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Nomos
| Issuer | Tarentum |
|---|---|
| Year | 280 BC - 272 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | Phalanthos, the mythological Spartan oikist of Tarentum, seated astride a dolphin leaping to left; in his outstretched right hand he holds a kantharos, while his left hand grasps a trident, emblems of maritime dominion. The composition is executed in the vigorous, finely detailed style typical of Tarentine die-cutters of the Pyrrhic War period. The ethnic ΤΑΡΑΣ appears in the field, accompanied by the magistrate's initials ΘΙ to the left and B to the right, identifying the responsible monetary officials. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
This issue falls within Tarentum's final decades of genuine independence, a period defined by the city's increasingly desperate appeals for outside military intervention. The Nomos series of this period was struck during and around the presence of Pyrrhus of Epirus, whom Tarentum invited in 280 BC to check Roman expansion — a gamble that ultimately failed. When Pyrrhus withdrew in 275 BC, Tarentum was left exposed, and the city fell to Rome in 272 BC, ending its mint's long autonomy.
Vlasto's sequencing of this type places it among the more carefully documented late-series nomoi, with die links traceable across the 762–768 range.