THE decadrachms of Syracuse are con-sidered to be the most beautiful coins

from the Classical period of ancientGreece. To fully appreciate these wonder-ful coins some historical information isnecessary. According to the Greek historian,Thucydides, Syracuse was founded byGreeks from Corinth in 733 BC. Theirleader was Archias and they settled on theisland of Ortygia , which is a small islandjust off the south-east coast of Sicily (Figure1 – map of Sicily). Being on an island itwas easily defensible and having a harbourto the north and south it became a hubof mercantile trade (Figure 2 – map ofSyracuse). Moreover there were fertileplains on the adjacent mainland and anumber of the citizens became wealthyland-owners. It was a boom town, and by500 BC its territory extended over thewhole of south-east Sicily. Further expan-sion was blocked by Gela, a city founded byGreeks from Crete and Rhodes in 688 BC.They in turn founded the city of Akragasfurther to the west early in the 6th century.Syracuse was ruled by an oligarchy, a

small group of land-owners, but when ademocratic revolution occurred they were

expelled. They appealed to Gelon, the dic-tator who ruled Gela, and in 485 BC hegained control of Syracuse and made ithis capital, while Gela was ruled by hisbrother, Hieron. Akragas was ruled by adictator called Theron. Gelon cemented analliance with Akragas by marrying Theron’sdaughter, Demarete. When Theron exten-ded the territory of Akragas across Sicilyto Himera, the ruler of Himera appealed tothe Carthaginians for help. The Carthag-inian army allegedly numbered 300,000,but in 480 BC it was defeated by Gelonwith an army of only 55,000. Demareteintervened in the peace negotiations on

behalf of the Carthaginians and accordingto Diodorus Siculus, a historian of the 1st

century BC, they rewarded her with thegift of a gold crown. Diodorus said that when Demerete rec-

eived the crown a coin was struck andcalled a Demareteion after her. Becauseno gold coins of Syracuse are known from

Background: The bridge to Ortygia. (Source: Wikimedia Commons.Photo by Giovanni Dall’orto). Overlay pic: Decadrachm by Kimon. (TritonXVI, January 2013, lot 230).

Figure 1 – Map of Sicily in 400 BC.

Figure 2 – Map of ancient Syracuse. (Source:The Pocket Guide to Saint Paul: Coins encoun-tered by the Apostle on his travels by PeterLewis and Ron Bolden. Wakefield Press, Adel-aide, 2002. Paul visited Syracuse in 60 AD.)

Figure 3 – The Demareteion. It is 34 mms invertical diameter.Numismatica Ars ClassicaNAC AG, Auction 12 (8th October 1998), lot 433.www.arsclassicacoins.com It sold for 440,000Swiss Francs (Aus$434,000 at current rates).

this period it was assumed that Diodorusomitted to say that the gold was spent tomake the large silver decadrachms thatwere called Demareteia. These coins havea chariot drawn by four slowly movinghorses on the obverse, and a woman’s headsurrounded by four dolphins on the rev-erse (Figure 3). The woman is portrayedin an archaic style with an eye shownfrontally, i.e. not in profile, and with theslight smile that is known as the archaicsmile. In the exergue there is a lion, whichwas thought to represent Africa and theCarthaginians. Modern scholars, however,consider that these coins were struck dur-ing the period 470 – 465 BC because sometetradrachms in the same series (Figure 4)have been found in contexts which suggestthey were minted at that time, not in 480BC. Oliver Hoover in his book Handbook of

Coins of Sicily (CNG, Lancaster, 2012) saysthat apparently these decadrachms wereintroduced to meet the expenses incurredduring the overthrow of the dictators in466. Nathaniel Fick www.writer2001.com/fick.htm has made a particular study ofthe Demareteion decadrachms and heargues that they were struck during theperiod 475 to 465, perhaps to commemoratethe expulsion of the dictators or just toexpress the city’s pride in its greatness. When Gelon died in 478 BC he was suc-

ceeded by Hieron, who won a decisive navalbattle against the Etruscans just north of

Naples in 474 BC. This secured the dom-inance of Syracuse in the region. A goldenage ensued and the arts flourished in theprosperous city. The famous poet, Pindar,visited Syracuse, as did the dramatist,Aeschylus. After Hieron’s death in 467 BCthe autocratic government was replaced bya democratic one, but Syracusan hegemonywas strengthened by a victory over theforces of Akragas in 445 BC.

A new chapter in the history of Syra-cuse began during the PeloponnesianWar between Athens and Sparta. Fear ofSyracuse siding with Sparta, as well asgreed and imperialist aspirations, led theAthenians to launch a massive invasionof Syracuse in 415 BC. The whole story istold by Thucydides in The History of thePeloponnesian War (English translationby Rex Warner, Penguin, 1954). The Athen-ians were completely defeated. Retreatingsouthward in 413 BC they were overtakenat the Assinarus River, 18 miles south ofSyracuse. Many were killed and large num-bers captured. Subsequently the Atheniansoldiers were imprisoned in the quarriesnear Syracuse and treated harshly. Thehuge amount of money that they broughtwith them was seized, and it might havebeen used to produce the decadrachms forwhich Syracuse became famous. It is usu-ally thought that these victory coins wereminted in the decade following the war,but in his book Oliver Hoover has assignedthem to the early years of the long auto-

cratic rule of Dionysius I (405 – 367 BC).He says they were evidently used byDionysius to pay his mercenary armies. We know who made the dies for these

numismatic masterpieces because theengravers sometimes signed their work.The two die-engravers were Kimon andEuainetos. It was unusual for coins to besigned but it happened occasionally at thistime, presumably because the artists wereso proud of their work. Kimon inserts hisname discretely on the reverse of the coin,either on the woman’s headband or on oneof the dolphins (Figure 5). Euainetos putshis name at the lower edge of the reverse(Figure 6). For reasons of style it is thoughtthat Kimon made his dies first and thatthey inspired Euainetos in his work.Hoover considers that the decadrachms ofKimon were produced from 405 to 400 BC,and those of Euainetos from 400 to 390 BC.These decadrachms all have a chariot

pulled by four galloping horses on the ob-verse with the goddess Victory flying above.She holds a wreath with which to crownthe winning charioteer. Below the groundlevel there is a set of armour: a cuirassbetween two greaves with a plumed hel-met on the right and a shield lying flaton the left. Sometimes the word ΑΘΛΑ(prizes) appears below the armour. Thisword could mean the prizes for winning arace or the trophies of war. In either casethe armour could have been taken fromthe captive or dead Athenians. Sir ArthurEvans, the famous archaeologist who ex-cavated Knossos in Crete, suggested thatthe coins themselves were the prizes and

Figure 4 – Tetradrachm in the Demareteion series. It is identical to the decadrachm exceptthat it is only 26 mms in diam. (Triton XVI, January 2013, lot 224. It sold for Aus$124,000.)

Figure 5 – Decadrachm by Kimon. 33 mms diameter. The letters KI are on the headband.Behind her hair is the word ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ (of the people of Syracuse). Rusty obverse die.(Triton XVI, January 2013, lot 230. It sold for Aus$37,000.)

Figure 6 – Decadrachm by Euainetos. 34mms diameter. His signature EYA[IN]E is atthe lower edge but only the tops of the lettersare on the flan. (Triton XVI, January 2013,lot 232. It sold for Aus$45,000.)

that they were awarded at the games heldto commemorate the victory. They werecalled the Assinarian Games after theAssinarus River. It may be that the coinshad nothing to do with the Athenian Warand were just part of the large sum ofmoney that Dionysius needed to pay themercenaries to maintain his autocraticregime and to campaign in Italy. Although Dionysius was a cruel despot

he was interested in games and the arts.

He sent contingents to the Olympic Gamesand wrote a tragedy that won a competitionin Athens in 367 BC. It is said that whenhe heard of his win he was so excitedand celebrated his victory with such en-thusiasm that he became ill and died. Hisliterary work, however, was generally ad-versely criticized. When the poet Philox-enus said how bad his poetry was, he wasarrested and sent to the quarries. At therequest of his friends he was releasedsome days later and brought to the palaceto listen to Dionysius reading one of hispoems. The audience applauded enthusi-astically, but when Philoxenus was askedfor his opinion he simply said, “Take meback to the quarries.”On Kimon’s coin the horses are moving

in unison in a controlled way, althoughthey are made to look more natural byhaving the second horse turning his head.On Euainetos’ coin the horses are rearingup in an excited way and realism is addedby having a small gap between the pairsof horses. On the reverse the differences aremore obvious. Kimon’s lady looks ratherprim and proper, with the back of her hairneatly held in a net. Euainetos shows a

wild personality with a wreath of reedsworn in hair that curls everywhere. Bothwomen have four dolphins leaping aroundthem indicating that they are surroundedby or in the sea. On some of his coinsEuainetos puts a shell behind the woman’sneck (Figure 7), or under her chin he putsa triangle (Figure 8) or a pellet (Figure 9).But who is this woman?Although she is not named on the coins

she is generally considered to be Arethusa,a nymph of Elis in Greece and a followerof the virgin goddess, Artemis. Ancientwriters give different versions of the storyof how the river god, Alpheius (Figure 10)fell in love with her when she bathed in hiswater. She fled from his sexual advances(Figure 11) and was transformed by Art-emis into a spring on Ortygia. He pursued

Figure 7 – Decadrachm by Euainetos with ashell behind the neck of Arethusa. 34 mms dia-meter. This beautiful coin is a fake. (Author’scollection)

Figure 10 – The Alpheius River in Greece. This is the place where the nymph jumped out ofthe water. (Photo by gusia at summitpost.org. Image used with permission)

Figure 8 – Decadrachm by Euainetos with a triangle under the chin of Arethusa. 34 mmsdiameter. (Triton XVI, January 2013, lot 233. It sold for Aus$30,500.)

Figure 9 – Decadrachm by Euainetos with apellet under the chin of Arethusa. 34 mms di-ameter. (Collection of St John’s Cathedral,Brisbane. Image used with permission.)

her by flowing under the sea to be unitedwith her in the fountain, which still existstoday (Figure 12). One can read Ovid’sversion of the story in Book V, Sections572-641, of his poem Metamorphoses,written early in the 1st century AD. It be-gins with the goddess Ceres askingArethusa, “Why are you now a sacredfountain?”

The waters fall silent while theirgoddess lifts her head from the deeppool, and wringing the water from hersea-green tresses, she tells of the formerlove of that river of Elis.

This sentence is from the translation byAnthony S. Kline. You can read the wholestory on the Internet. Just type ‘OvidMetamorphoses translation’ into thesearch engine. Another version comes from Pausanias,

a travel writer of the 2nd century AD. Youcan also read his account on the Internet.It is in Book V (5.7.2) of his Guide to Greece.Pausanias says that he cannot disbelievethat the Alpheius River passes throughthe sea to merge with the spring on Orty-gia (Figure 13). The fact that in places theriver did flow underground might haveprovided evidence for the story, but thereason Pausanias gives is that beforeArchias set out on his expedition he wentto Delphi to seek the guidance of Apollo,and the god uttered this oracle:

An isle, Ortygia, lies on the misty oceanover against Sicily, where the mouth ofAlpheius bubbles, mingling with thesprings of broad Arethusa.

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Figure 11 – Engraving by Bernard Picart (1673 – 1733). Colour has been added. Alpheius ispursuing Arethusa who is being enveloped in a cloud by the goddess Artemis before beingtransformed into a fountain. The river flowed down passed Olympia on the plain. (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 12 – The fountain of Arethusa on Ortygia. Papyrus reeds grow in the centre. The nymphhas reeds in her hair on the coin. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 13 – Map showing the water of the Alpheius River passing through the sea to reach Ortygia.

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