AKRAGAS in SICILY 425BC Eagle Hare Crab Crayfish Hemilitron Greek Coin i36481

Item: i36481

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Greek city of Akragas in Sicily

Bronze Hemilitron 30mm (16.17 grams) Struck circa 425-406 B.C.

Reference: Calciati I pg. 165, 10 var. (ethnic behind eagle); SNG ANS 1027 var.
(same); SNG Copenhagen -; cf. SNG Morcom 517
Eagle standing right on hare, head lowered, wings spread.
Crab; below, crayfish left; six pellets around.

You are bidding on the exact

Guarantee of Authenticity.

Agrigento (Sicilian:

Girgenti), is a city on the southern coast of

Sicily
,

Italy
, and

capital of the

province of Agrigento

. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city

of Akragas (also known as Acragas (Ἀκράγας) in Greek,

Agrigentum in

Latin

and Kerkent in

Arabic

), one of the leading cities of

Graecia
during the

golden age

of

Ancient Greece
.

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 History

Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby

rivers, the Hypsas

and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural

fortification. Its establishment took place around 582-580 BCE and is attributed

to

Greek
colonists

from Gela
, who

named it Akragas.

Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the

Greek
colonies

of Magna Graecia. It came to prominence under the sixth-century

tyrants

Phalaris

and

Theron

, and became a

democracy

after the overthrow of Theron’s son

Thrasydaeus

. Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between

Athens
and

Syracuse

, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the

Carthaginians

in

406 BCE

. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived

to some extent under

Timoleon
in

the latter part of the fourth century.

The city was disputed between the

Romans

and the Carthaginians during the

First Punic War.

The Romans laid

siege to

the city
in 262 BCE and captured it after defeating a Carthaginian relief

force in

261 BCE

and sold the population into slavery. Although the Carthaginians

recaptured the city in 255 BCE the

final peace

settlement
gave Punic Sicily and with it Akragas to Rome. It suffered badly

during the

Second Punic War

(218-201 BCE) when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it. The Romans

eventually captured Akragas in 210 BCE and renamed it Agrigentum,

although it remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries

thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule and its inhabitants

received full Roman citizenship following the death of

Julius Caesar

in

44 BCE
.

After the

fall of the Roman Empire

, the city passed into the hands of the

Ostrogothic Kingdom

of Italy and then the

Byzantine Empire

. During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely

abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved to the former

acropolis
,

at the top of the hill. The reasons for this move are unclear but were probably

related to the destructive coastal raids of the

Saracens

,

Berbers

and other peoples around this time. In 828 CE the Saracens captured

the diminished remnant of the city. They pronounced its name as Kerkent

in Arabic; it was thus

Sicilianized

as “Girgenti”. It retained this name until 1927, when

Benito Mussolini

‘s government reintroduced an

Italianized

version of the Latin name.

Agrigento was captured by the

Normans

under

Count Roger I

in 1087, who established a Latin bishopric there. The population declined during

much of the medieval period but revived somewhat after the 18th century. In

1860, the inhabitants enthusiastically supported

Giuseppe

Garibaldi
in

his conquest of southern Italy

(in the course of the

Unification of Italy

). The city suffered a number of destructive bombing

raids during

World

War II
.

 Economy

Agrigento is a major tourist centre due to its extraordinarily rich

archaeological legacy. It also serves as an agricultural centre for the

surrounding region.

Sulphur

and potash

have been mined locally since Roman times and are exported from the

nearby harbour of

Porto Empedocle

(named after the philosopher

Empedocles

who lived in ancient Akragas). However, it is one of the poorest towns in Italy

on a per capita income basis and has a long-standing problem with

organised crime

, particularly involving the

Mafia
and the

smuggling of

illegal drugs

.

 Main

sights

Ancient Akragas covers a huge area — much of which is still unexcavated today

— but is exemplified by the famous Valle dei Templi (“Valley of the

Temples”, a misnomer, as it is a ridge, rather than a valley). This comprises a

large sacred area on the south side of the ancient city where seven monumental

Greek temples in the

Doric style

were constructed during the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. Now

excavated and partially restored, they constitute some of the largest and

best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece itself. They are listed

as a

World

Heritage Site
.

The best-preserved of the temples are two very similar buildings

traditionally attributed to the goddesses

Juno

Lacinia
and

Concordia

(though archaeologists believe this attribution to be incorrect).

The latter temple is remarkably intact, due to its having been

converted into a Christian church

in 597 CE. Both were constructed to a

peripteral

hexastyle

design. The area around the

Temple of Concordia

was later re-used by early Christians as a

catacomb

, with tombs hewn out of the rocky cliffs and outcrops.

The other temples are much more fragmentary, having been toppled by

earthquakes

long ago and quarried for their stones. The largest by far is the

Temple of Olympian Zeus

, built to commemorate the

Battle of Himera in 480 BCE

: it is believed to have been the largest

Doric

temple
ever built. Although it was apparently used, it appears never to have

been completed; construction was abandoned after the Carthaginian invasion of

406 BCE. The remains of the temple were extensively quarried in the eighteenth

century to build the jetties of

Porto Empedocle
.

Temples dedicated to

Hephaestus
,

Heracles

and Asclepius

were also constructed in the

sacred area
,

which includes a sanctuary of

Demeter
and

Persephone

(formerly known as the Temple of

Castor

and

Pollux

); the marks of the fires set by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE can

still be seen on the sanctuary’s stones.

Many other Hellenistic and Roman sites can be found in and around the town.

These include a pre-Hellenic cave sanctuary near a Temple of Demeter, over which

the Church of San Biagio was built. A late Hellenistic funerary monument

erroneously labelled the “Tomb of Theron” is situated just outside the sacred

area, and a first-century CE

heroon

(heroic shrine) adjoins the 13th century Church of San Nicola a short distance

to the north. A sizeable area of the Greco-Roman city has also been excavated,

and several classical

necropoleis

and quarries are still extant.

Much of present-day Agrigento is modern but it still retains a number of

medieval and Baroque

buildings. These include the fourteenth century cathedral and the

thirteenth century Church of Santa Maria dei Greci (“Our Lady of the Greeks”),

again standing on the site of an ancient Greek temple (hence the name). The town

also has a notable archaeological museum displaying finds from the ancient city.

 Famous

inhabitants

• Empedocles

  , the Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, was a citizen of ancient

  Agrigentum

• Luigi

  Pirandello
  , dramatist and

  Nobel prize

  winner for literature. Born at Contrada Kaos near Agrigento.