ANCIENT GREEK COINS. VI. SYRACUSE, 2. THE period of Syracusan story illustrated by the coins depicted on plate VI, begins with 466 B. C., in which year the expulsion of Hieron's successor, his brother Thrasyboulos, after a brief but cruelly despotic reign, terminated at once the Deinomenid dynasty and every form of tyranny in this city for over half a century. A fresh phase of civic life was entered upon. The old tyrants with their mercenaries and forced levies had indeed made Syracuse a mighty power, but at the expense of its oppressed or neglected citizens. Now could those eager aspirations after the freedom and individualism so dear to the Greek and so long under harsh restraint, again find realization; Zeus Eleutherios (the Deliverer) was proclaimed the supreme deity not only of Syracuse but of all Sicily throughout which island similar notable changes were taking place—and a Feast of Freedom was decreed, whose elaborate celebration, with hecatombs of slaughtered bulls, was annually observed so long as Syracuse remained an independent commonwealth. The great altar of Zeus, erected by the second Hieron for this tremendous ceremony, still stands, one of the most impressive and inexplicable monuments of ancient Sicily. The impulse given to wealth, luxury, and all the refinements of living the proud consciousness of freedom and self-government, the rapid but steady development of the artistic spirit, as evidenced by the coins of this half century, and the continuance of those magnificent architectural works which, begun in gratitude for the Himeraian victory, gradually approached or attained completion under the ceaseless labors of hordes of Carthaginian slaves, were among the powerful influences which combined to produce what has been well called the "Golden Age" of free and independent Sicily. Not that even this happy time was without its divisions and conflicts, aroused and kept alive by the restlessness and discontent with which Sicilian influences seemed to inspire all who trod Sicilian soil. Since, however, these occurrences were unproductive of important changes, they impressed no mark upon the Syracusan coinage, and we need not dwell upon them in detail, merely noting the fresh struggles, both internal and against adjacent towns; the fears inspired by certain demagogues aiming at tyrannical power; the war of extermination waged against the Etruscan pirates, once more lawless and defiant; and the contest with Ducetius, the great Sikel leader, whose aim it was to found a strong native state which should restore his fellow-countrymen to their ancient position of supremacy in the island; events which, succeeded by a period of comparative tranquility, bring us down to about the year 425 B. C. The chronological arrangement followed on plates VI and VII is that proposed by Mr. Arthur J. Evans in a series of articles in the Numismatic Chronicle. The author's brilliant and careful scholarship, his familiarity with all branches of Sicilian archaeology, and his devotion to our special subject, clearly determine his position as the leading authority on the varied coinages of Sicily. His chain of reasoning - a recognized starting point being afforded by the destruction, in the great Carthaginian invasions of 409 and 406 B. C., of four leading Sicilian cities, with a consequent and immediate cessation of their mint activity—although somewhat startling in its radical changes, seems so clear and conclusive as to warrant our departure from the logical and elsewhere accepted arrangement adopted by Dr. Head in his History of the Coinage of Syracuse. In this he assigns the coins of these two plates in large part to the Dionysian Dynasty, a period from fifteen to thirty years later than the dates accorded by our present arrangement. DEMOCRACY. 78-85. Tetradrachm, wts. 269-263 grs. B. C. 466-425. (Pl. VI: 1–8.) Obv. <YPAKOSION Head of nymph to right, with varied arrangement of hair, wearing ear-ring and plain necklace; around, four dolphins. Rev. Quadriga to right, horses walking; charioteer or horses crowned by flying Nike: plain or dotted border. (From the Bunbury, Hobart Smith, May, 1900, and other sales.) A comparison of these obverses with those already examined (Plate V) shows a decided increase in the size of the later heads, which have now clearly reached the limits possible for so small a field. In fact tetradrachm heads of the succeeding periods depart little from the standard here established,―occasional examples which transgress this canon, as it may be termed, of numismatic art, displaying a marked loss of power and dignity. The irregular but rhythmic curves of the sportive dolphins form a graceful and appropriate frame or setting, which seems to accentuate the harmonious proportions of these Syracusan portrait heads. For that such they have now become - idealized perhaps, but still portraits-is evident from their variety and realism. Just as the masters of the Renaissance, employing ofttimes unworthy models, yet glorified canvas and panel with the purest types of divine beauty, so these Syracusan artist-engravers must have found their true ideal of the beloved city's protecting goddess in some noble or perchance lowly maid or matron of the day, whose charming refined features and gracious presence would form an abiding inspiration for a race ever constant to its cult of physical beauty. The hair is now either confined by a single cord passed several times around the head, or enclosed in a net, or in a sakkos often peculiar in shape and ornamented with the graceful meander pattern; while in place of a simple round earring we find the double coil, a transitional form prevailing until the time of the Athenian siege. |