Calabria, Tarentum AR Nomos. Circa 240-228 BC. Kallikrates, magistrate. Warrior, holding Nike, who crowns him, in extended right hand, on horse rearing right; monogram behind, KAΛΛIKPA-THΣ in two lines below / Taras riding dolphin left, holding Nike, who crowns him, in extended right hand, cradling trident in left arm; ligate NE behind, TAPAΣ below. Vlasto 963; HN Italy 1059; SNG ANS 1260; SNG Lloyd 230; SNG France 2059-60; Dewing 316. 6.44g, 19mm, 3h. Good Extremely Fine. Tarentum, the only Spartan colony ever to be established, was founded in 706 BC by the Partheniae - Spartan children born to unmarried women as a product of Spartan desperation to ensure the survival and continuation of their demographic during the bloody Messenian wars, who were later disowned and expelled by the state - and Perioeci (subjects, but not citizens of Sparta), under the leadership of the Parthenian Phalanthos. According to legend, Phalanthos consulted the oracle at Delphi, and was told that he should found his new city 'where rain fell from a clear sky'. After much searching, and despairing of finding a suitable location for a city, Phalanthus was consoled by his wife Aethra who laid his head in her lap, and as her tears splashed upon his forehead he understood the oracle's words for his wife's name itself meant 'clear sky', and thus he determined to make the nearby harbour the site of their new home, which they named after Taras, the son of Poseidon and the nymph Satyrion.
Calabria, Tarentum AR Nomos. Circa 240-228 BC. Kallikrates, magistrate. Warrior, holding Nike, who crowns him, in extended right hand, on horse rearing right; monogram behind, KAΛΛIKPA-THΣ in two lines below / Taras riding dolphin left, holding Nike, who crowns him, in extended right hand, cradling trident in left arm; ligate NE behind, TAPAΣ below. Vlasto 963; HN Italy 1059; SNG ANS 1260; SNG Lloyd 230; SNG France 2059-60; Dewing 316. 6.44g, 19mm, 3h. Good Extremely Fine. Tarentum, the only Spartan colony ever to be established, was founded in 706 BC by the Partheniae - Spartan children born to unmarried women as a product of Spartan desperation to ensure the survival and continuation of their demographic during the bloody Messenian wars, who were later disowned and expelled by the state - and Perioeci (subjects, but not citizens of Sparta), under the leadership of the Parthenian Phalanthos. According to legend, Phalanthos consulted the oracle at Delphi, and was told that he should found his new city 'where rain fell from a clear sky'. After much searching, and despairing of finding a suitable location for a city, Phalanthus was consoled by his wife Aethra who laid his head in her lap, and as her tears splashed upon his forehead he understood the oracle's words for his wife's name itself meant 'clear sky', and thus he determined to make the nearby harbour the site of their new home, which they named after Taras, the son of Poseidon and the nymph Satyrion.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
