Greek Island City of THASOS 340BC Hercules Bow Club Amphora Greek Coin i42176

Item: i42176
 

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of
Thasos
on Island in
the Thracian Sea
Bronze 15mm (2.69 grams) Struck circa 340-300
B.C.
Reference: SNG Copenhagen 1056; HGC 6, 366
Head of Hercules Hercules
right, wearing lion’s skin headdress.

Strung bow (with amphora
inside) and club; ΘAΣIΩN below.

 You

Authenticity.  

HERCULES

– This celebrated of mythological romance was at first
called Alcides, but received the name of Hercules, or
Heracles, from the Pythia of Delphos. Feigned by the
poets of antiquity to have been a son of “the Thunderer,”
but born of an earthly mother, he was exposed, through
Juno’s implacable hatred to him as the offspring of
Alemena, to a course of perils, which commenced whilst
he was yet in his cradle, and under each of which he
seemed to perish, but as constantly proved victorious.

At
length finishing his allotted career with native valor
and generosity, though too frequently the submissive
agent of the meanness and injustice of others, he
perished self-devotedly on the funeral pile, which was
lighted on Mount Oeta. Jupiter raised his heroic progeny
to the skies; and Hercules was honored by the pagan
world, as the most illustrious of deified mortals. The
extraordinary enterprises cruelly imposed upon, but
gloriously achieved, by this famous demigod, are to be
found depicted, not only on Greek coins, but also on the
Roman series both consular and imperial. The first, and
one of the most dangerous, of undertakings, well-known
under the name of the twelve labors of Hercules, was
that of killing the huge lion of Nemea; on which account
the intrepid warrior is represented, clothes in the skin
of that forest monarch; he also bears uniformly a
massive club, sometimes without any other arms, but at
others with a bow and quiver of arrows. On a denarius of
the Antia gens he is represented walking with trophy and
club.

When his head alone is typified, as in Mucia gens, it is
covered with the lion’s spoils, in which distinctive
decoration he was imitated by many princes, and
especially by those who claimed descent from him – as
for example, the kings of Macedonia, and the successors
of Alexander the Great. Among the Roman emperors Trajan
is the first whose coins exhibit the figure and
attributes of Hercules.
  

An amphora (plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of

vase-shaped, usually
ceramic
(specimens in materials such as metal
occur occasionally) container with two handles and a long neck narrower than the
body. The word amphora is
Latin
, derived from the
Greek
amphoreus (αμφορεύς),
an abbreviation of amphiphoreus,
a compound word combining amphi- (“on both sides”, “twain”) plus
phoreus (“carrier”), from pherein (“to carry”), referring to the
vessel’s two carrying handles on opposite sides.

Further, the term also stands for an ancient
a title=”Ancient Roman units of measurement” href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Roman_units_of_measurement”>
Roman unit of measurement for liquids. The
volume of a Roman amphora was one cubic
foot
, ca. 26,026
L
.

Amphorae were used in vast numbers to transport and store various products,
both liquid and dry, in the ancient
Mediterranean
world and later the
Roman Empire
, and in some periods the shape was
also used for luxury pottery, which might be elaborately painted. Stoppers of
perishable materials which have rarely survived were used to seal the contents.
Two principal types of amphorae existed: the neck amphora, in which the
neck and body meet at a sharp angle; and the one-piece amphora, in which
the neck and body form a continuous curve. Neck amphorae were commonly used in
the early history of ancient Greece but were gradually replaced by the one-piece
type from around the 7th century BCE onwards. Most were produced with a pointed
base to allow upright storage by being partly embedded in sand or soft ground.
This also facilitated transport by ship, where the amphorae were tightly packed
together, with ropes passed through their handles to prevent breaking or
toppling during rough seas. In kitchens and shops amphorae could be stored in
racks with round holes in them.

Amphorae varied greatly in height. The largest could stand as much as 1.5
metres (5 ft) high, while some were under 30 centimetres (12 in) high – the
smallest were called amphoriskoi (literally “little amphorae”). Most were around
45 centimetres (18 in) high. There was a significant degree of standardisation
in some variants; the wine amphora held a standard measure of about 39 litres
(41 US qt), giving rise to the amphora quadrantal as a unit of measure in the
Roman Empire. In all, around 66 distinct types of amphora have been identified.

Thasos or Thassos (Greek:

Θάσος) is a

Greek

island in the northern

Aegean Sea

, close to the coast of

Thrace

and the plain of the river

Nestos

but geographically part of

Macedonia

. And it is where Clive Cussler novel “The

Mediterranean Caper” takes place.

//

 History

 Prehistory

Lying close to the coast of Eastern Macedonia, Thasos

was inhabited from the Palaeolithic period onwards,

but the earliest settlement to have been explored in

detail is that at Limenaria where Middle and Late

Neolithic remains have been found which relate closely

to those of the Drama Plain. In contrast, the remains of

the Early Bronze Age on the island align it with the

culture which developed in the Cylcades and Sporades to

the south in the Aegean. At Skala Sotiros

for example, a small settlement was encircled by a

strongly built defensive wall. Even earlier activity is

demonstrated by the presence of large pieces of

‘megalithic’ anthropomorphic stelai built into these

walls which, so far, have no parallels in the Aegean

area.

There is then a gap in the archaeological record

until the end of the Bronze Age c 1100 BC, when the

first burials took place at the large cemetery of Kastri

in the interior of the island.

Here built tombs covered with small mound of earth were

typical until the end of the Iron Age. In the earliest

tombs were a small number of locally imitated

Mycenaean

pottery vessels, but the majority of the

hand-made pottery with incised decoration reflects

connections eastwards with Thrace and beyond.

 Antiquity

The island was colonized at an early date by

Phoenicians

, attracted probably by its gold mines;

they founded a temple to the god

Melqart

, whom the

Greeks

identified as

“Tyrian Heracles”

, and whose cult was merged with

Heracles in the course of the island’s Hellenization.

The temple still existed in the time of

Herodotus

.

An

eponymous

Thasos, son of Phoenix (or of Agenor, as

Pausanias reported) was said to have been the leader of

the Phoenicians, and to have given his name to the

island

.

In either 720 or 708 BC, Thasos received a

Greek

colony from

Paros

. It was in a war which the

Parian

colonists waged with the Saians, a Thracian

tribe, that the poet

Archilochus

threw away his shield. The Greeks

extended their power to the mainland, where they owned

gold mines which were even more valuable than those on

the island. From these sources the Thasians drew great

wealth, their annual revenues amounting to 200 or even

300 talents. Herodotus, who visited Thasos, says that

the best mines on the island were those which had been

opened by the Phoenicians on the east side of the island

facing

Samothrace

.

Thasos was important during the

Ionian Revolt

against Persia. After the capture of

Miletus

(494 BC)

Histiaeus

, the

Ionian

leader, laid siege. The attack failed, but,

warned by the danger, the Thasians employed their

revenues to build war ships and strengthen their

fortifications. This excited the suspicions of the

Persians, and

Darius

compelled them to surrender their ships and

pull down their walls. After the defeat of

Xerxes

the Thasians joined the Delian confederacy;

but afterwards, on account of a difference about the

mines and marts on the mainland, they revolted.

The Athenians defeated them by sea, and, after a

siege that lasted more than two years, took the capital,

Thasos, probably in 463 BC, and compelled the Thasians

to destroy their walls, surrender their ships, pay an

indemnity and an annual contribution (in 449 BC this was

21 talents, from 445 BC about 30 talents), and resign

their possessions on the mainland. In 411 BC, at the

time of the oligarchical revolution at Athens, Thasos

again revolted from Athens and received a Lacedaemonian

governor; but in 407 BC the partisans of Lacedaemon were

expelled, and the Athenians under

Thrasybulus

were admitted.

 Roman

Era

After the

Battle of Aegospotami

(405 BC), Thasos again fell

into the hands of the

Lacedaemonians

under

Lysander

who formed a decarchy there; but the

Athenians must have recovered it, for it formed one of

the subjects of dispute between them and

Philip II of Macedonia

. In the embroilment between

Philip III of Macedonia

and the Romans, Thasos

submitted to Philip, but received its freedom at the

hands of the Romans after the

battle of Cynoscephalae

(197 BC), and it was still a

“free” state in the time of

Pliny

.

It is related, that Byzantine Greek Saint

Joannicius the Great

in one of his miracles freed

the island of Thasos from a multitude of snakes

(Venerable Joannicius lived through 8-9 centuries).

 Ottoman

Era

Thasos was part of the

Eastern Roman Empire

, later known as

Byzantine Empire

. It was captured by the

Turks

in 1462. Under the Turks the island was known

as

Ottoman Turkish

: طاشوز Taşöz. A brief revolt

against Ottoman rule in 1821, led by Hajiyorgis Metaxas,

failed. The island was given by the Sultan

Mahmud II

to

Muhammad Ali of Egypt

of as a personal fiefdom in

the late 1820s, as a reward for Egyptian intervention in

the

War of Greek Independence

(which failed to prevent

the creation of the modern Greek state). Egyptian rule

was relatively benign (by some accounts Muhammad Ali had

either been born or spent his infancy on Thasos) and the

island became prosperous, until 1908, when the New Turk

regime asserted

Turkish

control. It had the status of a

sanjak

in the

vilayet

of Salonici until the

Balkan Wars

. On October 20, 1912 during the

First Balkan War

, a Greek naval detachment claimed

Thasos as part of

Greece

, which it has remained since.

 World

War II

During Axis occupation (1941-1944) Thasos, along with

the rest of

Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

, was under Bulgarian

control. The Bulgarians planned to annex the territory

under their control and closed down schools as a first

step towards forced

Bulgarization

. Under Bulgarian rule the island was

called

Bulgarian

: Тасос.

Mountainous terrain facilitated small-scale resistance

activity. The

Greek Civil War

affected the island in the form of

skirmishes and

Communist

guerilla attacks until 1950, almost a year

after the main hostilities were over on the

mainland

.

 Modern

Era

Thasos

, the capital (now informally known as Limenas,

or “the port”), stood on the north side of the island,

and had two harbors. Archilochus described Thasos as “an

ass’s backbone crowned with wild wood,” and the

description still suits the mountainous island with its

forests of fir and pine. Besides its gold mines, the

wine, nuts and marble of Thasos were well known in

antiquity. Thasian wine (a light bodied wine with a

characteristic apple scent) was, in particular, quite

famous; to the point where all Thasian coins carried the

head of the wine god

Dionysos

on one side and bunches of grape of the

other.

Today, Thasos is a part of the

Kavala prefecture

and is the southernmost and the

easternmost points in the prefecture. Under local

government reform in the late 1990s, the entire island

became a single municipality. Thasos is served ferry

routes to and from

Kavala

and Keramoti. The latter is a port at the

eastern portion of the prefecture, close to

Kavala International Airport

, and has the shortest

possible crossing to the island.

 Geography

Thasos has generally round shape, without deep bays

and significant peninsulas. The highest peak, Ypsario or

Ipsario, is 1,205 m (3428 ft) high and lies in the

eastern half of the island, which is steeper and mostly

covered in pine forest. The western half has gentler

slopes. While generally mountainous, the terrain is not

particularly rugged, as it rises gradually from the

coast towards the island center.

Most villages were placed inland, as the population

was chiefly engaged in agriculture and stockbreeding.

Those villages had their harbors at nearest points on

the shore, often connected with stairways (“Skalas”) and

the population gradually migrated there, as tourism

began to emerge as an important source of income. Thus,

there are several pairs of villages such as Marion–Skala

Maries, where the former is inland and the latter on the

coast.

 Geology

Thasos island is located in the northern Aegean sea

approximately 7 km from the mainland and 20 km

south-east of

Kavala

. The Island is formed mainly by

gneisses

,

schists

and

marbles

of the

Rhodope

Massif. Marble sequences, corresponding to

the

Falacron

Marbles intercalated by schists and

gneisses, are up to 500m thick and are separated from

the underlying gneisses by a transition zone about 300 m

thick termed the T-zone consisting of alternances of

dolomitic and calcitic marbles intercalated by schists

and gneisses.

The rocks have undergone several periods of regional

metamorphism, to at least upper

amphibolite

facies, and there was a subsequent phase

of retrograde metamorphism. At least three periods of

regional deformation have been identified, the most

important being large scale

isoclinal

folding with axes aligned north-west. The

T-zone is deformed and is interpreted by some authors as

a regional thrust of pre-major folding age. There are

two major high angle fault systems aligned north-west

and north-east respectively. A large low-angle thrust

cuts the gneiss, schist and marble sequence at the

south-west corner of the island, probably indicating an

overthrusting of the Serbomacedonian Massif onto the

Rodope Massif.

The Late Miocene oil-producing Nestos-Prinos basin is

located between Thassos island and the mainland. The

floor of the basin is around 1,500 m deep off the

Thassos coast(South Kavala ridge; Proedrou, 1988) and up

to 4.000-5.000 m in the axial sector between Thassos and

the mainland. The basin is filled with Late

Miocene-Pliocene sediments, including ubiquitously

repeated evaporite layers of rock salt and

anhydrite-dolomite which alternate with sandstones,

conglomerates, black shales, and

uraniferous

coal measures (Proedrou, 1979, 1988;

Taupitz, 1985). Stratigraphically equivalent rocks on

the mainland are clastic sediments with coal beds,

marine to brackish fluvial units and travertines.

 Mining

history

Mining activities for base and precious metals

started in the 7th century B.C. with the Phoenicians,

followed in the 4th century by the Greeks and then the

Romans. The mining was both open – pit and underground,

and concentrated on the numerous

karst

hosted calamine deposits for lead and silver

although there was also minor exploitation of gold and

copper. Worth mentioning is the discovery of a

paleolithic addit located at Tzines iron mine, whose age

has being estimated at approximately 15.000 years old, (Kovkouli

et al. 1988) for the exploitation of

limonitic

ochre.

 Economy

The main agricultural production on the island are

honey

and

olive oil

as well as

wine

,

sheep

,

goat

herding and fishing. Other industries includes

lumber and tourism. Mining industry includes lead, zinc

and marble, especially in the Panagia area where one of

the mountains near the Thracian Sea has a large marble

quarry. Now abandoned marble quarry in the south (in the

area of Aliki) has been mined during the ancient times.

By far the most important economic activity is tourism.