LARISSA Thessaly THESSALIAN LEAGUE 196BC Athena HORSEMAN Greek Coin i43408

Item: i43408

 Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of
Larissa
in
Thessaly

under
Thesssalian League

Bronze 18mm (6.15 grams) Struck circa 196-27 B.C.
Isagoras, magistrate
Reference: Rogers 51b; Moustaka -; SNG Copenhagen -; SNG
München –
Helmeted head of Athena right; IΣAΓOPOΣ above.
ΘΕΣΣΑΛΩΝ, Horseman riding right.

 Extremely rare variety with
rider on horse.

Following the great victory of the
Roman general ip V of Macedon, in
197 B.C., the freedom of the Greeks was proclaimed at
Corinth and a number of new autonomous coinages were
initiated. Those in the name of the Thessali were struck
probably at Larissa. The Thessalian League was a
loose confederacy of feudal-like city-states and tribes
in the Thessalian valley in Northern
Greece
and was run by a
few aristocratic Thessalian families (Aleuadae
and Skopadae). The seat of the Thessalian diet was
Larissa
.

 You

Authenticity.  

Athena
or Athene
(Latin:

Minerva
), also referred to as
Pallas Athena, is the goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strength,
strategy, crafts, justice and skill in
Greek mythology
.
Minerva
,
Athena’s Roman


incarnation,
embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd companion of

heroes and the
goddess
of

heroic endeavour. She is the
virgin
patron of
Athens
. The Athenians built the
Parthenon
on the Acropolis of her namesake
city, Athens, in her honour (Athena Parthenos). Athena’s cult as the patron of
Athens seems to have existed from the earliest times and was so persistent that
archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as
a protector of the city (polis),
many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias
(“Athena of the city”).
Athens
and Athena bear etymologically connected
names.

Larissa, sometimes written Larisa on

ancient coins and inscriptions, is near the site of the

Homeric Argissa. It appears in early times, when

Thessaly

was mainly governed by a few aristocratic

families, as an important city under the rule of the

Aleuadae

, whose authority extended over the whole

district of

Pelasgiotis

. This powerful family possessed for many

generations before 369 BC the privilege of furnishing

the tagus, the local term for the

of the combined Thessalian forces. The

principal rivals of the Aleuadae were the

Scopadac

of

Crannon

, the remains of which (called by the Turks

Old Larissa) are about 14 miles south west. The

inhabitants sided with

Athens

during the Peloponnesian War.

As the chief city of ancient

Thessaly, Larissa was directly annexed by Philip II of

Macedon in 344, and from then on Larissa was under

Macedonian control; in 196 B.C. Larissa became an ally

of Rome and was the headquarters of the

Thessalian League

.

Coordinates

39°38.5′N

22°25′E