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Stater - Alexander
| Issuer | Pherai |
|---|---|
| Year | 369 BC - 358 BC |
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| Reference(s) | BCD Thessaly I#1309, Jameson#1106, HGC 4#576 |
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| Reverse description | The tyrant Alexander of Pherai depicted as a mounted warrior, riding a horse galloping to the right. He holds the reins in his left hand while thrusting a lance downward with his right, clad in cavalry helmet, cuirass, and boots, with a sheathed sword suspended on a baldric across his chest. On the horse's rump appears a double axe (labrys), serving as a secondary emblem. The legend ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ in Greek characters identifies the issuer, disposed around the field. |
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| Mint | Pherai |
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| Additional information |
Pherai dominated Thessalian politics under Jason and his successors through a combination of military force and the tageia — the supreme Thessalian magistracy Jason seized around 374 BC, giving him effective control over the region's considerable cavalry levies. This stater was struck under Alexander of Pherai, whose decade-long tyranny was marked by extraordinary brutality even by ancient standards; ancient sources describe him burying men alive and dressing others in boar and bear skins before hunting them for sport. His assassination in 358 BC, orchestrated by his own wife Thebe and her brothers, ended the line.