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Sestertius
| Issuer | Lakedaimon (Lakonia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 35 BC - 31 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ΛΑΚΕΔΑΙΜΟΝΙΩΝ |
| Reverse description | The civic abbreviation ΛΑ (for Lakedaimon) inscribed in large Greek characters at the centre of the field, enclosed within a wreath of olive branches tied at the base; the wreath is rendered with fine, naturalistic detail, with individual leaves clearly articulated. The field is otherwise plain, with no additional legend or exergual inscription. |
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| Additional information |
Lakedaimon — the ancient city-state we know as Sparta — struck bronze coinage only in the Hellenistic and Roman provincial periods, a consequence of Sparta's notorious historical prohibition on precious metal coinage, a policy rooted in Lykurgan tradition that kept the city reliant on iron spits as currency for centuries longer than any of its Greek peers. By the 30s BC, that ideology had long collapsed under Roman pressure, and the city was minting civic bronzes within the chaotic final years of the Roman Republic — the very window when Antony and Octavian were carving up the Mediterranean.