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Stater - Alexander Tarentum
| Issuer | Kings of Epeiros |
|---|---|
| Year | 334 BC - 332 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of Zeus Dodonaios facing right, rendered in fine archaic-classical Greek style with thick, deeply engraved curling locks of hair and a full, wavy beard. An oak wreath encircles the head, referencing the sacred oracle of Dodona. The portrait occupies the full field of the flan, with strong sculptural relief and expressive facial features characteristic of western Greek coinage of the late 4th century BC. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
This stater was struck during the Italian campaign of Alexander I of Epeiros — uncle to Alexander the Great — who crossed the Adriatic at the invitation of Tarentum to fight the Lucanian and Bruttian tribes threatening the Greek colonies of southern Italy. The coin reflects that joint political arrangement: Tarentum retained its magistrates and monetary apparatus while Alexander supplied the military muscle. He was killed at the Achandrus River around 330 BC, reportedly fulfilling an oracle that warned him to beware "Acheron" — which he had assumed referred to the river in Epeiros, not an obscure stream in Lucania.