CHF Editor Ancient Greece & Rome, Coin History

A Colossal Coin: The Rhodes Didrachm 

If Alexander Wills It…

Rhodes, or Rhodos in Greek, meaning; ‘rose’, is an island in the southwestern Aegean sea and is part of a collection of islands known as the Dodecanese. The island covers around 540 square miles and is today one of Greece’s most popular tourist destinations. 

The island was once the jewel in the crown of ancient Greece, reaching a peak of maritime supremacy, cultural richness and commercial vigour during the classical and hellenistic periods. In 408 B.C. three established city-states on the island of Rhodes, Ialysos, Kamiros and Lindos, came together in a spirit of unity to found a new federal capital and port which they named after the island. 

The new foundation of Rhodes was very deliberately situated on the northern coast in order to take advantage of the island’s best natural harbour. It was a city designed, as much as possible, to resemble Athens, that supremely successful city-state, home to the Parthenon and so many philosophical greats. Rhodes benefited from a well-constructed sewer system as well as a water supply network designed by architect and ‘father of European urban planning’; Hippodamus of Miletus. 

Rhodes was embarking a high summer of success, bolstered by sea trade, skilled shipbuilders and open-minded politicians who kept the city prosperous right through to the domination of Rome in the 2nd century B.C. 

Rhodes island held a particularly strong and dominating position at a cultural crossroads between Europe, the Middle East and Africa and it was this tactical positioning on the major sea routes which would be the life-blood of its success. Rhodes city itself became an important stop on the trade routes linking the Greek cities in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) with the wealth of Pharaonic Egypt. 

During the 330’s B.C., Alexander the Great had taken the island peacefully from the then overlords, Achaemenid Persia, and established a garrison of soldiers there. It’s said he was welcomed and a special cloak made for presentation. Over time this friendly bond, according to one source, led to the Rhodians becoming the executors of Alexander’s will, a disputed idea but a nice claim-to-fame if true. 

The Pharaoh’s Loyal Ally

With the establishment of the eponymous Alexandria in 331 B.C, a strong and mutually beneficial bond had been formed between Rhodes and Ptolemy I of Egypt, a bond which caused unrest among Ptolemy’s enemies. 

Alexander’s death had caused his empire to fragment and be fought over by his successors, known to history as the Diadochi. 

Ptolemy was one such successor, a companion and historian of Alexander, who became Pharaoh of Egypt in c.305 B.C. thus establishing the Ptolemaic dynasty which ended with the famous suicide of Cleopatra in 30 B.C.. Another of the power-hungry Diadochus, Antigonus I Monopthalamus – ‘the one-eyed’, declaring war on Ptolemy, attempted to coax the Rhodians onto his side but they remained loyal to Ptolemy. 

As a result, Antigonus sent his son, Demetrius, to take Rhodes by force. 200 warships, 170 transports carrying 40,000 men plus horses along with an allied force of pirate and privately owned vessels all descended on the island in 305 B.C. What ensued was a year-long siege of Rhodes city during which time the inhabitants defended themselves valiantly. 

The culmination of this siege came in the building of a Helepolis or ‘taker of cities’ on the order of Demetrius. Reaching more than one hundred feet tall and weighing 160 tons, the Helepolis, an awesome wheeled siege tower, earned Demetrius the nickname Poliorcetes – ‘besieger of cities’. It was, at the time, an invention of mammoth proportions but it wasn’t enough. 

With the help of Ptolemy and other members of the Diadochi, Lysimachus of Thrace and Cassander of Macedon, the Rhodians held strong and eventually repulsed Demetrius. An agreement was formed whereby Rhodes would support Antigonus but never carry arms against their ally, Ptolemy. In an act of reconciliation, Demetrius presented the Helepolis to the people of Rhodes. This act concluded one of the most significant events of the island’s history and gave rise to another. 

A Colossal Claim to Fame

The entrepreneurial Rhodians sold the Helepolis and other siege equipment, weapons, armour and such like for a cool 300 talents. It’s very difficult to equate a talent into modern measurements but, at the time, this was equivalent to 1.8 million Attic silver drachms, each weighing 4.33 grams and thus totaling nearly 7.8 tonnes of silver! Far from being frittered away, this tidy profit was put to very good use by the Rhodians in honouring their patron deity, Helios, god of the sun and of sight and guardian of oaths. 

For this era-defining victory, Helios was praised in gargantuan form. The Rhodians enlisted the help of one of their own, Chares of Lindos, pupil of famous sculptor, Lysippus, a favourite artist of Alexander the Great, to design for them a colossal statue of Helios in all his resplendent glory. Chares did not disappoint. In c. 280 B.C. he delivered his commission, a construction twelve years in the making. 

It was a truly awesome sight which captured imaginations for centuries to come. According to one 2nd century B.C. engineer, Philo of Byzantium, the 33 metre high statue required 12 to 13 tons of bronze, an operation, he said; ‘…that involved the bronze industry of the entire world’. Modern historians generally agree that the statue was situated at the entrance to Rhodes’ harbour and so today two pillars stand at the entrance to the Port at the spot where the statue is believed to have stood. 

Being such a monumental investment and project, the Colossus required a huge amount of funding over a period of 12 years. The coinage of Rhodes city began in around 408/7 B.C. with the introduction of a silver coinage bearing a deeply cut image and vigorous rendering of Helios, seen full-face with luxuriant hair, blown back by the wind as his chariot carried him, as the sun, across the sky. Helios’ imposing image was paired with that of a rose (a pun on the name of the city) and also the city’s ethnic; POΔION, meaning ‘of Rhodes’. Tetradrachm coins, worth four drachma, were the main denomination until later in the 4th century when the didrachm or two drachma silver coin became preeminent. Issues of these Rhodian coins were fairly regular with spikes in production correlating with construction projects or military engagements. 

It was, however, the construction of the Colossus which instigated a spike in activity at the mint and, as such, these Rhodian didrachms financed its construction. From 304 B.C to c.265 B.C. an issue of coins depicting Helios in profile are thought to possibly portray the Colossus itself. If this is the case then the statue wore a radiate taenia or band of spikes, designed as if to be the gleaming rays of sunlight issuing forth from Helios’ head. Full facing didrachms featuring this new crown of sun rays were struck alongside the profile portrait didrachms and they too played their part in financing the era-defining statue which would, like the giant of world history that it was, stride its way into antiquity’s hall of fame as a wonder of the ancient world. 

The Sun of God

Those who were able to see the Colossus in situ didn’t know how lucky they were. In 226 B.C., after towering over the harbour of Rhodes city for only 54 years, tremors from a powerful earthquake toppled the statue which, according to ancient writer Strabo, broke off at the knees. 

It was not a good sign for the Rhodians who ritually honoured Helios every year by sacrificing four consecrated horses in an act of driving them over a precipice into the sea. This equine sacrifice was the culmination of the Halieia festival, a highlight of the island’s religious calendar with chariot races, gymnastic events and music contests. 

In an act of solidarity, Pharaoh Ptolemy III Euergetes ‘the Benefactor’ offered to pay for the Colossus’ reconstruction. The Rhodians, deeply concerned about such an ominous omen, had consulted one of the most powerful women of the classical world, none other than the Pythia, high priestess of the Temple of Apollo, most famously known as, the Oracle of Delphi. 

In a trance-like state, fevered by the intoxicating gases billowing forth from the earth, the Pythia channeled the voice of Apollo himself and warned not to rebuild Helios’ Colossus. Taken as a sign that Rhodes’ patron god had caused the earthquake as retribution for their insolence, the Rhodians respectfully declined Ptolemy’s gesture. As such the Colossus lay in pieces, embedded in the ground where it fell for a number of centuries. It remained a wonder which drew in the curious from far and wide. 

Roman author and friend of Emperor Vespasian, Pliny the Elder, wrote in the 1st century A.D.; ‘Even as it lies, it excites our wonder and admiration. Few men can clasp the thumb in their arms, and its fingers are larger than most statues. Where the limbs are broken asunder, vast caverns are seen yawning in the interior.  Within it, too, are to be seen large masses of rock, by the weight of which the artist steadied it while erecting it.’. For 880 years the Colossus lay broken in the earth, an apparition of its former glory. 

In 654 A.D. Arab invaders, Ummayad Muslims, led by caliph Muawiyah conquered Rhodes and completed the job which the earthquake had begun centuries before. Muawiyah’s forces broke the statue up and transported the hacked bronze pieces to Syria where they were sold to a Jewish merchant. It’s reported in a number of sources that the bronze was carried away by upwards of 900 camels and then may have been used to make coins, tools, artifacts and weapons. Centuries later, in a case of mistaken identity, the extant Rhodian didrachms would become much revered religious relics. 

The religious houses of Christian Europe saw in Helios’ portrait an image of the Passion of Jesus Christ whereby the son of God was adorned with the crown of thorns. These coins, it was believed, were the very biblical coins, thirty pieces to be exact, that Judas Iscariot received upon betraying Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Alas we know this not to be the case but it’s an entertaining historical footnote to behold. 

A Statue for Liberty

While the production of Rhodian silver coins bearing the image of Helios came to an end during Roman domination in the 1st century B.C., it’s the legacy of these coins that really brings them into a league of their own. 

These were coins made by the very people who built the Colossus and saw it with their own eyes. To the Rhodians these coins represented life and liberty. On the subject of Liberty, one can fail but notice the more than passing resemblance between Helios and Auguste Bartholdi’s masterpiece, Liberty Enlightening the World, more commonly known as the Statue of Liberty. 

The French sculptor is known to have been inspired by the story of Rhodes’ colossus, an inspiration which took the beaming rays of Helios’ crown and placed them on Liberty’s head. Rhodes’ coins survive as relics of this source of inspiration, the original blueprint of freedom personified. 

To raise money for Liberty’s pedestal, American poet, Emma Lazarus, wrote a sonnet called ‘The New Colossus’ in 1883, a poem which would, in 1903, very appropriately be cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside Liberty’s pedestal. 

In words that would be equally applicable to Liberty herself, an ancient eulogy in praise of Helios from the Greek Magical Papyri, beautifully expresses the colossal importance of his celestial body; ‘the earth flourished when you shone forth and made the plants fruitful when you laughed and brought to life the living creatures when you permitted’.

CHF Editor Ancient Greece & Rome, Coin History

The Greek God Pan: Cimmerian Bosphorus Bronze

by Jonathan Mann

Cimmerian Bosphorus Bronze Coin

A city-state founded on the edge of the known world

In the 7th century B.C., Miletus, a Greek colony on the western coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) sent a daring group of voyagers to search for new lands. They would venture all the way across the ‘inhospitable sea’ (the ancient Greek term for the Black Sea) to its northern shores where lush, fertile pastures were awaiting them. Settling on the eastern coast of what is now Crimea, Miletus’ colonists founded the ancient city-state of Panticapaeum (‘fish road’) on a strategic peninsula which dominated the Cimmerian Bosporus. This narrow strait was the nautical superhighway between Lake Myatis and the Black Sea meaning that, as a trading port, Panticapaeum would soon become an economic powerhouse. First, however, the Milesian settlers would have to contend with the locals. Powerful barbarian tribes known to the Greeks as the Tauri and the Scythians didn’t take kindly to their new neighbours and needed to be dealt with if Panticapaeum was to flourish.

Both the Tauri and Scythian cultures practised human sacrifice and possibly cannibalism so it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. Just like the Vikings, Scythian raiders would regularly demand tribute, i.e. large sums of money, in return for leaving peacefully. Panticapaeum, in this harsh environment, managed to find a compromise with its new neighbours. Over time it could be seen that mutual cooperation was actually much more beneficial and out of this cooperation came riches and success. At the turn of the 6th century B.C. Panticapaeum joined with other Greek settlements around the Cimmerian Bosporus to form a Kingdom. Power in numbers was the order of the day and the dividends were massive. Trade abounded and exports of Bosporan grain, salted fish and slaves were dispatched right across the Black Sea and into Greece, reaching powerful city-states such as Mytilene and Athens. By 480 B.C. Panticapaeum had become a capital of the Kingdom of Bosporus and was veritably called the jewel of the Black Sea. As a Greco-Scythian hybrid domain the Kingdom is now recognised as the first truly ‘Hellenistic’ state in that its fusion of cultures adopted Greek as its language and civilisation. This fusion did, however, inevitably lead to the birth of a Bosporan Greek identity which today is well recognised as being unique within the ancient world. 

The unsung hero of Athens’ golden age

What also drew Panticapaeum and the Bosporan Kingdom into the limelight was the extent to which the most powerful city-state of the age was reliant upon them; Athens. Despite all its success and prosperity, Athens had one major achilles heel; it was unable to feed itself. The Bosporan Kingdom became a much-valued ally in providing an abundance of grain upon request. It was imperative to Athens that this flow of sustenance was maintained and so militarised colonies were set up in the cities of Amisos and Sinope on the southern shore of the Black Sea thus maintaining ready access to the Cimmerian Bosporus. Further Athenian ‘fortress’ colonies were founded in the Cimmerian Bosporus itself such as Athenaeum, Nymphaeum and Stratokleia, which secured even further their position as Panticapaeum’s number one client.

In 438 B.C. a signal shift took place at Panticapaeum which sent shockwaves across the kingdom. The rule of the powerful Archaenactidae tyrants who had reigned for over 40 years came to a sudden and mysterious end. In their place came the Spartocids, a dynasty of far greater power and ambition who would go on to rule for 320 years. Its founder was Spartacus, the head of a powerful aristocratic family of Panticapaeum whose rise to power would see the kingdom’s prosperity reach heady new heights. Under the Spartocids, the kingdom would expand, taking in new city-states, trading ports and commercial centres, acquiring their territories and vastly increasing its capacity to provide sustenance to the Black Sea and far beyond.

This was to be the Bosporan kingdom’s golden age and it came with a bang. Athens’ first move with the new ruling elite was to ensure their continued position as controller of export trade via their military colonies in the Bosporus. Spartacus was happy to oblige his best customer of Bosporan grain imports and he and his successors were duly buttered up by the Athenian top brass. It was ensured that Athenian writers made numerous references to the ‘special’ relationship between the two powerful city-states and citizenship rights were granted to Spartacus’ grandson, Leukon I, who had granted special privileges to Athenian ships at Bosporan ports. All good things must come to an end, however, by the time Athens had lost a crippling war with the Spartans in 404 B.C all but ending its trade affair with the Bosporan kingdom, Spartacos’ successors were already making their mark as kingdom builders. It is against this background of enterprise, expansion and economic dominance that the Bosporan Kingdom’s coinage comes into its own. 

Going for gold

The bronze coins minted at Panticapaeum during the 4th century B.C. are little artistic wonders in their own right and they perfectly convey the fusion of cultures which made the kingdom so unique. On the obverse is depicted the forepart of a beautiful mythical beast which has its origins in the distant past of Scythian and near eastern culture; the griffin. This majestic animal had the body, tail and hind legs of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. The griffin, or ‘grypas’ in ancient Greek, very deliberately combined the king of the skies and of the land in one creature to convey its special status among the beasts of mythology. To the inhabitants of the Bosporan Kingdom the griffin was never far out of mind as they were believed to inhabit the mountains of Scythia. Here they reputedly battled with a tribe of one-eyed people known as the Arimaspians. An ongoing battle of wills took place each day for the rich gold deposits which were present in the Scythian mountains. Griffins were said to be able to dig this out with their strong beaks before depositing it in their nests. This mined gold was supplemented by the solid gold eggs laid by the griffins, a highly prized possession amongst the gold-loving Arimaspians. Fiercely protective of every nugget, large or small, a griffin would tear to pieces any Arimaspian who dared try to steal their prized precious metal.

One Roman writer called Aelian wrote about the underhand  tactics used to steal this gold; ‘Dreading the strength of these animals, do not set out in quest of the gold by day, but arrive by night, for at that season they are less likely to be detected. Now the region where the Grypes live and where the gold is mined is a dreary wilderness. And the seekers after the aforesaid substance arrive, a thousand or two strong, armed and bringing spades and sacks; and watching for a moonless night they begin to dig. Now if they contrive to elude the Grypes they reap a double advantage, for they not only escape with their lives but they also take home their freight, and when those who have acquired a special skill in the smelting of gold have refined it, they possess immense wealth to requite them for the dangers described above. And they return home, I am told, after an interval of three or four years.”.

As the capital of a Kingdom laden with Scythian influence, Panticapaeum chose the griffin to grace its bronze coins, likely as a means of expressing its cultural identity. This was the edge of the known world and the influence of Scythian and near-eastern culture was clearly something the rulers of the Cimmerian Bosporus wanted to shout about. Upon the coins the griffin sits above a sturgeon, a variety of fish which is abundant in the waters of the kingdom. Around the griffin are the letters P A N denoting that the coin was struck at Panticapaeum. 

Pan, pan pipes, panic and Panticapaeum’s world panning record

The reverse of Panticapaeum’s bronze coins show in profile a truly ancient deity, his eyes seemingly filled with madness. This is Pan, the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, fields, groves, mountain wilderness and wooded glens, hunting, rustic music and a fair bit more. One of the more obscure gods, Pan had the hindquarters, legs and horns of a goat and spent most of his time wandering through the wilderness playing the Syrinx or pan pipes. Now a well-known instrument, the pan pipes have various origin stories attached to them in mythology.

One of these stories related to a nymph named Syrinx whom Pan had fallen in love with. Fleeing from him, Syrinx returned to her sisters who turned her into a reed. Not knowing which reed this was, he picked several and joined them together. Realising that blowing upon them produced a beautiful melody which encapsulated those around him, Pan had created the Pan pipes. He could be seen gleefully playing them as he skipped through the forest but he was not always so full of the joys of spring, despite being a god traditionally associated with that very season. The word panic originated through his name as his menacing voice frightened anyone who was unfortunate enough to stumble upon him. Pan’s nature was wild, his spirit rooted in nature, in ancient mystery and the forest.

Nature can be unpredictable and so was Pan who enjoyed tricking, confusing and tormenting those who were unlucky enough to attract his attention. He is written as once having challenged Apollo to a musical contest. This brazen challenge was duly accepted by Apollo who was certain to win and win he did, however, this was challenged by one of the judges, a certain King Midas (of golden touch fame). Apollo was so disgusted by this insult that he transformed Midas’ ears into those of an ass. Pan, too, can be seen sporting the same ass’s ears in his portrait on the bronze coins of Panticapaeum, the city to which he is a patron god. Despite these ass’s ears, menacing appearance and slightly unkempt hair, in the case of Panticapaeum’s coinage, Pan has become a world beater. In 2012 a gold stater of Panticapaeum with the same designs as the bronze coins (except Pan is seen from a slightly different angle), sold for a cool $3,250,000. This result still stands to this day as being a record for the most expensive ancient Greek coin ever sold and goes to show that Panticapaeum’s coins pack an artistic, cultural and aesthetic punch above all others. 

Jonathan Mann is a numismatist specializing in medieval British coinage and is a member of the British Numismatic Society. His experience comprises over a decade in the British coin trade, as well as a position at the UK’s leading coin auctioneer, Spink & Sons as their hammered coin specialist. Jon has also represented Mayfair auctioneer, Dix Noonan Webb as their rep in the north of England. One of his biggest claims to numismatic fame is being responsible for handling and cataloguing a gold sovereign of Henry VII which set a world record as the highest price ever achieved at auction for a Tudor coin; £372,000. Jon is also proud to have represented the finder of the 2014 Lenborough hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins, helping him and the landowner to achieve an award of £1.35m from the British Museum Treasure Valuation Committee.

CHF Editor Ancient Greece & Rome, Coin History

The Gold Staters of Carthage

by Jonathan Mann

Gold Stater of Alexander the Great (323 BC)

Courage and conquest

What remains of the ancient city of Carthage, near the modern city of Tunis in North Africa, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1971. The ruins tell a story of total destruction and annihilation. Here lived a people who were one of the most influential civilisations in the ancient world, a people who almost changed the course of Western civilisation so how could it be that virtually all trace of their being was put to the torch? This is the story of Carthage, its rise to glory and its demise at the hands of one of Rome’s great generals, Scipio Aemilianus. Apart from the beautiful coins produced within Carthage’s powerful empire, all that survives are the accounts of ancient Greece and Rome, both vengeful enemies of the state. We hear of a group of depraved monsters, greedy, treacherous and brutal who readily sacrificed their own children to cruel gods. However, we need to remember that both ancient Greece and Rome had an axe to grind. Carthage was one of the largest and richest cities in antiquity and the power it held within the mediterranean was a threat. Carthage was founded a hundred years earlier than Rome in c.814, it’s said by an exiled priestess fleeing her native city of Tyre in ancient Phoenicia, now Lebanon. The Greeks named her Dido and legend told of how she came to found Carthage and become its queen. Upon landfall in north Africa she led her people to a local Berber chieftain in the hope of acquiring some land to settle and make home. The chieftain replied that she could have  “as much land as could be encompassed by an oxhide.”. Thinking on her feet, Dido cut the hide into strips and stretched them around a large hill name Byrsa or “hide”, an alternative name for Carthage. In carving out the earth for their new settlement the Tyrians discovered an ox’s head and all activity came to a halt. This was a bad omen that foretold the city would be wealthy but “laborious and always enslaved”. The decision was taken to dig elsewhere and fortune smiled upon the tired colonists for a horse’s head was found in the freshly dug earth. In Phoenician culture the horse was a symbol of courage and conquest, foretelling that Dido’s new city would rise to greatness. And so it was that Carthage, a name which derived from the Phoenician Qart-Hadasht meaning “New City”, came into being. 

Mother of pearl, coral, amber and ebony

For centuries Carthage was a mere outpost of its mother city, Tyre, but by 509 B.C. it was independent enough to negotiate a commercial treaty with the new Republic of Rome. Bringing with them their Phoenician penchant for seafaring and trade, the Carthaginians set about establishing themselves in the mediterranean as its most dominant power. One of its main advantages was the supremely dominant position it held in the Gulf of Tunis. Here it was close to Sicily, Italy, Sardinia and Corsica and not too distant from the Balearic Islands, Spain and Gaul (modern day France). From Carthage, trade could be completely controlled. Through domination of the seas it became the overlord of a vast network of trade which stretched to the west of Africa and into northern Europe. It’s even said that Britain’s first contacts with the classical world were through Carthaginian merchants who came in search of tin. Commodities from all over the ancient world flowed in and out of Carthage and its network of cities and satellite states which was larger than any other power in the region. Within his poem, Ithaca, the Greek poet, Constantine Cavafy, gives a vivid recounting of the lush goods which would have abounded in and around these ports; ‘…May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind, as many sensual perfumes as you can’. This great source of richness was coupled with ready access to abundant fertile land and an enterprising culture in the working of it. The writings of Mago of Carthage on farming and animal husbandry were considered as being of such importance that they were among the few to be spared by the Romans after their destruction of the city. This innovation was coupled with Carthage’s revolutionary idea of the ‘flat pack’ ship which was the first to have been produced using a standardised design and construction. This was part of the foundation which saw Carthage secure itself as one of the largest and most powerful navies in the ancient Mediterranean. 

As long as money clinks, my captain i’ll obey

Both Carthage’s army and its navy were lead by powerful families, mainly the Magonids and Barcids, who spent vast sums on piecing together a burgeoning force of foreign mercenary soldiers. One of the main struggles which ancient Carthage sought in expanding its sphere of power and influence was over the island of Sicily and its main city-state of Syracuse. Beginning in the 480s B.C., two centuries of bitter warfare would see Carthage establish a network of fortresses and mints which protected and paid its mercenary forces both in Sicily and in its hard-fought lands in Spain and Sardinia. This network first came into being when Carthage established its coinage c.410 B.C. in Sicily itself. Control of the island and beyond could only be secured if Carthaginian coins chinked in the purses of its soldiers of fortune. To this end, Carthaginian ships made daring voyages as far as West Africa to trade for gold. In around 350 B.C. a super-attractive new gold stater was produced specifically to pay Carthage’s forces. It was adorned with two of the powerful city-state’s most potent symbols, the Phoenician goddess, Tanit, and Dido’s omen of good fortune, the horse. Tanit was Carthage’s patron deity, bestowing protection and good fortune upon it. She was a mother goddess, representing fertility, love, the moon, stars and sky, cycles of life, strength, abundance and much more. Tanit was worshipped throughout North Africa, Spain, Malta, Sardinia and Rome but her most well known temples were found in Carthage itself. Her bust closely resembles coins which were produced by Carthage’s nemesis in Sicily; Syracuse, which depict their own deities such as the nymph Arethusa. It should be said that these coins of Syracuse have been identified by numismatists as being the very pinnacle of ancient art, unsurpassed until at least the nineteenth century, so this is a proud numismatic heritage to speak of. Tanit wears a wreath of grain, referencing fertility and abundance. Her neutral facial expression is said to denote nobility and a transcendence of earthly concerns, just like the Greek coins from which she is modeled. According to Carthage’s enemies, this beauty and divine wonder was underpinned by a much darker side. Ancient writers say that zealous Carthaginians gladly gave their children’s lives as sacrifices to honour their patron goddess, Tanit, and her consort Baal-Hamon. Nowadays, however, these claims have been questioned as ancient attempts to paint the Carthaginians in a bad light although it is still a possibility. This being as it may be, Tanit’s status as the primary deity of ancient Carthage is undeniable. The choice of a horse as her counterpart on Carthage’s gold staters too shows the significance which they gave to this majestic animal. To the Carthaginians it may have been a proud representation of their foundation story, a subject which was commonly depicted on coins of the ancient city-states. However, because the myth was recounted by a later Roman writer named Justin, its uncertain whether or not the Carthaginians knew of it. Another interpretation of the horse is that it refers to the military purpose of the staters. On some Carthaginian coins the horse is shown with the goddess of victory, Nike, who holds a wreath and a caduceus. The wreath was a symbol given to victors in contests and battles and so the horse may represent the military might and success of Carthage. Military success, though, in the ancient world required money and a lot of it. 

Weathering the storm

The wars in Sicily against Syracuse and beyond required huge resources and over time Carthage’s gold staters contained more and more silver. From 320 B.C. they have been classed as electrum which is a mixture of silver and gold. A further draw on resources came when North Africa was invaded by Agathocles of Syracuse in 310-307 B.C.. Agathocles sought to subdue Carthage and use its wealth to fund his wars. Allied with Libyans and Berbers, Carthage was able to see off Agathocles and continued to prosper until it came into conflict with a new enemy, then just a small city-state on the Tiber River in Italy; Rome. While the electrum staters ceased to be produced in around 280 B.C., their designs remained the staple of Carthage’s coinage right until the bitter end. Carthage would soon, in 264 B.C., embark on a series of three wars with Rome, known as the Punic Wars (deriving from the Phoenician word for the citizens of Carthage and in Latin reading Punicus), which would ultimately spell disaster and utter destruction for this once great city-state. Not even the efforts of one of their most famous names, the distinguished general, Hannibal Barca, could save them. After the loss of the first Punic War in 241 B.C. Carthage’s treasury was so depleted that it was reduced to coining debased silver and over-valued bronze coins. Under the terms of the treaty devised by Rome, Carthage had to pay 1,000 talents of gold immediately, plus another 2,000 talents over the next decade, amounting to an eye-watering 78,000 kilograms of bullion, or some 8.3 million gold staters! The second Punic War was meted out between 218B.C. and 201 B.C. and again Carthage was overcome. This time Rome stripped Carthage of its hard-fought colonies, denied it of its navy and forced it to pay another huge indemnity. 

Carthago delenda est

By the time of the third Punic War of 149 B.C. to 146 B.C. Rome had come to the end of its tether. Its elite came to believe that only total annihilation of Carthage could ensure Rome’s security. It was in the build-up to this last and most famous phase of the wars that Roman Republican politician, Cato, ended all his speeches with the words; Carthago delenda est, ‘Carthage must be destroyed’. And so it was that the might of the Roman Republic came down on Carthage in the form of a three-year siege, beginning in 149 B.C. The city had a population estimated at 700,000 and the vast majority of them were wiped out. In the spring of 146 B.C the Romans launched their final assault and over seven days systematically destroyed the city and slay its inhabitants. Only on the last day was the order given by Rome’s commander, Scipio Aemillianus, to take prisoners. 50,000 citizens were rounded up to be sold into slavery. Carthage’s top-of-command, Hasdrubal, pleaded for his life and freedom. This was observed by his wife who cursed her husband and with her children walked into a temple engulfed with flames. The ancient historian, Polybius, was present at the final destruction of Carthage alongside Scipio and it’s said that; ‘Scipio, when he looked upon the city as it was utterly perishing and in the last throes of its complete destruction, is said to have shed tears and wept openly for his enemies.’. Such was the destruction that apparently not one stone was left on top of another. The site was cursed and according to a 19th century myth, sown with salt to prevent any crop ever growing there again. Despite this inglorious end and scornful treatment, a century after the war ended, Julius Caesar planned to rebuild Carthage as a Roman city but little work was done. Augustus revived the project in 29 B.C. and by the time of the Empire it had become one of the main cities of Roman Africa. It appears from the history books that Rome had a grudging respect for Carthage as confirmed by the Roman politician, Cicero, who wrote; ‘Carthage would never have held an empire for six hundred years had it not been governed with wisdom and statesmanship.’. Such sentiments developed into full-scale equanimity on 5 February 1985 in a symbolic peace treaty which was signed by the mayors of Rome and modern Carthage, 2,131 years after the war ended.

Jonathan Mann is a numismatist specializing in medieval British coinage and is a member of the British Numismatic Society. His experience comprises over a decade in the British coin trade, as well as a position at the UK’s leading coin auctioneer, Spink & Sons as their hammered coin specialist. Jon has also represented Mayfair auctioneer, Dix Noonan Webb as their rep in the north of England. One of his biggest claims to numismatic fame is being responsible for handling and cataloguing a gold sovereign of Henry VII which set a world record as the highest price ever achieved at auction for a Tudor coin; £372,000. Jon is also proud to have represented the finder of the 2014 Lenborough hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins, helping him and the landowner to achieve an award of £1.35m from the British Museum Treasure Valuation Committee.