Akragas was one of the wealthiest cities in the ancient Greek world for much of the fifth century, but the window for this litra is narrow and grim. By 406 BC, a Carthaginian army under Hannibal Mago and Himilco had sacked the city after an eight-month siege, ending Akragantine coinage entirely for a generation. Small silver fractions struck in the final years before that destruction were likely produced partly to pay mercenaries as the siege closed in.
Akragas was one of the wealthiest cities in the ancient Greek world for much of the fifth century, but the window for this litra is narrow and grim. By 406 BC, a Carthaginian army under Hannibal Mago and Himilco had sacked the city after an eight-month siege, ending Akragantine coinage entirely for a generation. Small silver fractions struck in the final years before that destruction were likely produced partly to pay mercenaries as the siege closed in.