By Dr. Steve Benner for CoinWeek …..
In ancient times, Calabria was located on the southeast peninsula of the Italian mainland – the “heel” of the Italian boot (Figure 1). The name is Roman; the Greeks called it either Messapia or Iapygia. The native tribes that occupied the peninsula prior to the Greeks were the Sallentini in the south and the Calabri (Messapians) in the north. The area lacked water but was fertile. It contained no mountains and had broad and gently rolling hills. Calabria produced olive oil, wines, fruits, honey, and wool of the finest quality. It was also known for its horses, supplying cavalry to Greek armies. The modern name for ancient Calabria is Salento.
The area was settled in the eighth century BCE (all dates BCE unless otherwise noted) by the Greeks initially at Taras (Tarentum), Orra (Hyria), and Brundisium. In the third century, Calabria came under Roman control. By the seventh century CE, all except Tarentum and Brundisium were reduced to just villages, and the name “Calabria” became the name of the “toe” (formerly Bruttium) of Italy rather than the name of the “heel”.
The Calabrian Greek cities that produced coins were Aletium, Brundisium, Graxa, Grumum, Neretum, Orra, Sturnium, Tarentum, and Uxentum. Tarentum (Taras) was the largest and most prosperous city, and it is not covered here because it deserves its own article. Most ancient cities in Calabria have no surviving recorded history, so this article focuses on their coins.
Aletium (Baletium)
Aletium was located in the south-central part of the peninsula, north of Uxentum. There is nothing known of its history. At the beginning of the fifth century, the city began minting three silver denominations on the Achaian standard of 7.8 grams to the tridrachm: the tridrachm (nomos), tetrobol, and diobol. Their designs were based on the coinage of Taras. The tridrachm has a dolphin rider (Phalanthes, a son of Poseidon, or Taras, founder of the eponymous city) on the obverse and a crescent on the reverse. The tetrobol and diobol both have a dolphin obverse and a crescent reverse (below). The name of the city is shown on the obverse and reverse in archaic Greek.
Brundisium
Brundisium was founded by the Sallentini and gained its name due to its port’s being shaped like a stag’s antlers (brention or brentesion in Messapian). Some legends associate the founding with the Argive king Diomedes. After the Pyrrhic War (280-275), Rome took the city as a port against the Carthaginians. In 244, the city was given Latin rights (ius Latii), and the Appian Way (Via Appia) was extended to the port.
Brundisium became the principal Roman port on the Adriatic Sea and the primary naval base for excursions into the eastern Mediterranean. The city stayed loyal to Rome during the Second Punic War (218-201), and after the Social War (91-87), it was granted the rank of municipium. During the civil wars, it was the port that Pompey used to flee to Greece from Caesar and was besieged by the army of Marc Antony against Octavian. Brundisium received revenues from trading in oysters, vines, bees, and fruit.
The coinage of Brundisium is all bronze. The first coin was minted at the beginning of the third century and has a stag’s head on the obverse and a dolphin above a plow with the legend BPENT on the reverse. This was before Roman control and is very rare. Each coin, except where noted, has the same obverse (the head of Neptune) and reverse (a dolphin rider holding a victory and a kithara (a type of lyre), kantharos (a drinking cup), or cornucopia). Many of the coins have the city ethnic of BRVN on the reverse.
The coins struck under Roman control are separated into three series. The first was struck between 217 and 212 based on the as of 112 grams: the sextans with ••; the uncia with •; the semuncia with Σ; the 1/4-uncia with C; and the 1/8-uncia with L (Figures 3 and 4). The last coin has Nike or a scallop shell on the obverse and a dolphin on the reverse.
The second series was struck between 212 and 200 and was based on the semuncial standard. It consists of the triens with ••••, the quadrans with •••, the sextans with ••, the uncia with •, and the semuncia with S. The last series was minted to the same standard in the second century and consists of the semis with S, the triens with ••••, the quadrans with •••, and the uncia.
Graxa
Nothing is known of the history of Graxa, and even its location is uncertain. But it did mint bronze coins in the third and second centuries. In the second half of the third century, it minted two denominations of bronze coins: D at 1.1-1.7 grams and E at 0.61-1.35. The former has either a scallop shell on the obverse with a spread-winged eagle reverse, a scallop/thunderbolt, or a trident/dolphin. The latter denomination can have either a star and crescent obverse and a thunderbolt and crescent (Figure 5) or scallop shell and dolphin reverse. The city ethnic is GRA.
At the end of the third and into the second centuries, the city minted quadrantes and sextantes based on the Roman uncia of 27 grams. The former has either Zeus or one of the Dioskouroi (the mythical twins Castor and Pollux) on the obverse and two eagles standing on a thunderbolt with three pellets (see Figure 6). The ones with Zeus have KPH and GRA on the reverse, and those with the Dioskouroi have GRAXA. The sextantes have the Zeus obverse and only one eagle on a thunderbolt reverse with two pellets.
The Romans then replaced the uncial standard with the semuncial standard, and the new quadrantes were reduced to 1.73 grams using the same design as the earlier sextantes and three pellets.
Grumum
Grumum, sometimes listed in Calabria, was probably located in Apulia and might not belong in an article on coins of the region. Regardless, for the sake of completeness, Grumum minted bronze coins in the first half of the third century. They are D: 2.14-2.39 grams and have either a male head obverse and bull reverse or the head of Artemis and a galloping horse. The only example I could find was of the former design; it was in such bad condition that I decided to leave out a photo.
Neretum
Again, there is no recorded history for Neretum, but it probably was located just north of Aletium. However, it did mint a silver coin in the earlier half of the fourth century. The silver coin is an obol with Apollo’s head on the obverse and a lyre on the reverse with either N-A, NA-P, or N-AP as the legend (Figure 7). At a later date, the city minted a small bronze coin with the same Apollo head obverse and Apollo seated on the reverse holding a lyre with a tripod in front. Its reverse legend is ΝΑΡΗΤΙΝΩΝ.
Orra (Hyria)
The mythical tradition for the founding of Orra was that Cretans were sent by Minos. But the historical city was settled by a Messapian Italic foundation about halfway between Brundisium and Taras. Orra rarely appears in the ancient sources but was known to be a Roman ally by the second century. The city supplied ships to the Romans in their fight against Perseus during the Third Macedonian War (171-168) and received full citizenship in 90, thus gaining the status of municipia.
Orra struck bronze coins starting in the middle of the third century in the form of two denominations: C at 2.7-4.5 and D at 1.6-2.2 grams. The former denomination has a male head in a conical helmet and an eagle standing on a thunderbolt (Figure 8). The ethnic ORRA is on the reverse. The D denomination has the same design, except the eagle is looking back. Another denomination was minted with a weight between these two denominations at 2.5 grams and was larger (18 mm). It had the same obverse, but the reverse had Victory standing holding a palm branch. It may have been an unofficial issue.
Near the end of the third century, a new series of bronzes were minted based on the nummus of about 20 grams. The quincunx (5.3-10 g), semis, quadrunx, and teruncius were the denominations. The quincunx has Minerva’s head on the obverse and an eagle standing on a thunderbolt on the reverse with five pellets; the semis has Herakles on the obverse and a winged thunderbolt; the quadrunx has the same design as the quincunx except it has four pellets; and the teruncius has the same design as the semis except with three pellets. All the coins have the city ethnic of ORRA on their reverse.
Before the end of the century, the weights were reduced by half, and a new quincunx (4.9-5.4 g), teruncius, and biunx were minted, all with the head of Venus on the obverse. A cupid reverse is used for the quincunx (Figure 5) and teruncius along with five and three pellets, respectively, and a dove is used for the biunx with two pellets. Again, the city ethnic was on all the reverses. The coinage of Orra stopped about the middle of the second century.
Sturnium (Sturni)
Nothing is known of the origin and history of this city. Its location is thought to be northwest of Brundisium and northeast of Taras, though another source has it south of Brundisium. The city minted a C-type (2.05-3.2 grams) bronze coin. The obverse has a scallop shell, and the obverse has an eagle standing on a lightning bolt. The city ethnic of STU is under the thunderbolt on the reverse. This design is similar to the bronze one minted by Graxa, and both are influenced by Tarentine coins.
Uxentum (Oxzenton in Greek)
Uxentum was founded by the Sallentine Iapygians near the tip of the Calabrian promontory, but nothing is known of its history. It is thought that Uxentum minted a bronze coin of 12.8 grams at the beginning of the fourth century, but this is a unique specimen, and its authenticity has been questioned. It is shown in Figure 11 and has Athena on the obverse and thunderbolt and star on the reverse. The legend is translated as “Caesius at Uxenturm.”
Two denominations of bronze coins were minted in the second and first centuries: D at 1.3-2.6 grams and E at 1.03-1.23. The former (Figure 12) has Athena on the obverse and Herakles standing on the reverse while holding a club and cornucopia with the legend AO in the upper left. The latter denomination has an eagle with wings spread on the obverse and a kantharos and star on the reverse. It also has the AO legend.
In the late second and early first centuries, Uxentum minted bronze coins to the Roman semuncial standard. All have Herakles on the reverse holding a cornucopia and his right hand on a club with the legend OIAN. The as (7.8-11.7 grams) has a Janiform head on the obverse (Figure 13), and the semisses (3.22-5.5 grams) have either Athena or Zeus on the obverse.
Coins of Ancient Calabria: Comments
Most of the coins covered in the article are bronzes and, in most cases, inexpensive. The few made of silver (Aletium and Neretum) are very rare and hence very expensive. Some of the bronzes can be pricey due to their rarity (Figures 11 and 10) or due to their relatively well-preserved condition (Figure 3). The rest are all quite reasonable for those on a budget of which their wife or significant other would approve.
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References
Classical Numismatic Group (CNG)
Grant, Michael. A Guide to the Ancient World: A Dictionary of Classical Place Names. Barnes and Noble (1986).
Head, Barclay V. Historia Numorum: A Manual of Greek Numismatics. Oxford (1887).
Hoover, Oliver. Handbook of Coins of Italy and Magna Graecia, Vol 1. Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. Lancaster/London (2018).
Hornblower, Simon, Spawforth, Antony (ed.). The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford (1996).
Sear, David. Greek Coins and Their Values, Vol 2: Asia. B.A. Seaby Ltd. (1979).
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