Tarentum, Silver Diobol
Dublin Core
Title
Tarentum, Silver Diobol
Subject
Tarentum, Calabria (Italy). Silver Diobol, 325-300 BCE.
OBVERSE: Head of Athena, facing left, wearing a crested Attic helmet decorated with olive wreath and wing.
REVERSE: Hercules, kneeling on his right leg, left leg extended, a club in his right arm, is fighting off the Nemean Lion that is attacking him from the right.
OBVERSE: Head of Athena, facing left, wearing a crested Attic helmet decorated with olive wreath and wing.
REVERSE: Hercules, kneeling on his right leg, left leg extended, a club in his right arm, is fighting off the Nemean Lion that is attacking him from the right.
Description
This coin is from Sparta’s sole colony, Tarentum. It was one of the richest and, incidentally, one of the safest harbors along the coast. It was famed for its rich textiles and a precious deep red/purple dye, made by gathering the secretions of a sea slug in the Murex family. The dye was incredibly hard to gather and took thousands of slugs to acquire enough of the dye to color just one simple piece of clothing. Understandably, the involved process resulted in a high price tag and only very wealthy families could afford the dyed cloth. In fact, after time, there were laws against anyone wearing the color but the imperial family.
Around 380 BCE, Tarentum led a confederation of Italiot Greek cities, based in Heraclea, which aligned to battle the surrounding non-Greek tribes. Other members were Elea, Croton, Thurioi, and Metapontum. This diobol is an example of the league's common coinage, which imitated the design of Heraclean coins from the confederacy.
The REVERSE shows Herakles in one of his most famous labors: the battle with the Nemean lion. The lion could not be killed by a weapon and Herakles had to strangle the lion with his bare hands to complete the labor. Nevertheless, it seems that here he is about to strike the lion with his famous club. Herakles later wears this lion skin, as seen on the Macedonian coin, number 2006.010.013.
There is a Hermogenean skyphos on view in the Mark and Janeth Sponenburgh Gallery that shows Herakles with the lion. The number is 2004.069.007.
Around 380 BCE, Tarentum led a confederation of Italiot Greek cities, based in Heraclea, which aligned to battle the surrounding non-Greek tribes. Other members were Elea, Croton, Thurioi, and Metapontum. This diobol is an example of the league's common coinage, which imitated the design of Heraclean coins from the confederacy.
The REVERSE shows Herakles in one of his most famous labors: the battle with the Nemean lion. The lion could not be killed by a weapon and Herakles had to strangle the lion with his bare hands to complete the labor. Nevertheless, it seems that here he is about to strike the lion with his famous club. Herakles later wears this lion skin, as seen on the Macedonian coin, number 2006.010.013.
There is a Hermogenean skyphos on view in the Mark and Janeth Sponenburgh Gallery that shows Herakles with the lion. The number is 2004.069.007.
Source
Gift of James and Aneta McIntyre, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, OR. 2006.010.015
Date
325-300 BCE
Rights
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Format
1.060 cm
1.200 gr
1.200 gr
Type
Coin
Identifier
Athena/Herakles confederation coin
Coverage
This item can be viewed on Hallie Ford Museum of Art's website.
Citation
“Tarentum, Silver Diobol,” Hallie Ford Museum of Art Exhibits, accessed December 26, 2024, https://library.willamette.edu/hfma/omeka/items/show/67.