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Æ Unit
| Issuer | Lucani |
|---|---|
| Year | 209 BC - 207 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 8.16 g |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Zeus facing right, rendered with vigorous, expressive die-work characteristic of South Italian bronze coinage. The deity is depicted with a full, curling beard and flowing locks of hair, surmounted by a wreath of laurel leaves. The portrait occupies the majority of the flan, with the truncation of the neck visible at the lower edge. The field is plain, with no visible legend or additional devices. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | An eagle with broadly spread wings stands facing left, perched upon a thunderbolt rendered in the centre of the flan. The bird's talons grip the shaft of the thunderbolt firmly, and the feathering of the wings and body is rendered with considerable detail. The ethnic legend ΛOYKANOM is disposed around the principal device in the field, written in the Oscan-Greek script of the Lucanian people. |
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| Additional information |
The Lucani were an Oscan-speaking people of southern Italy who found themselves caught between Rome and Carthage during the Second Punic War. Following Hannibal's catastrophic defeat of Roman forces at Cannae in 216 BC, a significant portion of the Italian allied states — including the Lucani — defected to the Carthaginian side. This bronze issue, dated to the final years of that alliance, was struck as Hannibal's position in Italy was rapidly deteriorating and Roman reconquest of the region was becoming inevitable.
By 207 BC, with the defeat and death of Hasdrubal at the Metaurus River, Carthaginian hopes in Italy effectively collapsed.