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Drachm
| Issuer | Brettii |
|---|---|
| Year | 216 BC - 214 BC |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Attic drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Diademed and winged bust of Nike facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic style characteristic of southern Italian coinage. The wings are depicted rising behind the bust, with fine feather detail. To the left of the bust appears one of several control symbols, varying by emission: a Macedonian helmet, amphora, star and crescent, lituus, oinochoe, or bird facing right. The field is otherwise plain, with no legend on the obverse. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Brettii — a Samnite-related people of Bruttium in the toe of Italy — began striking their own coinage only after breaking from Roman alliance during the Second Punic War, when Hannibal's victories made defection seem survivable. This drachm falls squarely within that window of Carthaginian alignment, struck while Roman authority over southern Italy had effectively collapsed. The Brettii needed coin to pay troops and conduct commerce on their own terms, which is precisely why their numismatic output exists at all — it begins and ends with the war.