Youthful head with ram’s horn, or Head of Kyrene three-quarters r., rev. Silphium, or, on the trihemiobol, Triple silphium, on the obol, Head of Athena. (The silphium, in all denominations, is often on the obverse.) The magistrates’ names on the silver coins are ΑΡΙΣΤΙΟΕ, ΑΡΙΣΤΟΜΗΔΕΟΣ, ΘΕΥΦΕΙ[ΔΕΥΣ], ΚΥΔΙΟΣ, ΛΙΒΥΣΤΡΑΤΟ[Σ], and ΝΙΚΙΟΣ, variously abbreviated. The following didrachms of Attic weight must also be classed to the latter part of this period.
The bronze coins of the same time exhibit, among others, the following types. Inscr. ΚΥΡΑ (or none at all):—
Circ. B.C. 323-285. In this period, while the Cyrenaïca was subject to Ptolemy Soter (B.C. 323-313 and 308-285) autonomous gold, silver, and bronze money was issued at Cyrene. The gold coins are of the Attic weight, but the silver, like some of the silver of Ptolemy, follows the Rhodian standard (Didr. 120 grs.). In addition, there were gold staters and half-staters of the ordinary Alexandrine types (which Svoronos assigns to the period B.C. 323-313), and, during the second period of Ptolemaic domination, gold, silver, and bronze with Ptolemaic types, often distinguished by the silphium, or by the monogram of Magas, who governed Cyrenaïca for his father-in-law Ptolemy Soter from B.C. 308. See Svoronos, Νομ. των Πτολ., Nos. 59 ff., 304 ff., and above, pp. 848, 850. GOLD.
Of the above, the coins bearing the name Ptolemy (which is sometimes in the Doric genitive form) are assigned by Svoronos to the period B.C. 308-304, immediately following the suppression of the revolt of Ophellas.
SILVER.
FIG. 388.
BRONZE.
B.C. 285-247.
In the reign of Ptolemy II (Philadelphus) bronze coins with the head of Libya were struck for Cyrene (Svoronos, op. cit., pp. 129-132, and above, p. 851); during the revolt of Magas (circa B.C. 283-271) Ptolemy’s name was erased on the coins, and sometimes replaced by that of Magas. Circ. B.C. 247-221.
In B.C. 247 Ptolemy III (Euergetes) succeeded to the throne of Egypt, and by his marriage with Berenice, the daughter of Magas, who was queen in her own right of Cyrenaïca, united the diadems of Egypt and that country. The evidence of the coins goes to prove that throughout the reign of Euergetes, whether owning to a successful revolt or not, the Cyrenaeans enjoyed an interval of autonomy, which did not cease until after his death. It was during this period that they sent to Megalopois in Arcadia to obtain the aid of the philosophers Demophanes and Ecdemus, who had assisted Aratus in the liberation of Sicyon from her tyrants. These statesmen were entrusted with the government of the Cyrenaïca, which they appear to have reconstituted on the lines of the Achaean League. So much, at least, we may infer from the language of Polybius (x. 25) and Plutarch (Philop., i. 1), and from the Federal coins in silver and bronze, bearing the inscr. ΚΟΙΝΟΝ, which are probably to be attributed to this time, as the bronze pieces are often restruck on regal bronze of Ptolemy II. FIG. 389.
Circ. B.C. 222-96. From the accession of Ptolemy IV (Philopater) down to the death of Ptolemy Apion, B.C. 96, the coinage of Cyrenaïca is regal of the Ptolemaic type. It is described by Svoronos, Νομ. των Πτολεμαιων, and above, pp. 853 ff. Cyrenaïca under the Romans, after B.C. 96.
Ptolemy Apion, on his death (B.C. 96), left Cyrenaïca by his will to the Romans, who at first granted the various cities their freedom; but the disorders which arose compelled them soon afterwards to reduce that country to the condition of a Roman province (B.C. 74). Henceforth bronze coins only were issued in Cyrenaïca, and these bore the names of the Roman governors under Augustus — L. Lollius, A. Pupius Rufus, L. Fabricius Patellius, Scato, Palicanus, and Capito — with various titles in Greek or Latin characters, such as TAMAIC ANTICTPA[THΓOC], PROCOS, or Q[VAESTOR]. Among the types may be mentioned the Heads of Ammon, Apollo, Artemis, or the Emperor, Helmeted female head (ΡΩΜΗ?), Curule chair, Camel, Stag, Ram, Bee, Caduceus, Wreath, Serpent, &c. Svoronos Νομ. των Πτολ., Nos. 1899-1904) also plausibly attributes to Cyrenaïca Æ of M. Antonius and Cleopatra, as well as Æ of P. Canidius Crassus. There are also later Imperial coins of Titus, Trajan, Faustina Senior, M. Aurelius, and Severus Alexander, attributed conjecturally to Cyrenaïca (Müller, i, p. 171), but the evidence for the Cyrenaïc origin of these is very doubtful. BarceBarce was founded from Cyrene about the middle of the sixth century. Its coinage down to the age of the Ptolemies falls into the same periods as that of Cyrene. In the archaic period it is generally impossible to distinguish the issues of Barce from those of Cyrene, as they are, as a rule, uninscribed. In the fifth century (B.C. 480-431), while Barce, like Cyrene, was governed by kings, its coinage consists of Euboic-Attic tetradrachms (270 grs.), and of Phoenician drachms and ½ and ¼ drachms (52, 26, and 12.5 grs.). Inscr., ΒΑΡ, ΒΑΡΚΑ, ΒΑΡΚΑΙΟΝ; obv. Silphium or Silphium fruits, rev. Head of Zeus Ammon, or Head of ram in incuse square or circle (Num. Chron., 1894, Pl. I. 15). In the republican period, B.C. 431-321, Barce, like Cyrene, abandoned the Euboic tetradrachm for the Phoenician of about 200 grs.
GOLD. Circ. B.C. 431-321.
This gold coin is attributed to Barce simply on account of the style of the head of Ammon, which closely resembles that of some of the inscribed tetradrachms of the town. SILVER. Inscr. ΒΑΡΚΑΙ or ΒΑΡΚΑΙΟΝ on one or other side.
Magistrates’ names on the coins of Barce, ΑΚΕΣΙΟΣ, ΦΑΙΝ, ΚΑΙΝΙΩ, ΚΥΨΕΛΩ ΤΩ ΦΙΛΩΝ (=ΚΥΨΕΛΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΦΙΛΩΝ[ΟΣ]). BRONZE.
The bronze coins resemble those of Cyrene; obv. Horseman, rev. Wheel; symbol, silphium (Müller, i, p. 82). Under the rule of the Ptolemies Barce was eclipsed by its port, which received the name of Ptolemaïs (q.v.). EuesperidesEuesperides, said to have been founded from Cyrene circ. B.C. 460, was the farthest to the west of the five cities of Cyrenaïca. It stood at the mouth of a river called Lathon or Lethon. Circ. B.C. 460-431. Phoenician Standard.
1 This inscription suggests that this coin belongs not to Euesperides but to some city whose name begins with Υ (Hydrax?).
Circ. B.C. 421-321. Phoenician Standard.
The only tetradrachm of Euesperides as yet known is in the library at Turin.
To the end of the Republican period, shortly before the conquest of the country by Ptolemy Soter, may be ascribed the following Attic didrachm in the De Luynes Collection. The bronze coins with the head of the same River-god seem to be somewhat earlier. Attic Standard.
Under the Ptolemies the name of Euesperides was changed to Berenice. PtolemaïsPtolemaïs. To this city the following bronze coin of P. Canidius Crassus, lieutenant of M. Antonius, has been attributed.
TeuchiraTeuchira, between Ptolemaïs and Euesperides, received under the Ptolemies the name of Arsinoë.
For coins attributed to other cities of Cyrenaïca (Sozusa, Balagrae, Heraclea ?) see Müller, pp. 93 f. | Kyrenaica (Cyrenaïca)ReferencesAlexandropoulos, J. Les monnaies de l'Afrique antique: 400 av. J.-C. - 40 ap. J.-C. (Toulouse, 2000). Amandry, M., A. Burnett & J. Mairat. Roman Provincial Coinage III, From Nerva to Hadrian (AD 96–138). (London & Paris, 2015). Asolati, M. Nummi Aenei Cyrenaici: Struttura e cronologia della monetazione bronzea cirenaica di età greca e romana (325 a.C.-180 d.C.). (Rome, 2011). Babelon, E. Traité des Monnaies Grecques et Romaines. Vols I. (Paris, 1901). Bompois, H. Médailles grecques autonomes frappée dans la Cyrénaïque. (Paris, 1869). Available Online Burnett, A., M. Amandry, et al. Roman Provincial Coinage. (1992 - ). Buttrey, T. "Coins and Coinage at Euesperides" in Libyan Studies XXV. (1994). Buttrey, T. "Part I: The Coins from the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone" in Buttrey-McPhee. (Philadelphia, 1997). Babelon, J. Catalogue de la collection de Luynes: monnaies greques. (Paris, 1924-1936). Lorber, C. Coins of the Ptolemaic Empire. (New York, 2018). Malter, J. The Coinage of Ancient Egypt, Auction II, February 23 and 24, 1978. (Encino, CA, 1978). Müller, L. et. al. Numismatique de l'ancienne Afrique. (Copenhagen, 1860-1862). Noeske, H. Die Münzen der Ptolemäer. (Frankfurt, 2000). Pitchfork, C. The Jon Hosking Collection of Ptolemaic Coins. Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney. (Sydney, 2000). Polk, R. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, the Ptolemies, Kings of Egypt. (London, 1882). Roman Provincial Coinage Online - http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/ Robinson, E. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, The Greek Coins of Cyrenaica. (London, 1927). Sear, D. Greek Coins and Their Values, Vol. 2, Asia and Africa. (London, 1979). Sear, D. Greek Imperial Coins and Their Values. (London, 1982). Strauss, P. Collection Maurice Laffaille - monnaies grecques en bronze. (Bàle, 1990). Svoronos, J. Ta Nomismata tou Kratous ton Ptolemaion. (Athens, 1904-1908). Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Denmark, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Vol. 8: Egypt, North Africa, Spain - Gaul. (1994). Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Italy, Milano, Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche, XIV. Cyrenaica-Mauretania. (Milan, 1989). Weiser, W. Katalog Ptolemäischer Bronzemünzen der Sammlung des Instituts für Altertumskunde, Universität Köln. (Opladen, 1995). CyreneCyrene was founded by Dorians from the island of Thera, under the leadership of one Battus, the ancestor of the dynasty called after him the Battiadae, who ruled the country of the Cyrenaïca from about B.C. 631 to about B.C. 450. Situate in a land of unexampled fertility, on the northern slope of the plateau of Libya, where it breaks into spacious terraces descending step by step to the sea, and sheltered by the higher ground in the rear from the parching winds of the desert, Cyrene rapidly rose to wealth and splendor, the enterprising Hellenes becoming the intermediaries between the native Libyan population of the interior and the outer world. Of all the varied products of this beautiful country, the far-famed silphium plant (a form of assafoetida, now extinct) was the most important, and was highly prized through the whole ancient world, both for its medicinal virtues and for the perfumes extracted from its flowers. The bearded head with the ram’s horn on the coins of Cyrene is that of Zeus Ammon, while the youthful head, also with the ram’s horn, is perhaps intended for Aristaeos, the protected of the corn-field and the vine and of all growing crops and bees and flocks and shepherds, and the averter of the scorching blasts of the Sahara. This beneficent god was the son of Apollo and of the nymph Kyrene, and his cultus in the Cyrenaïca appears to have been closely allied to that of the Libyan Ammon, who was also a pastoral god. The female head, of rarer occurrence, is the nymph Kyrene. The silphium plant as a Cyrenaean coin-type, like the bee at Ceos (supra, p. 483), may have had a religious origin in connexion with the cult of Aristaeos, cf. Schol. in Aristoph. Eq. 894 ‘Αρισταιος δε, ο ‘Απολλωνος και Κνρηνης, πρωτος την εργασιαν του σιλφιου εζευρεν, ωσπερ και του μελιτος. Circ. B.C. 631-530. The earliest money attributed to Cyrene consists of extremely archaic electrum and silver coins of the Euboic-Attic standard. This seems to point to commercial relations between Euboea and the Libyan coast at a time when the Euboean cities, Chalcis and Eretria, exercised a predominate influence in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea. The very rare electrum coins which Müller (op. cit.) has attributed to Cyrene may be thus described:—
For other electrum coins conjecturally attributed to Cyrene see B. M. C. Ionia, Pl. I. 2, 12, and p. 6, No. 30. M. Babelon (Rev. Num., 1885, p. 390 sq., and 1894, p. 254) disputes the attribution of these electrum coins to Cyrene, and would assign them to Asia Minor. He also publishes a coin of pure gold, which may possibly be of Cyrenean origin. It is of the Phoenician standard.
The prevailing types of the earliest silver coins (some of which may belong to other cities of the Cyrenaïca) are:— (i) The fruit or seed-vessel of the silphium, resembling a heart in shape repeated on the larger denominations twice or four times. (ii) The sprouting bud or shoot of the silphium often repeated, and arranged in a conventional floral pattern. (Num. Chron., 1899, Pl. XVI, 8, 9, 15, 16.)
(iii) The leaf of the silphium
(iv) The entire plant of the silphium, represented with a thick tall stem, having at the top a round clustered head or blossom.
To these types are sometimes added accessories in the field, such as a lion, a lion’s head, or a boar (Rev. Num., 1885, Pl. XV. 2), &c. The reverses are in this period always incuse without any ornament. The square is sometimes divided diagonally, as on the primitive coins of Euboea, sometimes it is quartered, sometimes divided by a board band into two oblong parts, sometimes filled with narrow lines; there are also certain specimens with a triangular incuse (Z. f. N., xxii, p. 244). For illustrations see Babelon, Traité, ii, Nos. 1973 ff. For other coins which have been attributed to Cyrene, but which may be of Macedonian origin (running female figure holding flowers, winged figure holding wreath, boar), see Rev. Num., 1885, pp. 393 f.; 1903, p. 311. Circ. B.C. 530-480. Euboic-Attic Standard.
The coins which may be assigned to this period are—
To the same period (early in the fifth century) belong two coins which seem to indicate an immigration of Rhodian colonists into the Cyrenaïca, although the attribution of the second coin is not quite certain. FIG. 384.
For a group of Euboic-Attic staters (obv. Bunch of grapes; rev. Incuse square, containing winged male figure running, holding wreaths; Head of Herakles; or Helmet) formerly attributed to Cyrenaïca (Num. Chron., 1891, pp. 1 ff.) see above, p. 312, under Peparethus. In this period coins of Phoenician weight (drachms of 52 and half drachms of 26 grs.) were introduced at Cyrene, and issued side by side due to trade-connexions with various parts of the world. Phoenician Standard
For other varieties see Babelon, Traité, ii, Nos. 1993, 1995 ff. Circ. B.C. 480-431. Euboic-Attic and Phoenician Standards.
FIG. 385.
Circ. B.C. 431-323. In B.C. 431 the rule of the Battiadae was replaced by a republican form of government, under which Cyrene attained the highest point of her prosperity, as is sufficiently evident from the plentiful issue of fine gold pieces, as well as of silver tetradrachms in large numbers. The Euboic-Attic standard was now almost entirely abandoned in the case of the silver money for coins of the Phoenician weight of the Samian variety. Tetradr. 210-200 grs. The gold coins, from the stater down to the half-drachm, were probably not issued much before B.C. 400, and follow the Euboic-Attic weight, but the smallest denominations are a piece of 13.5 grs., equivalent to one-tenth of the stater, a fraction which is also found in Cyprus, and a piece of 6.9 grs. (see Babelon, Traité, i. 422). FIG. 386.
The magistrates’ names, which occur either in full or abbreviated form in the nominative or genitive case, are ΑΡΙΣΤΙΟΣ, ΑΡΙΣΤΑΓΟΡΑ, ΔΑΜΩΝΑΚΤΟΣ, ΘΕΥΦΕΙΔΕΥΣ, ΙΑΣΩΝ, ΙΑΣΟΝΟΣ, ΚΥΔΙΟΣ, ΚΥΘ, ΠΟΛΙΑΝΘΕΥΣ, ΧΑΙΡΕΦΩΝ, ΧΑΙΡΙΟΣ. The silver coinage of Cyrene in this period consists in the main of tetradrachms of 210-200 grs.
FIG. 387.
The smaller denominations are drachms, ½ drachms, trihemiobols, and obols of the same standard. Types—Head of Zeus Ammon (on the obol, facing), or Youthful head with ram’s horn, or Head of Kyrene three-quarters r., rev. Silphium, or, on the trihemiobol, Triple silphium, on the obol, Head of Athena. (The silphium, in all denominations, is often on the obverse.) The magistrates’ names on the silver coins are ΑΡΙΣΤΙΟΕ, ΑΡΙΣΤΟΜΗΔΕΟΣ, ΘΕΥΦΕΙ[ΔΕΥΣ], ΚΥΔΙΟΣ, ΛΙΒΥΣΤΡΑΤΟ[Σ], and ΝΙΚΙΟΣ, variously abbreviated. The following didrachms of Attic weight must also be classed to the latter part of this period.
The bronze coins of the same time exhibit, among others, the following types. Inscr. ΚΥΡΑ (or none at all):—
Circ. B.C. 323-285. In this period, while the Cyrenaïca was subject to Ptolemy Soter (B.C. 323-313 and 308-285) autonomous gold, silver, and bronze money was issued at Cyrene. The gold coins are of the Attic weight, but the silver, like some of the silver of Ptolemy, follows the Rhodian standard (Didr. 120 grs.). In addition, there were gold staters and half-staters of the ordinary Alexandrine types (which Svoronos assigns to the period B.C. 323-313), and, during the second period of Ptolemaic domination, gold, silver, and bronze with Ptolemaic types, often distinguished by the silphium, or by the monogram of Magas, who governed Cyrenaïca for his father-in-law Ptolemy Soter from B.C. 308. See Svoronos, Νομ. των Πτολ., Nos. 59 ff., 304 ff., and above, pp. 848, 850. GOLD.
Of the above, the coins bearing the name Ptolemy (which is sometimes in the Doric genitive form) are assigned by Svoronos to the period B.C. 308-304, immediately following the suppression of the revolt of Ophellas.
SILVER.
FIG. 388.
BRONZE.
B.C. 285-247.
In the reign of Ptolemy II (Philadelphus) bronze coins with the head of Libya were struck for Cyrene (Svoronos, op. cit., pp. 129-132, and above, p. 851); during the revolt of Magas (circa B.C. 283-271) Ptolemy’s name was erased on the coins, and sometimes replaced by that of Magas. Circ. B.C. 247-221.
In B.C. 247 Ptolemy III (Euergetes) succeeded to the throne of Egypt, and by his marriage with Berenice, the daughter of Magas, who was queen in her own right of Cyrenaïca, united the diadems of Egypt and that country. The evidence of the coins goes to prove that throughout the reign of Euergetes, whether owning to a successful revolt or not, the Cyrenaeans enjoyed an interval of autonomy, which did not cease until after his death. It was during this period that they sent to Megalopois in Arcadia to obtain the aid of the philosophers Demophanes and Ecdemus, who had assisted Aratus in the liberation of Sicyon from her tyrants. These statesmen were entrusted with the government of the Cyrenaïca, which they appear to have reconstituted on the lines of the Achaean League. So much, at least, we may infer from the language of Polybius (x. 25) and Plutarch (Philop., i. 1), and from the Federal coins in silver and bronze, bearing the inscr. ΚΟΙΝΟΝ, which are probably to be attributed to this time, as the bronze pieces are often restruck on regal bronze of Ptolemy II. FIG. 389.
Circ. B.C. 222-96. From the accession of Ptolemy IV (Philopater) down to the death of Ptolemy Apion, B.C. 96, the coinage of Cyrenaïca is regal of the Ptolemaic type. It is described by Svoronos, Νομ. των Πτολεμαιων, and above, pp. 853 ff. Cyrenaïca under the Romans, after B.C. 96.
Ptolemy Apion, on his death (B.C. 96), left Cyrenaïca by his will to the Romans, who at first granted the various cities their freedom; but the disorders which arose compelled them soon afterwards to reduce that country to the condition of a Roman province (B.C. 74). Henceforth bronze coins only were issued in Cyrenaïca, and these bore the names of the Roman governors under Augustus — L. Lollius, A. Pupius Rufus, L. Fabricius Patellius, Scato, Palicanus, and Capito — with various titles in Greek or Latin characters, such as TAMAIC ANTICTPA[THΓOC], PROCOS, or Q[VAESTOR]. Among the types may be mentioned the Heads of Ammon, Apollo, Artemis, or the Emperor, Helmeted female head (ΡΩΜΗ?), Curule chair, Camel, Stag, Ram, Bee, Caduceus, Wreath, Serpent, &c. Svoronos Νομ. των Πτολ., Nos. 1899-1904) also plausibly attributes to Cyrenaïca Æ of M. Antonius and Cleopatra, as well as Æ of P. Canidius Crassus. There are also later Imperial coins of Titus, Trajan, Faustina Senior, M. Aurelius, and Severus Alexander, attributed conjecturally to Cyrenaïca (Müller, i, p. 171), but the evidence for the Cyrenaïc origin of these is very doubtful. BarceBarce was founded from Cyrene about the middle of the sixth century. Its coinage down to the age of the Ptolemies falls into the same periods as that of Cyrene. In the archaic period it is generally impossible to distinguish the issues of Barce from those of Cyrene, as they are, as a rule, uninscribed. In the fifth century (B.C. 480-431), while Barce, like Cyrene, was governed by kings, its coinage consists of Euboic-Attic tetradrachms (270 grs.), and of Phoenician drachms and ½ and ¼ drachms (52, 26, and 12.5 grs.). Inscr., ΒΑΡ, ΒΑΡΚΑ, ΒΑΡΚΑΙΟΝ; obv. Silphium or Silphium fruits, rev. Head of Zeus Ammon, or Head of ram in incuse square or circle (Num. Chron., 1894, Pl. I. 15). In the republican period, B.C. 431-321, Barce, like Cyrene, abandoned the Euboic tetradrachm for the Phoenician of about 200 grs.
GOLD. Circ. B.C. 431-321.
This gold coin is attributed to Barce simply on account of the style of the head of Ammon, which closely resembles that of some of the inscribed tetradrachms of the town. SILVER. Inscr. ΒΑΡΚΑΙ or ΒΑΡΚΑΙΟΝ on one or other side.
Magistrates’ names on the coins of Barce, ΑΚΕΣΙΟΣ, ΦΑΙΝ, ΚΑΙΝΙΩ, ΚΥΨΕΛΩ ΤΩ ΦΙΛΩΝ (=ΚΥΨΕΛΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΦΙΛΩΝ[ΟΣ]). BRONZE.
The bronze coins resemble those of Cyrene; obv. Horseman, rev. Wheel; symbol, silphium (Müller, i, p. 82). Under the rule of the Ptolemies Barce was eclipsed by its port, which received the name of Ptolemaïs (q.v.). EuesperidesEuesperides, said to have been founded from Cyrene circ. B.C. 460, was the farthest to the west of the five cities of Cyrenaïca. It stood at the mouth of a river called Lathon or Lethon. Circ. B.C. 460-431. Phoenician Standard.
1 This inscription suggests that this coin belongs not to Euesperides but to some city whose name begins with Υ (Hydrax?).
Circ. B.C. 421-321. Phoenician Standard.
The only tetradrachm of Euesperides as yet known is in the library at Turin.
To the end of the Republican period, shortly before the conquest of the country by Ptolemy Soter, may be ascribed the following Attic didrachm in the De Luynes Collection. The bronze coins with the head of the same River-god seem to be somewhat earlier. Attic Standard.
Under the Ptolemies the name of Euesperides was changed to Berenice. PtolemaïsPtolemaïs. To this city the following bronze coin of P. Canidius Crassus, lieutenant of M. Antonius, has been attributed.
TeuchiraTeuchira, between Ptolemaïs and Euesperides, received under the Ptolemies the name of Arsinoë.
For coins attributed to other cities of Cyrenaïca (Sozusa, Balagrae, Heraclea ?) see Müller, pp. 93 f. |