Pherai under the tyrants Jason and then Alexander was one of the most militarily aggressive poleis in fourth-century Thessaly. Alexander of Pherai — infamous for his cruelty, eventually assassinated by his own brothers-in-law in 358 BC — issued coinage that functioned partly as a statement of regional dominance during a period when Pherai was locked in bitter conflict with the Thessalian League and its Boeotian backers. Pelopidas died fighting Alexander at Cynoscephalae in 364 BC, a measure of how seriously Thebes took the threat.
BCD 1312 is a well-documented specimen from the landmark Pherai section of the BCD Thessaly collection, auctioned by Nomos in 2011.
Pherai under the tyrants Jason and then Alexander was one of the most militarily aggressive poleis in fourth-century Thessaly. Alexander of Pherai — infamous for his cruelty, eventually assassinated by his own brothers-in-law in 358 BC — issued coinage that functioned partly as a statement of regional dominance during a period when Pherai was locked in bitter conflict with the Thessalian League and its Boeotian backers. Pelopidas died fighting Alexander at Cynoscephalae in 364 BC, a measure of how seriously Thebes took the threat.
BCD 1312 is a well-documented specimen from the landmark Pherai section of the BCD Thessaly collection, auctioned by Nomos in 2011.