various cities, especially of western Asia, when the Romans, after the
battle of Magnesia in 190 B.C., restored the liberties which Alexander
had granted. The series of Alexandrine money is interrupted by
various small coinages and the later issues of Lysimachus, king of
Thrace, with a fine portrait—head of Alexander with the ram’s horn,
as the son of Zeus Ammon a work sometimes worthy of Lysippus
and an excellent indication of his style. The reverse has a figure of
Athena holding a little Victory (Pl. I. fig. 19). The coins of Demetrius I.
(Poliorcetes) comprise fine tetradrachms, some of the types of which
have an historic reference. They bear either on the obverse his
portrait with a bull’s horn and on the reverse a figure of Poseidon, or
on the one side a winged female figure (Victory) on the prow of a
galley, blowing a trumpet, and on the other Poseidon striking with
his trident. The latter types cannot be doubted to relate to the great
naval victory which Demetrius gained over Ptolemy in 306; the
Victory reproduces the “Victory of Samothrace,” dedicated by
Demetrius and now in the Louvre. The tetradrachms of Antigonus I.
(Gonatas), which are of inferior style and work to those of
Demetrius, have types which appear to refer in like manner to the
great event of his time. The obverse type is a Macedonian buckler
with the head of Pan in the midst, and the reverse type Athene
Promachos. The head of Pan is supposed to have been taken as a
device in consequence of the panic which led to the discomfiture of
the Gauls at Delphi. Another pair of types, the head of Poseidon
and Apollo seated on the prow of a warship, probably refers to the
victory of Leucolla about 258 B.C. The tetradrachms of Philip V.
have on the obverse a head in the helmet of Perseus, representing
probably Philip’s son, Perseus, in the character of that hero. The
reverse bears a club. Other tetradrachms and smaller coins have a
simple portrait of Philip. The tetradrachms of Perseus are of fair
style, considering the time at which they were struck. They bear
on one side the king’s head and on the other an eagle on a thunderbolt.
Andriscus (Philip VI., 150–149 B.C.) issued tetradrachms some
of which represent him as Perseus. The coins of the Paeonian kings
(from about 359 to 286 B.C.) show Macedonian influence, but are
semi-barbarous.
The coin systems of northern Greece, Thessaly, Epirus, Corcyra, Acarnania and Aetolia present certain difficulties which disappear if we consider them as originally Aeginetan, modified in the west by Corinthian, and later by Roman, influence. The coinage of Thessaly represents very few specimens of a remote period, while pieces of the best Thessaly. time are numerous. These are in general remarkably like the finest coins of Sicily and Italy, although the style is simpler. The prevalence of the horse and horseman is significant. The money of the Thessalian Confederacy, being of late date (196–146 B.C.), is of little interest. The commonest types are the head of Zeus crowned with oak and the Thessalian Athena Itonia in a fighting attitude. The coinage is resumed in imperial times. Numerous small places, such as Gomphi, Homolium, Lamia, Phalanna, produced coins of considerable beauty; more extensive are the issues of Pharsalus, Pherae (with fine coins of the tyrant Alexander), and especially Larissa. The last series begins with archaic pieces and some of the early period of good art, but sometimes of rather coarse execution. The small silver pieces have very interesting reverse types relating to the nymph of the fountain, and to be compared for mutual illustration with the didrachms of Terina and with some of those of Elis. These are followed by coins of fine work. The usual obverse type is the head of Larissa, the nymph of the fountain, facing, and on the reverse is generally a horse, either free or drinking. The head is treated in a very rich manner, like that of the fountain-nymph Arethusa, facing, on tetradrachms of Syracuse; indeed, the debt to the Sicilian type is obvious. The bronze money is also good. The wine-producing island of Peparethus, off the Thessalian coast, is represented by a remarkable series of Attic tetradrachms (about 500–480 B.C.) with a variety of types, partly Dionysiac.
The coinage of Illyria. (strictly Illyris or Illyricum) is usually of inferior or rude art; the pieces are Aeginetic, ultimately changing to Corinthian, and then, in 229 B.C., to the standard of the Roman Victoriatus. Of Apollonia there is a large series. The earliest (early 4th century) have the Corcyraean types of the cow and the calf and the floral pattern; the latest, usually the Illyricum. head of Apollo and three nymphs dancing round a fire, the outer ones holding torches. Dyrrhachium, which never bears on its coins the more famous name of Epidamnus, is represented by an important series. First there are reduced Aeginetan didrachms with Corcyraean types. These are succeeded by tridrachms with Corinthian types, and of Corinthian weight; and then the old types are resumed, but the standard is that of the victoriatus. Dyrrhachium, it must be remembered, was founded partly by Corcyraean and partly by Corinthian colonists. The Illyrio-Epirote mining towns, Damastium, &c., struck barbarous silver coins in the 4th century; on some of the small pieces we see an ingot of metal or a miner’s pick.
The coins of Epirus are of higher interest and beauty than those of Illyria. Of the Epirots there are bronze coins of the regal period (342–272 B.C.), and both silver and bronze of the republic (238–168 B.C.), with the heads of the Dodonaean Zeus and Dione, together or apart. Ambracia is represented by silver pieces, with on the one side a head of Dione, on the other the obelisk of Epirus. Apollo Agyieus.
The series of Greek imperial money of Nicopolis must also be mentioned. The coinage of the kings begins under Alexander I. His coins have been found in the three metals, but they are rare. It is probable that both gold and silver were struck in Italy while he was in that country. The coins of Pyrrhus in all metals are of high interest, and remarkable for their beauty, though the style is usually florid. There can be little doubt that they were for the most part struck in Italy and Sicily, at Tarentum and Syracuse. The tetradrachm has for the type of the obverse a head of the Dodonaean Zeus crowned with oak and for that of the reverse Dione seated. A fine didrachm bears on the obverse a head of Achilles helmeted, with for the reverse Thetis on a sea-horse carrying the shield of her son. Among the copper coins of Pyrrhus we must remark the beautiful ones with the portrait of his mother Phthia.
The coinage of the island of Corcyra begins with very early reduced Aeginetic didrachms and drachms of the 6th century. The types are the cow suckling the calf and the floral pattern, as at Dyrrhachium. These leading subjects are varied in later times by others illustrating the Corinthian origin of the nation, its maritime power, and the fame of its wine. Not the least curious are Corcyra. the bronze pieces with galleys bearing their names, as Freedom, Glory, Orderly Government, Corcyra, Comus, Cypris, Victory, Youth, Preserver, Fame, Light-bearer. The abundant bronze series goes on under the emperors.
The coins of Acarnania are not remarkable for beauty or for variety in their types. The money of several cities in the 4th century B.C. is Corinthian in types and weight. That of the Acarnanian League (229–168 B.C.) bears the head of the Acheloüs as a man-headed bull and the seated Apollo Actius. Of Leucas the silver coins show the archaic cultus-figure Acarnania. of Aphrodite Aeneias.
In Aetolia the gold and silver coins of the Aetolian League have some merit (279–168 B.C.). The gold pieces have on the obverse the head of Athena or that of Heracles in the lion’s skin and on the reverse Aetolia personified, seated on Gaulish and Macedonian shields (a figure dedicated after the repulse of the Gauls; Paus. x. 18, 7). These subjects recur, with others indicating Aetolia. the hunter-life of the population, on the silver money; of especial interest are the head of Atalanta and the Calydonian boar, and the spear-head with which he was slain. On some of the copper the spearhead and the jaw-bone of the boar are seen.
The coinage of Locris, Phocis and Boeotia is entirely on the Aeginetic standard. The coins of the Locri Epicnemidii are mainly didrachms, struck at Opus, with the head of Persephone and the figure of the Lesser Ajax in a fighting attitude, sometimes accompanied by his name. These coins were struck between 369 and 338 B.C., and are remarkable for the manner in which a Syracusan Locris. head is copied, if indeed the dies were not actually in some cases made in the western city.
The money of Phocis begins at a very early age, some time in the 6th century B.C., and extends in silver down to the conquest by Philip (346 B.C.). The prevalent type is a bull’s head. The generals Onymarchus and Phalaecus in the Sacred War placed their names on bronze coins. Delphi, geographically included in Phocis, strikes very remarkable money, wholly distinct in types from Phocis. the Phocian. The principal subjects are heads of rams and goats, the symbols of Apollo as a pastoral divinity, a dolphin (Apollo Delphinius), the omphalos and tripod, and a negro’s head, which has not been satisfactorily explained. The Amphictyonic Council struck beautiful didrachms, probably on the occasion of Philip’s presidency (346 B.C.), with the head of Demeter, and the Delphian Apollo seated on the omphalos. Under Hadrian and the Antonines there is an imperial coinage of Delphi, some pieces bearing the representation of the temple of Apollo, on one type the letter Ε appearing between the columns of the face, representing the mystic Delphic ΕΙ, on which Plutarch wrote a treatise.
The coinage of Boeotia is chiefly of a period anterior to the reign of Alexander, under whom the political importance of Thebes and the whole country came to an end. The standard until the end of the 4th century is Aeginetic. The main characteristic of the money is the almost exclusive use of the Boeotian shield as the obverse type, marking the federal Boeotia. character of the issues. These were struck by various cities, or by Thebes as ruling the League. The earliest pieces are drachms, presumably of Thebes, issued between 600 and 550 B.C.
