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Stater
| Issuer | Lokroi Opuntii |
|---|---|
| Year | 370 BC - 360 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Demeter facing left, her hair elaborately arranged in flowing waves and bound with a wreath of grain, adorned with a pendant earring and a beaded necklace. The portrait is rendered in the high-relief, naturalistic style characteristic of skilled Lokrian die-engravers of the early fourth century BC. The facial features are finely modeled, conveying a serene, idealized feminine beauty. No legend appears in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The hero Ajax strides vigorously to the right in a dynamic advancing pose, depicted as a nude warrior holding a sword in his raised right hand and bearing a round shield on his left arm, the shield's boss decorated with a coiled serpent. A Phrygian helmet is displayed below as a secondary device in the lower field. The ethnic inscription ΟΠΟΝΤΙΩΝ appears in the field, identifying the issuing community of Opuntian Lokris. |
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| Additional information |
The Opuntian Lokrians occupied a strategically awkward position in fourth-century Greece — nominally allied with Sparta through much of the classical period, yet geographically exposed to Theban pressure following Leuktra in 371 BC. This stater almost certainly falls in the decade immediately after that battle, when the old Spartan order collapsed and smaller poleis were scrambling to reposition themselves diplomatically and militarily.
BCD Lokris 14 is a well-documented die pairing in a series where die linkage studies have done most of the heavy chronological lifting, given the absence of ancient literary sources on Opuntian minting decisions.