Lot 2 – Calabre – Tarente. Statère d’or (333-330 av. J.-C).

Calabre – Tarente Statère d’or (333-330 av. J.-C). Exemplaire exceptionnellement bien centré ayant conservé son brillant d’origine. Probablement le plus bel exemplaire connu. D’une insigne rareté. Acheté à l’amiable chez NAC le 30 août 2012 et exemplaire de la vente Palombo 18 du 17 novembre 2019, N°4. 8.54g – FB G1 – Vlasto av. 4 et rv. 10 – HN Italy 905 Superbe à FDC – Choice AU* As is so often the case, this emission was issued to finance a military campaign. Indeed, the Tarentines regularly asked Greek allies for assistance against their non-Greek neighbours, which had led to the death of the Spartan king Archidamus in 338 BC, and in 334 BC, they requested help from Alexander ‘Molossus’ of Epirus (c.371-331 BC), uncle of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC). At first successful against the Samnites and the Lucanians in 332 BC near Paestum, as told by Pliny, he was then killed in action at the Battle of Pandosia against the Bruttians. This was somehow a relief for the Tarentines, as it seems that Alexander Molossus had changed his objectives from helping them to conquering the West – emulating the conquests of his nephew in the East. In any case, the thunderbolt on the reverse of this coin is almost certainly a reference to Alexander Molossus.