AR Diobol MYSIA, PERGAMON - GONGYLID DYNASTY, CIRCA 470-400 BC - circa 450 BC vf+

weight 1,52gr. | silver Ø 11mm.

obv. Laureate head of Apollo right
rev. Bearded head right, wearing Persian tiara, crescent above,
ΠEPΓA behind, all within incuse square.

The identification of the portrait on the reverse of this issue has been the subject of debate. The individualized features suggest it is the portrait of a person rather than the personification of a deity or mythical figure. Most recently, Winzer assigned this issue to Eurysthenes, but his attribution necessitates a downdating of the issue to circa 400 BC, which is unlikely, and also is based on a misinterpretation of Xenophon, Hellenica 3.1.6 (see Mørkholm, Pergamene, p. 182, note 1). The traditional dating of mid 5th century BC is probably correct, and the exact ruler of Pergamon during this time is uncertain. Gongylos from Eretria in Euboea, was a 5th-century Greek statesman who served as an intermediary between the Spartans and Xerxes I of the Achaemenid Empire, and was a supporter of the latter. After the defeat of the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 479 BC, Gongylos was forced to flee and take refuge to Achaemenid ruled territory in Asia Minor. There, Xerxes granted him the territory of Pergamon in Asia Minor from circa 470-460 BC as a reward. His descendants ruled over the city until at least 400 BC, forming the Gongylid dynasty of satraps. Gongylos was one of the several Greek aristocrats who took refuge in the Achaemenid Empire following reversals at home, other famous ones being Hippias, Demaratos, and Themistocles. In general, those were generously welcomed by the Achaemenid kings, and received land grants to support them, and ruled over various cities of Asia Minor. According to Xenophon (Anabasis, 7.8.8-17), when he arrived in Mysia in 399, he met Hellas, the widow of Gongylos and probable daughter of Themistocles, who was living at Pergamon. His two sons, Gorgion and Gongylos the younger, ruled respectively over the cities of Gambrium and Palaegambrium for Gorgion, and Myrina and Grynium for Gongylos. Xenophon received some support from the descendants of Gongylos for his campaign into Asia Minor, as well as from the descendants of Demaratos, a Spartan exile who also had become a satrap for the Achaemenids, in the person of his descendant Prokles. It is thought that the Greek dynasts of Pergamon were punished following the Peace of Antalcidas in 386 BC for their support of the Greeks against the Achaemenids. However, by the mid-4th century BC, the Achaemenid satrap Orontes again allowed the people of Pergamon to settle on the acropolis of their city. This lasted until the conquests of Alexander the Great, when Pergamon became part of the Macedonian Empire. It is likely that the satrap depicted here is one of the Gongylid rulers, probably Gongylos himself. This coin is regarded the first coin of Pergamon. Highly interesting and very rare.

Given the very refined classic style, the coin dies of this type must have been
made by a very skilled master die cutter. The result was this little masterpiece….. Von Fritze, Pergamon pl. I, 1 | Mørkholm, Pergamene 1 | SNG France 1546-1548 |
SNG von Aulock 1347 | Winzer 7.2 (Eurysthenes, satrap of Pergamon)
Waddington 946-947 | Jameson 2223 | Weber 5154
Babelon, Traité II, pag. 86, no. 45 | Babelon, Les Perses 374 RR
vf+

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