AKRAGAS SICILY 450BC Eagle Crab Rare R1 Ancient Silver Greek LITRA Coin i54081

Item: i54081

Authentic Ancient 

Coin of:

Greek city of 

Silver Litra 8mm (0.66 grams) Struck circa 450-439 B.C.
Reference: HGC 2, 121

Rare R1; SNG ANS 3, nos. 989-995
AK/RA, Eagle standing left on Ionic capital.
Crab; mark of value, ΛΙ below.

Akragas (Agrigentum), was a city of great wealth and importance in the 5th 
Century B.C., but in 406 B.C. it was sacked by the Carthaginians, a disaster 
from which it never fully recovered; finally fell to the Romans in 210 B.C.

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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
.

//

 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.