obv. Cavalryman with helmet, shield and spears charging left, IΩ to right, ⊢H AΠOΛΛΩ below rev. Phalanthos on dolphin left, holding bunch of grapes in right hand and distaff in left, TAPAΣ below
The usual ANΘ in the right upper field on the reverse is missing on this coin. Rare.
The warrior shown on the obverse of this coin is almost certainly a member of the famed Tarentine cavalry. These cavalrymen were so widely reputed for their fierce character and brilliant battle skills that ′to ride like a Tarentine′ became a proverbial expression for equestrian skill.
The reverse shows a representation of the Tarentine foundation myth. Phalanthos, the Parthenian leader having been shipwrecked and on the verge of death, was miraculously saved and carried to shore by a dolphin. On the very spot he was brought to land he founded his new colony, named afterTaras, the legendary son of Poseidon.
Under the terms of their earlier settlement, no Roman ship was permitted to sail past the Lacinian Cape of Bruttium, but in 302 BC, a squadron under the praetor Lucius Cornelius, passed directly before the harbor of Taras on his way to assist Thourioi. Incested by the disregard for the treaty, the Tarantines sank most of the ships and expelled the Roman garrison from Thourioi. Outraged at these developments, the Romans declared war on Taras. The Tarantines invited the Epirote king, Pyrrhos, and his mercenary army to lead them and their allies against the Romans. The subsequent conflict became known as the Pyrrhic War (280-275). At the beginning of this war the Achaian weight standard (circa 7,90gr. for the nomos of 3 drachmas) was replaced by the new Tarantine weight standard (circa 6,60gr. for the stater of 2 drachmas). After some victories in 280 and 279 BC, in the end Pyrrhos was defeated in 275 BC by the Romans in the Battle of Beveventum. Taras surrendered to the consul Lucius Papirius Cursor and became a Roman allied city (civitas foederata). Taras, as a “civitas foederata” continued the activity of her mint on the reduced weight standard.
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