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Hemilitron In the name of Alexander I Molossus
| Issuer | Tarentum |
|---|---|
| Year | 333 BC - 330 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Reverse description | A crab depicted in full frontal view occupies the central field, rendered with careful anatomical detail showing the carapace, claws, and legs symmetrically disposed. Radiating lines extend outward from behind the crab, suggesting solar or decorative motifs. The Greek inscription ΑΛ appears above divided on either side of the crab, and ΕΞ appears below, together forming the abbreviated name ΑΛΕΞ — a reference to Alexander I of Epirus (Alexander Molossus) — arranged around the central type in the fields. |
| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Alexander I of Epirus crossed into Italy around 334 BC at the invitation of Tarentum, which needed a military ally against the Lucanians and Messapians pressing from the interior. The arrangement soured badly — Alexander began negotiating independently with Rome and other Italian cities, cutting Tarentum out of the political calculus he was building. These small gold fractions, struck in his name by the Tarentine mint, belong to that uneasy collaboration, a city honoring a general it was already beginning to distrust. Alexander was killed at the Acheron River in Lucania around 331 BC, likely through treachery, before any lasting Italian alliance materialized.