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Æ Quadruple Unit The Mamertinoi
| Issuer | Mamertinoi (Messana) |
|---|---|
| Year | 288 BC - 278 BC |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Litra |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | An eagle with wings spread stands to the left upon a thunderbolt, its head turned with a commanding profile; the ethnic legend MAMEPTINΩN runs around the periphery of the field. The eagle, an emblem of Zeus and martial power, is rendered with finely detailed plumage, talons firmly gripping the thunderbolt below. The composition is bold and occupies the full flan, consistent with the Mamertine artistic tradition of this period. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Mamertinoi were Oscan mercenaries — originally hired by Agathocles of Syracuse — who seized Messana by force around 288 BC after his death left them without a paymaster. The name they adopted, invoking Mamers, the Oscan war god equated with Mars, was a deliberate assertion of identity by men who were essentially a standing army with nowhere else to go. Their coinage, including this heavy bronze unit, served the immediate practical needs of a garrison population running a captured city.
Their occupation of Messana would eventually draw Rome into Sicily for the first time, triggering the First Punic War in 264 BC.