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Nomos - Sy- and Lykinos
| Issuer | Tarentum |
|---|---|
| Year | 275 BC - 235 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Nude youth on horseback riding to left; the horse raises its left foreleg while the rider leans forward to crown the animal with a wreath held in his outstretched right hand. The magistrate's abbreviation ΚΥ appears in the upper field, while the magistrate's name ΛΥΚΙ-ΝΟΣ is inscribed in two lines in the lower field. The composition reflects the refined Tarentine equestrian tradition characteristic of the mid-Hellenistic period. |
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| Reverse description | Taras, the mythological founder of the city, is depicted astride a dolphin leaping to the left, brandishing a trident in his raised right hand; a chlamys is draped around his shoulders and left arm. An owl, standing to the left with wings closed, occupies the right field as a secondary symbol. The ethnic legend ΤΑΡΑΣ is inscribed below in the exergue area. The composition follows the canonical Tarentine reverse type, with fluid Hellenistic modeling of the figure. |
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| Additional information |
By the mid-third century, Tarentum's independent coinage was operating under increasing political pressure — the city had just expelled its Roman garrison in 272 BC following the withdrawal of Pyrrhus, and the mint was producing nomoi under magistrate name pairs as a deliberate assertion of civic authority during a period of accelerating Roman dominance over southern Italy. The naming convention pairing two magistrates, here Sy- and Lykinos, is well documented across the Vlasto series and helps establish relative die sequences within the broader late Tarentine coinage.
Vlasto 834–841 covers a tight die cluster. Specimens that diverge from those dies warrant closer scrutiny.