Nomos

Tarentum — modern Taranto — was founded around 706 BC as the only Spartan colony in Magna Graecia, planted by a group of Partheniai whose disputed status at home made resettlement politically convenient for Sparta. By the late fifth century the city had grown into the dominant commercial power on the heel of Italy, and its coinage reflects that confidence. This particular emission falls within a decade of intense pressure from neighboring Italic tribes, when the Messapians were raiding Tarentine territory with enough frequency to demand serious military expenditure.

The nomos was Tarentum's workhorse denomination for external trade, struck to a standard close to the Attic didrachm.