RHEGION in BRUTTIUM Very Rare 450BC Lion Scalp Wreath Ancient Greek Coin i49744

Item: i49744

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Greek city of
Rhegion
in
Bruttium

Bronze 12mm (1.41 grams) Struck circa 450-425 B.C.
Reference: SNG ANS -; Rutter, HN, 2513
Lion scalp facing.
RECI within laurel wreath.

Very rare.

Destroyed by Dionysios I of Syracuse in 387 B.C. and restored some years alter
by Dionysios II, 356-350 B.C.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Rhegion in Bruttium (Italy)

After
Cumae
, Reggio is one of the oldest Greek
colonies in southern Italy. The colony was settled by the inhabitants of
Chalcis
and
Messenia
in 720 BC on the site of an older
settlement, Erythrà (Ερυθρά), meaning “the red one”.

This dated back to the 3rd millennium BC and was established by the
Ausones
. The last Ausonian ruler was the
legendary king Italus
(from whom the name of Italy is
derived).^[4]
King Iokastos is buried on the Punta Calamizzi promontory, called “Pallantiòn”,
where Greek settlers later arrived. The colony retained the earlier name of “Rhegion”
(Ρήγιoν).

Reggio was one of the most important cities in
Magna Grecia
, reaching great economic and
political power during the 5th and 6th centuries BC under the
Anaxilas
government. It allowed Reggio to rule
over all the
Strait
, including
Zancle
(modern
Messina
). Later, the polis of Rhegion reached
great artistic and cultural heights with its philosophic
Pythagorean
school, as well as sculpture and
poetry schools, from where came leaders such as
Pythagoras of Rhegium
and
Ibycus
. Later, Rhegion allied with
Athens
during the
Peloponnesian War
but in 387 BC, the city was
taken by the
Syracusans
.

As an independent city, Rhegium was an important ally and “socia navalis” of

Rome. Then during the Imperial age it became one of the most
important and flourishing cities of southern Italy because it was the seat of
the “Corrector”, the Governor of the “Regio II Lucania et Bruttii” (province of
Lucany and Brutium). It was devastated by several major
earthquakes
and associated
tsunami
during the
Roman Empire
when it was called “Rhegium Julium.”
It was a noble Roman city.

During the Byzantine Age, Reggio became the capital of the “metropolis of the
Byzantine possessions in southern Italy”, and later capital of the
Duchy of Calabria
and linchpin of the Greek
church in Italy. During the 8th century, the city became a
Holy See
.