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Diobol
| Issuer | Tarentum |
|---|---|
| Year | 325 BC - 280 BC |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Head of Athena facing right, wearing a crested Attic helmet adorned with a griffin or figural device on the bowl; the cheek-guards are raised, and the crest falls in finely engraved parallel lines. The goddess's facial features are rendered in the refined South Italian Greek style, with a pronounced profile, almond-shaped eye, and sensitively modelled chin. Long locks of hair escape beneath the helmet and fall onto the neck. The field is plain, with no legend or border. |
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| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Mint | Tarentum Mint |
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| Additional information |
Tarentum's small silver fractions served the busy commercial port trade of Magna Graecia, where Spartan colonists had founded the city in 706 BC — the only Spartan colony ever established. By the early third century, the city was increasingly entangled in conflicts with the Italian tribes of the interior and would within decades invite Pyrrhus of Epirus to intervene on its behalf, a decision that ultimately accelerated rather than prevented Roman dominance over the region.