Catana

Tetradrachm circa 465-450, AR 26 mm, 16.68 g. The river-God Amenanos as bearded man-headed bull r., r. leg bent at knee; above, naked Silenus leaping r.; below, sea-monster. Rev. KATANAION Nike, wearing long chiton, standing r. and holding taenia in outstretched l. hand. And taenia in r. hand. Rizzo pl. IX, 14 var. (this obverse die but Nike l.) Jameson 534. Biucchi, ANS NS 18, –.
Extremely rare. Perfectly centred and with a lovely iridescent tone. Obverse from a rusty
die and light traces of double stricking on reverse , otherwise extremely fine

Ex Sternberg 20, 1988, 254; Leu 53, 1991, 27; Busso-Peus 333, 1992, 179; Nomos 5, 2011, 115; Chaponnière & Hess-Divo 3, 2012; Künker 273, 2016, 127 and Nomos 16, 2018, 32 sales. From a Scandinavian private collection.
In c. 729 BC, Sicilian Naxos had become so populous that a body of colonists was dispatched to settle the site of Catana in the shadow of Mount Aetna. Over the course of the sixth and fifth centuries BC, the Catanians developed a reputation for moral uprightness through the famous examples of men like Charondas and the brothers Amphinomus and Anapius. The Pythagorean lawgiver Charondas composed excellent laws for the city entirely in verse, but then duly committed suicide after he unthinkingly walked into the assembly wearing his sword, thereby breaking one of his own laws. Amphinomus and Anapius, often described simply as “the Catanian Brothers,” became popular symbols of filial piety after they carried their elderly parents on their shoulders in order to save them from an eruption of Mount Aetna. They later provided the model for Roman depictions of Aeneas carrying Anchises to safety from burning Troy. Despite the moral high ground occupied by Catana, the city was frequently challenged by neighboring city of Syracuse. Conflicts frequently arose due to the expansionist policies of Syracuse and its tyrants and the old ethnic feud between Chalcidian Greeks like the Catanians and Dorian Greeks like the Syracusans. Hiero I of Syracuse forced the Catanians to leave their city in 476 BC and gave it over to Dorian Greek colonists. The dispossessed Catanians returned to avenge themselves around 465 BC, violently expelling Hiero’s settlers and reclaiming their homes. Nevertheless, as one might expect, the restored Catanians continued to nurse a grudge towards Syracuse and ultimately joined Leontini is supporting the disastrous Athenian expedition against Syracuse in 415-413 BC. This extremely rare tetradrachm was struck in the period immediately following the return of the Catanians to their original city and strongly illustrates their love of their homeland. On the obverse, the river Amenanos, which flows by Catana, appears in the guise of a man-headed bull in typical Greek Sicilian fashion while Silenus capers nearby as an indication of the wealth that accrued to the city from viticulture. The sea monster below alludes to Catania’s location on the eastern coast of Sicily and its access to the Mediterranean Sea. In connection with the obverse type, it is tempting to understand the Nike on the reverse as an advertisement of the recent victory of the returning Catanians over the Syracusan interlopers in their city. On the other hand, Nike here might also merely belong to the general agonistic theme popular for coins struck by many Sicilian cities in the fifth century BC.
In c. 729 BC, Sicilian Naxos had become so populous that a body of colonists was dispatched to settle the site of Catana in the shadow of Mount Aetna. Over the course of the sixth and fifth centuries BC, the Catanians developed a reputation for moral uprightness through the famous examples of men like Charondas and the brothers Amphinomus and Anapius. The Pythagorean lawgiver Charondas composed excellent laws for the city entirely in verse, but then duly committed suicide after he unthinkingly walked into the assembly wearing his sword, thereby breaking one of his own laws. Amphinomus and Anapius, often described simply as “the Catanian Brothers,” became popular symbols of filial piety after they carried their elderly parents on their shoulders in order to save them from an eruption of Mount Aetna. They later provided the model for Roman depictions of Aeneas carrying Anchises to safety from burning Troy. Despite the moral high ground occupied by Catana, the city was frequently challenged by neighboring city of Syracuse. Conflicts frequently arose due to the expansionist policies of Syracuse and its tyrants and the old ethnic feud between Chalcidian Greeks like the Catanians and Dorian Greeks like the Syracusans. Hiero I of Syracuse forced the Catanians to leave their city in 476 BC and gave it over to Dorian Greek colonists. The dispossessed Catanians returned to avenge themselves around 465 BC, violently expelling Hiero’s settlers and reclaiming their homes. Nevertheless, as one might expect, the restored Catanians continued to nurse a grudge towards Syracuse and ultimately joined Leontini is supporting the disastrous Athenian expedition against Syracuse in 415-413 BC. This extremely rare tetradrachm was struck in the period immediately following the return of the Catanians to their original city and strongly illustrates their love of their homeland. On the obverse, the river Amenanos, which flows by Catana, appears in the guise of a man-headed bull in typical Greek Sicilian fashion while Silenus capers nearby as an indication of the wealth that accrued to the city from viticulture. The sea monster below alludes to Catania’s location on the eastern coast of Sicily and its access to the Mediterranean Sea. In connection with the obverse type, it is tempting to understand the Nike on the reverse as an advertisement of the recent victory of the returning Catanians over the Syracusan interlopers in their city. On the other hand, Nike here might also merely belong to the general agonistic theme popular for coins struck by many Sicilian cities in the fifth century BC.