Ancient gigolo: The life of Agathocles of Syracuse

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Sallent, Oct 1, 2018.

  1. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    To say Agathocles' life was colorful is an understatement. He was the son of a poor Sicilian potter. Historians claim his first career was as a male prostitute in a men's only brothel, and when he reached puberty he used his beauty to switch over to a career as a male gigolo with a female clientele, and moonlighted as a highway thief. Eventually, Agathocles found honest employ under a wealthy patron, but when his patron's death threatened to leave Agathocles unemployed, Agathocles used his well honed gigolo skills to seduce the now wealthy widow of his former patron and married her. He then used her money to buy himself band of soldiers, and proved so successful as a military commander that Syracuse's oligarchs bannished him. So he built himself a larger army and conquered Syracuse, killing or banishing over 10,000 of his fellow citizens in turn.

    76945q00.jpg
    Agathocles of Syracuse
    Bronze litra,
    weight 8.501g, maximum diameter 26.1mm, die axis 315o, 305 - 295 B.C.; obverse ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, head of young Herakles left, wearing taenia, star (control symbol) behind neck; reverse lion walking right, right foreleg raised, club right above, arrow right (control symbol) in exergue; Calciati II p. 287, 150 Ds 14 Rs 63; BMC Sicily p. 196, 391; SNG ANS 740; SNG Cop 767; HGC 2 1465 var. (R1, 4th Democracy, different controls)

    THE PRINCE

    220px-Portrait_of_Niccolò_Machiavelli_by_Santi_di_Tito.jpg
    Niccolo Machiavelli

    None other than Niccolo Machiavelli said of Agathocles of Syracuse in his famous book, The Prince, that ...."It cannot be called prowess to kill fellow-citizens, to betray friends, to be treacherous, pitiless, irreligious." According to Machiavelli, Agathocles was a criminal at every stage of his career. When Machiavelli himself gives your life such high praise, you know you had a heck of a career.

    So what did Agathocles do to earn such praise? Well, after murdering 10,000 of his fellow citizens, he got involved in a war with Carthage. He promised an African king that if he used his army to help him defeat the Carthagenian, he'd give him any lands they conquered in Africa. The king decided to ally himself to Agathocles and both armies camped next to each other. Agathocles then did a surprise raid on his new ally's camp and killed his ally, them conscripted his leaderless army as his own army. It ain't treachery if you can get away with it. :rolleyes:

    add5daadbf36923ebebde86ee3c4c257.jpg

    Eventually things went sour for Agathocles in Africa, but through bribery and more criminal activity he secured himself as the King of Sicily. There were a few more uprisings against him, and at one point he was sieged at Syracuse, but even in old age Agathocles had an uncanny ability to grease the right pockets, betray his friends and allies at the most opportune times, and knew just when to carry out a good old fashioned mass murder spree to quiet the opposition.

    Because of these talents, Agathocles has gone down as one of the greatest Greek tyrants of all antiquity, and earned further immortality as an example of a criminal prince in Machiavelli's The Prince. Even Machiavelli had to admit that although Agathocles was a criminal who should not be immitated, his talents for knowing when to bribe, betray, rob, extort, and kill, made Agathocles a very successful tyrant despite his abhorrent criminal behavior. Can you think of any higher praise if you were a tyrant? Nope! :cool:
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2018
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  3. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    In another lifetime, Agathocles of Syracuse could have been Rob Schneider.

    p24434_v_v8_ac.jpg

    As always, please feel free to post whatever coins you want. It doesn't even have to be directly related to my coin. If you feel moved to share something, go ahead.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2018
  4. Ajax

    Ajax Well-Known Member

    Nice coin and a fun write up Sallent.
    Agathokles.png
    Sicily, Syracuse. Agathokles. 317-289 B.C. Æ litra (22 mm, 9.72 g, 9 h). Ca. 306/4-289 B.C. ΣΩΤΕΙΡΑ, head of Artemis right, quiver at shoulder / ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΟΣ, winged thunderbolt. BAR issue 33; CNS 142; SNG ANS 708
     
  5. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    The tyrant issued some gorgeous coins!

    [​IMG]
    SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles (317-289 BCE)
    struck 310-305 BCE
    AR tetradrachm, 17.40 g, 24 mm
    Obv: head of the nymph Arethusa left, wearing grain wreath, earring and necklace; around, three dolphins; under, monogram (NK?)
    Rev: ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, fast chariot charioteer leads to left, holding reins and kentron; above, triskeles; in exergue, monogram
    Ref: Ierardi 12 (O2-R8); SNG Copenhagen 573 var., SNG ANS 637
    https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-adventures-in-bidland-agathokles-tetradrachm.243930/
     
  6. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Yeah, except yours is the....

    xl2ybmjb3pj2.jpg

    and mine is the...

    280px-Nissan_Sunny_Sedan_1982.jpg

    version of the coinage struck by Agathocles. Different worlds appart, but I suppose even the Nissan Sunny version of Agathocles' coinage deserves a little love and care. I'm happy to have it and wouldn't trade it for anything, though I will occasionally admire your Ferrari 488 version of Agathocles' coinage from a distance.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2018
  7. Pavlos

    Pavlos You pick out the big men. I'll make them brave!

    Thats a great looking coin, it is on my wish list as well.

    I see you are into coins from Sicily lately? Very good choice atleast, Sicily got wonderful coins.
     
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  8. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    I was going through my collection recently and I was shocked to find that 2/3 of my entire collection is Imperial Roman coinage. I like Roman coins, but I also don't want to have my collection stagnate in a single focus area at the expense of the rest. So I've decided no more Roman Imperials for a while, and I am instead looking around for some interesting Greek and Celtic coinage, and Sicilian coins have really called out to me now that I'm purposefully looking for interesting non-Roman types.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2018
    Pavlos likes this.
  9. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Didn't you just sell off most of your interesting non-Roman types? Not that there's anything wrong with "playing the field" :).
     
  10. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    I decided I didn't really want to do medieval or Indian/Asian (except for some Chinese cash). So I sold those. But I didn't sell any of my Greek or Celtic, and I definitely want to expand in those two areas.
     
    TIF likes this.
  11. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ahaha...well, most of my coins are the Nissan version too, but it's nice to be in the parade anyway ^^
     
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  12. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    Great write up! I remembered some of his story...but not all of it:inpain: (BEAUTIFUL lion btw)
    CollageMaker Plus_2018428204322202.png

    Nobody throughout history will ever redo the accomplishments of Agathokles...well except maybe
     
  13. Ken Dorney

    Ken Dorney Yea, I'm Cool That Way...

    Ah. The 80's. If you are about 50 years old you understand. If not, well....
     
  14. Brian Bucklan

    Brian Bucklan Well-Known Member

    Another one that I had and let slip through my hands a long time ago.
    Agathocles AR 1.jpg
    Sicily, Syracuse ; Agathokles (317-289BC) AR Tetradrachm.

    Ox: Head of Persephone right, wearing single drop earring and necklace; ΚΟΡΑΣ behind

    Rx: Nike right, draped from waist and wings spread, in right hand a hammer, in left hand a nail with which she is about to fix helmet to trophy; ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΙΟΣ behin, triskeles at bottom left
     
  15. frankjg

    frankjg Well-Known Member

    Oooh, timely, this little guy just found it's way into my mailbox. I'm also working on my photography rig and trying to figure all that out (apologies in advance for the bad photos)

    Agathokles Trias.jpg
    Sicily, Syracuse
    Trias, 317-289 B.C.
    13mm, 2.55g
    OBV: Head of Kore left
    REV: Bull butting left, dolphin above

    That Agathokles, he's a baaaaad man
    Shut yo mouth
    I'm just talking about Agathokles
     
  16. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    I've seen his name spelled both as Agathocles and as Agathokles. Is there a more correct way?
     
  17. Severus Alexander

    Severus Alexander find me at NumisForums

    One is Latin and the other Greek. I suppose that since he was Greek the k may be preferable... but to others seems snooty. Whatever! :)
     
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  18. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Oh, I think I understand. I watched the series Narcos on Netflix. It taught me a lot about the 80s. What can I say except cocaine is a hell of a drug.
     
  19. Ken Dorney

    Ken Dorney Yea, I'm Cool That Way...

    You may appreciate this being in Florida, but Crockett and Tubbs were something of icons back then. I remember wearing pastel clothes, white sunglasses and Vans. Those were the good days!
     
    Brian Bucklan likes this.
  20. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Miami Vice is one of my favorite shows. Even though I was born in the mid-80s, I've always had a deep appreciation for classic TV and radio shows. I can probably recite two dozen shows from the 50's through the 90's, as well as 30 or 40 movies from that time period that I love. Heck, I even listen to old radio shows from the 30's, 40's, and 50's religiously on my 1946 Philco radio which I wired with an AM receiver that I run from a tablet to my vintage radio set.

    The Miami Vice intro is a classic.



    However, the Miami skyline has changed so much from then to now that no one that watched that show but has never been to Miami would recognize this city if their only impression of it is that show.

    Downtown-Miami-Night.jpg


    Even the Miami Beach from Scarface would be unrecognizable today. Although the Art Deco buildings are still the same (being historical buildings), they've been revamped in and out to accommodate modern tourism, and their street fronts have been heavily modified to create restaurants and shops for the huge tourist traffic. During the Scarface era these buildings were mostly sleepy retirement homes with no storefronts whatsoever, and the streets were dark, quiet, and run down.

    The scene with the shooting in Miami Beach between Tony and the drug dealers was believable back then. It probably happened every week in real life back in the early 1980's as Colombian gangs fought for drug turfs. Given how desolate Miami Beach was back then, you could probably shoot it out for 10 minutes before a single cop showed up. But such a scene would not be believable today. .


    imrs.jpeg
    Late 70's and early 80's....desolate streets and buildings full of 70+ year old retirees.

    70_big.jpg
    Same spot today with restaurants and shops, and traffic 24/7.

    imrs (1).jpeg
    Late 70s and early 80s, beach mostly empty except for a handful of 70+ year old retirees.

    beach.jpg
    Miami Beach today, packed with European and Canadian tourists.

    What you saw in Miami Vice was all a fantasy...what developers and city officials hoped Miami could be in a decade. And it worked...that show is probably the main reason Miami Beach went from a backwaters in 1980 to a busy and thriving tourist trap by the early 1990's, and why downtown Miami went from a poor, drug infested, and crime ridden neighborhood to a thriving modern metropolis full of skyscrapers and businesses.:cool::D
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
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  21. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Is your right facing portrait more or less common than my left facing portrait?
     
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