Featured Coinage during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC)

“This was the greatest event in the war, or, in my opinion, in Greek history; at once most glorious to the victors, and most calamitous to the conquered. They were beaten at all points and altogether; their sufferings in every way were great. They were totally destroyed – their fleet, their army, everything – and few out of many returned home. So ended the Sicilian expedition.”

Thucydides

This is the final passage of Book VII from Thucydides’ classic work, The History of the Peloponnesian War, a war that culminated in 404 BC with the surrender of a starved and besieged Athens. Athens’ expedition to Sicily to take on Syracuse and her allies Corinth and Sparta, was fraught, from the start of the expedition in 415 BC to the final battle in 413 BC with delays, missed opportunities, political opportunism, shifting alliances, fateful miscalculation, and questions of purpose of the expedition and who was to command for the Athenians. Like many foreign interventions today, Athens became mired in the politics and complexities of waging an ambitious campaign nearly 900 miles away. Her disastrous defeat set the stage for the final disaster, the virtual total destruction of the remainder of her rebuilt fleet, at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC.

The disaster of the Sicilian expedition was profound, especially in its impact on Athens’ manpower. Sir Richard Livingston footnotes Book VII with the observation on Athenian and ally losses that “The total numbers have been estimated at between 45,000 and 50,000. Mary of these were not Athenians, but it was a crushing disaster for a country whose total male citizen population over the age of eighteen did not exceed 60,000.”

The historians Will and Ariel Durant called this war “the suicide of Greece”, which in many ways it was. While Sparta was the victor in this conflict, and in turn dominated Greece for a relatively short period, the war weakened the combatants, and it ultimately helped set the stage for the rise Macedonia and the conquest of Greece by Philip II of Macedonia in 338 BC, followed by the conquests of his son, Alexander III and the establishment of his vast empire.

The playwright and satirist, Aristophanes, opening his play, The Acharnians, had this explanation about the start of the war, sparing no barbs, even targeting Pericles and Aspasia, who was Pericles’ partner and lover. The “City” referred to here, of course, is Athens.

“For men of ours – I do not say the City,
Remember that – I do not say the City,
But worthless fellows, just bad money, coins
No mint has ever seen, kept on denouncing
The men of Megara. Trifles, I grant,
– Our way here – but some tipsy youngsters then
Go steal from Megara a hussy there.
Then men of Megara come here and steal
Two of Aspasia’s minxes. And those three,
No better than they should be, caused the war.
For then in wrath Olympian Pericles
Thundered and lightened and confounded Greece.
Enacting laws against the Megarians
That sounded just like drinking songs –“

Aristophanes, from the Acharnians (425 BC)

In terms of numismatics, the period of the Peloponnesian War is rich in coinage from Athens, and allied members of The Delian League, and Sparta, and allied members of the Peloponnesian League, as well as the coinage of Greek and Carthaginian cities on the Italian mainland and Sicily, notably Syracuse. Persia was also a later participant as an ally of Sparta, seeking to settle old scores with Athens.

The Peloponnesian League was principally made up of Sparta allied with Corinth, Kythira, Melos, Pylos, Mantinea, Ellis, Epidaurus, Boeotia, Lefkada and Ambracia.

The Delian League was primarily comprised of Athens, the dominating power, and a number of city-states dotting a large area of the Aegean and the Adriatic seas. This league, formed during the Persian wars came increasingly under the sway of Athenian hegemony during the 5th century, eventually, by the start of the war in 431 BC, formed the empire ruled by Athens. Revolts against Athenian rule among some league city states occurred over the course of the war as the bonds of the league weakened with Athens' increasingly repressive actions towards it members.



Here are some coins of this period from my collection.

Athens

“O shining white and famed in song and violet-wreathed,
Fortress of Hellas, glorious Athens, city of God,”

Pindar (c. 518 – 438 BC)

First, the first tetradrachm of Athens that I purchased, back in the 1980s. Compared to many of the flashier examples on the market today, she does't compare favorably, but as a long time friend, always has a place in my heart. This coin was part of hoard that hit the market back then, and I think it cost me somewhere between $225 and $250. Circa 440-430 BC. 16.8 grams


Next, a plated tetradrachm from the period of 406-404 BC, produced at the time when Athens was on the verge of collapse. Ex CNG.



Sicily

Syracuse

Next is a tetradrachm from the period of the Second Democracy, 420-415 BC



Kamarina

Tetradrachm, circa 425-405 BC. Some numismatists consider the obverse design to be the prototype for the issues of Alexander III. Similar to Brett, Greek Coins (MFA), no. 0259. 17.5 grams.



Italy

Lucania, Thurium

Tetradrachm or double nomos, circa 443-400 BC. BMC 1 (this obv. die); HN Italy 1762. 15.47 grams.


So, bring on the triremes of terrific tetradrachms, the phalanxes of fabulous bronzes, the sieges of stellar staters, the cavalries of cool drachms, and anything else you would like to post. And don't forget the Persian and Carthaginian coins of that period!

Are there any decadrachms of Syracuse out there?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Fantastic coins robinjojo, and great write up you must be proud to have them in your collection. I know I would to have them in mine, congrats.

 

Very nice narrative, @robinjojo ... and great coins!

PELOPONNESIAN WAR


ARKADIA Tegea AR Tetartemorion 0.2g 6mm 423-400 BCE Helmeted Hd Athena Alea T within incuse BCD Peloponnesos War 1721 HGC 5


Switched sides from Athens to Sparta

Makedon Perdikkos II 454-413 BC AR heavy tetrobol 2-4g 15mm 12h Makedon mint 437-431 BC horseman holding two spears prancing Raymond 184ff SNG ANS 47ff


Coins hanging around Syracuse at the time of the failed invasion...

SYRACUSE 2nd Democr 466-405 BCE Æ Tetras 2.7g 15mm c.425 BCE Arethusa dolphins - Octopus 3 pellets SNG ANS 376 Calciati II.21.1



Sicily Syracuse AE Onkia 12-10mm 1.4g 425-415 BCE Arethusa - Octopus BMC 249

 

Nicely written and illustrated. For anyone looking for a very readable story of the Syracusan Expedition, may I recommend Peter Greene's "Armada from Athens". More exciting than anything fictional.

 

More coins during the Peloponnesian War

THASOS


Thasos AR TriHemiObol Satyr running Kulix Amphora 411-350BCE 0.69g 12mm SNGCop 1030


ATHENS (losers)


Athens Attica 454-404 BCE ARr hemidrachm 16mm 2.08g Athena frontal eye - facing Owl wings closed olive branches COP 70 SG 2528


I KNOW this guy was stirring the pot with the Greeks... even if he was not mentioned...


Achaemenid Xerxes II - DARIUS II to Artaxerxes II 420-375 BC AR siglos 16 mm 5.14 g Persian king running spear bow - incuse Carradice Type IIIb C pl XIV 42) Sunrise 25


ROME (Naw, they did not do anything, but they were hanging around)


Italia Aes Rude - bronze ca 5th-4th Century BCE 29.7mm 32.4g roughly an uncia

 

I can't not post this coin with a thread started on the Peloponnesian War:

As the Peloponnesian War dragged on, Athens found itself facing a monetary crisis. It attempted to rectify this situation by producing its first gold coinage. Around 413 B.C. Athens found herself cut off from its main source of silver at Laurion and after four years the need for additional funds prompted the melting down of seven golden statues of Nike. This action produced fourteen talents of gold, which was minted into six denominations from Staters to Hemiobols. Once the mintage was finished, the dies were hidden away in an alabaster box in the Parthenon to prevent misuse


(One of only six known; one of two examples not in a museum collection. Ex. John Whitney Walter)

 

Beyond awesome history with this coin. Big congrats finding this guy!

 

Great write-up. Ask any Greek today and they will tell you that the nation's greatest shortcoming has always been the tendency to fight each other... An old say would go like this: If someone gets a new goat, their neighbour would not wish to get a goat as well but for the other guy's goat to die. Nowdays this animosity translates to football (soccer for you Americans) rivalries, and politics (left vs right). The world could be very different today if there wasn't this in-fighting and Greeks were more united.

I wouldn't mind it if you post this coin in every thread, even if it is about chinese coins!

Last time you posted it I was trying to find out what happened to the larger ones (staters) to no avail. Are any of those in private hands? Any image of them on the internet?

 

There are a few in private hands but they are exceptionally expensive. This is the finest by a mile, last sold for 950,000 CHF hammer to a fairly well known billionaire collector:

 

Thank you all for your posts and wonderful coins.

This pivotal war in the ancient world had its roots that ring true even to today, and its consequences, as with innumerable conflicts, felt throughout history.

Here's what Edith Hamilton, author of "The Greek Way" (highly recommended), had to say about the war's effect on Athens and Sparta's brief rule as the victor:

"... Sparta could not rule other nations. Athens had taxed them heavily, but except for that she had not interfered with them. Sparta's methods are explained by the remark of an Athenian who admired her, to the effect that the will of any Spartan citizen was absolute law in the subject states. She was never able to understand any way but her own, and the other Greeks did not take kindly to that. They were not docile and they did not like obedience. She could not hold them long. The Spartan Empire lasted only a few years. Toward the end of the war she had made and alliance with her old arch-enemy, Persia, which helped her greatly in reducing Athens. But soon afterwards the two allies quarreled. Sparta was defeated and Persia took away the sea empire she had taken away from Athens.

That was the result of twenty-seven years of war. It seems at first sight a triumph of futility, but it was worse than that. Very many Athenians were killed during those years [in both fighting and plague]. Fortunately for us, some who were of an age to fight - Socrates, Plato, Thucydides himself, and others equally familiar, - did not die on battlefields; but it cannot be doubted that among all who did, there were those who would have led the world up to new heights. The flame that burned so brightly in fifth-century Athens would have given more and still more light to the world if these dead had not died, and died truly in vain."

And this from Thucydides:

"The cause of all these evils was the desire for power which greed and ambition inspire." - Thucydides, III, 83

I have two more coins from the period, both from Cilicia.

Soloi

Soloi was a vassal state to and satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire after the reign of Cyrus the Great.

Cilicia, Soloi AR Stater. 425-400 BC. Amazon, nude to the waist and seen from behind, kneeling to left and stringing her bow, wearing bonnet and with her gorytos at her hip; to right, facing head of satyr / ΣΟΛΕΩΝ, large bunch of grapes; below right, fly; all within incuse square with linear border of dots. BMC 3; SNG France 128; SNG Levante 40; SNG von Aulock 5858. 10.61g, 20mm, 6h.





Kelenderis

Kelenderis was a member of the Delian League as part of the Cilicia Fiscal District.

Cilicia, Kelenderis AR Stater. Circa 430-420 BC. Nude youth, holding whip, dismounting from horse rearing left; A below horse's belly / Goat kneeling left, head right; KEΛ and branch with ivy leaf and berries above. Casabonne Type 2; Celenderis -; SNG France 46; SNG Levante -; Roma e65, 438. 10.83g, 19mm, 3h.

This coin was recently purchased at auction. It is still in the pipeline for delivery.

 

Great thread with so much information packed in covering one of my favourite time periods to study. I covered this period in a module earlier this year at uni and will take it further next year. I’m feeling inspired to get my own piece of history now after looking at your collection!

 

Thank you.

For reading, Edith Hamilton's "The Greek Way" is a good reference, with its focus on Athens in the 5th century BC, as is Thucydides' "The Peloponnisian War", the annotated edition by Sir Richard Livingston. Also, another contributor to this thread recommends Peter Greene's "Armada from Athens", a work that I will definitely look into.

 

Some minor roughness on the surfaces made this decadrachm
fetch less than it might have done, so I succumbed to temptation.



Sicily, Syracuse AR Dekadrachm. Time of Dionysios I, circa 405-370 BC. Unsigned dies in the style of Euainetos.

Charioteer driving galloping quadriga to left, holding kentron in right hand, reins in left; above, Nike flies to right, a wreath in her outstretched arms to crown the charioteer; in the exergue, a panoply of arms is set on two steps: a cuirass, two greaves, and a Phrygian helmet

Head of the nymph Arethusa to left, wearing a reed wreath, triple-pendant earring, and a pearl necklace; [ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ] behind, pellet below chin, star of four points behind neck, and four dolphins around.


Gallatin XXII-JVIIA; Dewing 923.HGC 2 1299

40.90g, 34mm, 11h.

 

That's a beautiful coin and an excellent addition to your collection.

The minor roughness really doesn't affect the coin's appearance. It is very well centered and very well struck. Also, I don't see any die rust, which is present in many other examples.

Congratulations!

 

This is a wonderful example, congratulations! I had an unsigned Euainetos dekadrachm a few years ago but ultimately didn't love its portrait style (yours is much nicer despite not being signed)

In the meantime, this Kimon really spoke to me and, after some haggling with the dealer/friend who owned it, it finally came home to my collection.

This might sound controversial but I prefer many of Kimon's unsigned dies to most of his signed dies:

 

An outstanding coin!

Thank you for posting it.

 

Yes, Persia was a participant, especially towards the end of the war, and more than willing to help the Greeks along on their paths of mutual destruction.

 

LOL, yeah, I knew that... they were always meddling.

Here is some Persian Gold to help stir the pot...

Wonder if it got to SPARTA or MAKEDON???

DARIC


PERSIA, Achaemenid Empire.
Darios I to Xerxes II.
Circa 485-420 BC.
AV Daric (14mm, 8.30 g). Lydo-Milesian standard. Sardes mint.
Persian king or hero, wearing kidaris and kandys, quiver over shoulder, in kneeling-running stance right, holding spear in right hand, bow in left /
Incuse punch.
Carradice Type IIIb, Group A/B (pl. XIII, 27);
Meadows, Administration 321; BMC Arabia pl. XXIV, 26.

Twenty-five drachmas equals one Daric

 

Here's another coin from the general period.

While not a participant in the war, as far as I know, Bybos produced an interesting and rare shekel that depicted a trireme with three hoplites on one side, and vulture over an incuse ram on the other side - a very unusual coin indeed.

Here's information from the label:

Phoenicia Circa 435-425 BC
AR Shekel
Bybos
Uncertain king
Obv. Galley with three hoplites facing left, hippocampus below.
Rev. Vulture standing left, over incuse body of a ram to left with head facing right.
Betlyon 5th HGC 10, 126th
(28 mm, 13.8 grams, 9 h.)
Crude VF with good centering.
Very rare

I purchased this coin a while ago from CNG, probably early 90s.

The symbol of the vulture, Nekhbet, has major significance in ancient Egypt.

According to Wikipedia, "Nekhbet (/ˈnɛkˌbɛt/; also spelt Nekhebit) was an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning of Nekheb). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron deities for all of Ancient Egypt when it was unified."