Soloi was one of the most hellenized cities in Cilicia, reputedly founded by settlers from Rhodes and Lindos, and its coinage from this period reflects the mixed cultural pressures of a region caught between Athenian commercial influence and Achaemenid political control. The city gave its name — or so ancient writers claimed — to the word "solecism," from the corrupted Greek supposedly spoken by its inhabitants.
Production of these staters aligns with a period when Cilician dynasts were minting heavily to pay Greek mercenaries serving Persian interests, a function that likely drove much of the silver coinage circulating through the eastern Mediterranean in the early fourth century.
Soloi was one of the most hellenized cities in Cilicia, reputedly founded by settlers from Rhodes and Lindos, and its coinage from this period reflects the mixed cultural pressures of a region caught between Athenian commercial influence and Achaemenid political control. The city gave its name — or so ancient writers claimed — to the word "solecism," from the corrupted Greek supposedly spoken by its inhabitants.
Production of these staters aligns with a period when Cilician dynasts were minting heavily to pay Greek mercenaries serving Persian interests, a function that likely drove much of the silver coinage circulating through the eastern Mediterranean in the early fourth century.