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Stater
| Issuer | Tarentum |
|---|---|
| Year | 281 BC - 276 BC |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 8.61 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A nude male charioteer, hair streaming behind him, drives a fast biga (two-horse chariot) to the right, his arms outstretched as he vigorously urges the galloping horses forward; the spoked wheel of the chariot is visible at the lower left. Above in the upper field, the magistrate's name ΝΙΚΑΡ is inscribed to the right of a trident symbol. Along the lower exergual line, the ethnic inscription ΤΑΡΑΝΤΙΝΩΝ identifies the issuing city of Tarentum. The composition displays the dynamic energy and technical excellence characteristic of the finest Tarentine gold coinage of this period. |
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| Mint | Tarentum Mint |
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| Additional information |
This issue falls within the period of Tarentum's most desperate gamble: the invitation of Pyrrhus of Epirus to intervene against Rome. The city had already clashed with a Roman naval squadron in the harbor in 282 BC — sinking several ships and killing an admiral — and needed a champion. Pyrrhus arrived in 280 BC with war elephants and a professional Hellenistic army, winning at Heraclea and Asculum at costs so steep they gave the language a new phrase.
Gold coinage from Tarentum in this window almost certainly served as military pay rather than domestic commerce. The city was financing a foreign king's campaign on Italian soil.