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FM23539

Calabria, Tarentum, Silver Nomos

Calabria, Tarentum, silver Nomos, c.302-280 BC, Sa-, Philiarchos and Aga-, magistrates, youth on horseback right, crowning horse, ΣΑ, left; ΦΙΛΙA/PXOΣ, below, rev. Taras on dolphin left, holding grapes in his right hand and resting his left on the dolphin, ΑΓΑ below, 7.90g, 12h (Vlasto 673; HN Italy 960). Some areas of roughness, perhaps after conservation, otherwise sharply-struck extremely fine.

Tarentum was founded by colonists from Sparta in the 8th century BC. In this series the dolphin-rider is variously described as the son of the god Poseidon, Taras, after whom the city was named, who was shipwrecked and saved by a dolphin which his father had sent to rescue him; or Phalanthos, the leader of the Spartan colonists, who was also shipwrecked and rescued by a dolphin; or an unnamed oikist, the term given to the lead-colonist who had authority to choose which site to colonize and direct the colony's activities in its early stages. At this point in the series the individual appears to be named and therefore we suggest interpreting him as Taras. The horse-riders are depicted at different ages, some with armour suggesting they are warriors, and others with laurel wreaths suggesting they are the winners at important celebratory games.

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