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Half Unit
| Issuer | Brettii |
|---|---|
| Year | 214 BC - 211 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ΝΙΚΑ |
| Reverse description | Zeus advancing vigorously to right, his right arm raised and extended to hurl a thunderbolt, depicted in the dynamic striding pose conventional to Hellenistic divine imagery. Between his legs, an eight-rayed star is visible in the lower field. A cornucopiae appears in the right field, reinforcing themes of prosperity and divine abundance. The ethnic legend ΒΡΕΤΤΙΩΝ is inscribed prominently in the field, identifying the issuing people. The composition reflects the strong influence of South Italian Greek artistic conventions on Bruttian bronze coinage. |
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| Additional information |
The Brettii — a Samnite-derived confederation occupying the toe of the Italian peninsula — struck their own coinage almost entirely because of Hannibal. After the Carthaginian victories at Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae, the Brettii defected from Rome in 216 BC, and independent coinage followed as a direct assertion of that break. This bronze fraction belongs to the tight window before Roman reconquest effectively ended Bruttian autonomy and, with it, their mint activity.