MYLASA in CARIA – General Eupolemos of Kassander 314BC Ancient Greek Coin i50861

Item: i50861

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Greek city of

Mylasa
in

Caria
under

Eupolemos, general of

Kassander
Bronze 17mm (3.49 grams) Struck circa 314 B.C.

Reference: Sear 4909; B.M.C. 18.128,2-3

Three Macedonian shields, piled on top of one another.
EYΠΟ / ΛEMOY either side of sword in sheath; labrys
in field to left.

Eupolemos, general of Kassander,
campaigned in Caria, 314 B.C., and Mylasa seems the likely mint for his coinage.

The principal non-Greek city of Cria, Mylasa was situated west
of Stratonikeia and not far from the head of the Bargylian gulf. It became the
capital of the country under the satrap Hekatomnos, 395-377 B.C., but his
successor, Maussollos, removed the seat of government to Halikarnassos, circa
367 B.C.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Eupolemus (in
Greek
Eυπόλεμoς; lived 4th century BC)
was one of the generals of
Cassander
; he was sent by him in 314 BC to
invade Caria
, but was surprised and taken prisoner by
Ptolemy
, a general who commanded that province
for
Antigonus
. He must have been liberated again
directly, as the next year (313 BC) we find him commanding the forces left by
Cassander in
Greece
, when he moved northward against
Antigonus.

Milas (ancient Mylasa Μύλασα) is an
ancient city and the seat of the district of the same name in
Muğla Province
in southwestern
Turkey
. The city commands a region with an
active economy, and the region is very rich in history and its remains, the
whole territory of Milas district containing a remarkable twenty-seven
archaeological
sites of note. The city was the
first capital of ancient
Caria
and of the
Anatolian beylik
of
Menteşe
in
medieval
times.

The centre of Milas presents the overall characteristics of a
well-grown city focused on
agricultural
and
aquacultural
processing, related industrial
activities, services, transportation (particularly since the opening of
Milas-Bodrum Airport
),
tourism
and culture. The center is at a
distance of about twenty km from the coast and is actually closer to the airport
than Bodrum
itself, with many late arrival
passengers of the high season increasingly opting to stay in Milas rather than
in Bodrum where accommodation is likely to be difficult to find.

Milas district covers a total area of 2167 km2 and this area
follows a total coastline length of 150 km, both to the north-west in the
Gulf of Güllük
and to the south along the
Gulf of Gökova
, and to these should be added
the shores of Lake Bafa
in the north divided between the
district area of Milas and that of
Aydın
district of

Söke.

Along with the province seat of
Muğla
and the province’s southernmost district
of Fethiye
, Milas is among the prominent
settlements of south-west Turkey, these three centers being on a par with each
other in terms of all-year population and the area their depending districts
cover. Five townships which have their own municipalities and a total of 114
villages depend Milas, distinguishing the district with a record number of
dependent settlements for a very wide surrounding region. Milas center is
situated on a fertile plain at the foot of Mount Sodra on and around which
sizable quarries of the white
marble
are found and have been used since very
ancient times.

Milas’s political colour has been centre-left for the last
decade.

The city’s earliest historical mention is at the beginning of the 7th century
BC, when a Carian
leader from Mylasa by name Arselis is
recorded to have helped
Gyges of Lydia
in his contest for the
Lydian
throne. The same episode is at the
origin of the accounts surrounding the beginning of the cult for and the
erection of the statue of Labrandean Zeus in the neighboring city of
Labranda
, held sacred by peoples across western
Anatolia, with the statue holding the
labrys
brought over by Arselis from
Lydia
. Labrandean Zeus (sometimes also named
“Zeus Stratios”) was one of the three deities proper to Mylasa, all named
Zeus but each bearing indigenous characteristics. Of these, the cult of Zeus
Carius (Carian Zeus) was also notable in being exclusively reserved,
aside from the Carians, to their Lydian and
Mysian
kinsmen. One of the finest temples was
also the one dedicated to Zeus Osogoa (originally, just Osogoa),
traceable to times when the Carians had been a maritime folk and which recalled
to
Pausanias
the
Acropolis of Athens
.

 Persian period

Under
Achaemenid
rule Mylasa was the chief city of
Caria. A ruler appointed by the
Persian Emperor
(satrap)
ruled the city in varying degrees of allegiance to the emperor. Between 460-450
BC, Mylasa was a regionally prominent member of the
Delian League
, like most Carian cities, but the
Persian rule was restored towards the end of the same century.

 Hecatomnid dynasty

The dynasty named the Hecatomnids, founded by the Carian
Hecatomnus
and continued under his sons and
daughters were officially
satraps
of the
Persian Empire
. Mylasa was at once their
hometown and their capital. But especially during the long and striking reign of
Mausolus
, they became virtual rulers of
Caria
and of a sizable surrounding region
between 377-352 BC. It was during Mausolus’s reign that the capital was moved to
Halicarnassus
, but Mylasa retained its
importance. Mausolus was the builder of the famous
Mausoleum of Mausolus
. The international term
“Mausoleum” derives from this Carian ruler.

 Roman period

In 40 BCE Mylasa suffered greaty damage when it was taken by
Labienus
in the
Roman Civil War
. In the Greco-Roman period,
though the city was contested among the successors of Alexander, it enjoyed a
season of brilliant prosperity, and the three neighbouring towns of
Euromus
,
Olymos
and
Labranda
were included within its limits.
Mylasa is frequently mentioned by ancient writers. At the time of Strabo the
city boasted two remarkable orators, Euthydemos and Hybreas. Various
inscriptions tell us that the
Phrygian
cults were represented here by the
worship of Sabazios
; the Egyptian, by that of

Isis and Osiris
. There was also a temple of
Nemesis
. An inscription from Mylasa provided
one of the few certain data about the life of
Cornelius Tacitus
, identifying him as governor
of
Asia
in 112-13.