Syracuse
Tetradrachm circa 470, AR 17.32 g. Slow quadriga driven r. by charioteer holding kentron and reins; above, Nike flying r. to crown the horses. Rev. ΣV – RΑ – KΟΣΙ – ΟΝ Ηead of Arethusa r., wearing pearl diadem, earring and necklace; around, four dolphins swimming clockwise. Rizzo, pl. XXXV, 9 (these dies). Jameson 755 (these dies). Du Chastel 64 (these dies). Boston, MFA 387. Gulbenkian 256 (these dies). Boehringer 387.
Extremely rare, only four specimens listed by Boehringer, type of the Demarateion
series. A portrait of Arethusa of exquisite style struck on a very broad flan and
a lovely old cabinet tone. About extremely fine / extremely fine

Ex Gemini sale VII, 2011, 157.
This extremely rare and attractive tetradrachm was struck during the reign of Hiero I (478-467 BC), the most powerful of the Deinomenid tyrants to rule Syracuse. In the 470s, he expanded Syracusan power greatly by depopulating the neighboring Chalcidian Greek cities of Naxos, Catana, and Leontini and intervening in the affairs of Magna Graecia. He defended the Locrians against Anaxilos the tyrant of Rhegium and defeated the Etruscans in a naval battle off of Cumae in 474 BC. Although he ruled with an iron fist and is often credited as the first Greek ruler to employ secret police, he was a lavish patron of the literary arts. His court was adorned by such famous poets as Pindar, Simonides and Aeschylus and he enjoyed broad fame for the victories of his chariots in the Pythian and Olympic games. Pindar’s First Pythian Ode celebrates the victory that Hiero won in the Pythian Games in 470 BC, which is almost precisely when this coin was struck. Although the slow quadriga had been the established obverse type for Syracusan tetradrachms since the last decade of the sixth century BC, it seems improbable that the contemporary victory of Hiero I would not have been brought to mind by the obverse type of this tetradrachm. The focus on victory is underlined by the prominent figure of Nike hovering above the horses with such a large wing that it takes up much of the upper field. Despite his many accomplishments and victories, the rule of Hiero I was actually the swansong for the Deinomenid tyranny at Syracuse. After his death at Catana, a Chalcidian city he had given over to Dorian Greek colonists, Hiero I was succeeded as tyrant by his inept brother Thrasybulus. Thrasybulus was overthrown in less than a year and Syracuse began its progress towards a democratic constitution while the exiled Catanians reclaimed their homes and made a point of desecrating the tomb of Hiero I that had been erected in their city.