★ The Barcid Dominion in Carthaginian Spain ★

Carthaginian Spain, Barcid Dominion AR Dishekel. South-western region of Gadir, circa 237-228 BC. Diademed male head (Hamilcar?) to left, with hanging ties / Prow of galley to right, with rostra, oars, two shields on deck and a wreathed forepost, to which is attached a pennant; hippocamp in exergue. MHC, Class II, 14 (same dies); ACIP 542; AB 481. 14.72g, 27mm, 11h.

Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, and among the finest known examples.

From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XII, 29 September 2016, lot 6;
Ex collection of M.D. (United Kingdom);
Privately purchased from David Morgan.

In 237 BC Hamilcar Barca, after having lost the First Punic War against Rome, but having won the Mercenary War against the Libyans, disembarked at Gadir with a Carthaginian expedition for the purpose of "re-establishing Carthaginian authority in Iberia" (Polybios, Histories, 2.1.6), and within nine years he had expanded the territory of Carthage well into the Iberian peninsula, securing control of the southern mining district of Baetica and Sierra Morena, before dying in battle in 228. Hamilcar was succeeded by his son-in-law Hasdrubal the Fair who expanded the new province by skilful diplomacy and consolidated it with the foundation of Akra Leuka, Mahon and finally in 227, Qart Hadasht (Latin: Carthago Nova) as his capital. After his untimely death in 221 he was succeeded by Hannibal (247-182), oldest son of Hamilcar Barca, and Hamilcar's second son Hasdrubal (245-207 BC). The Barcids now wielded control over much of the mineral rich Mediterranean side of the peninsula until 219 when Hannibal made the fateful move of taking and sacking Saguntum, a well established Roman ally. The wholesale slaughter of this Roman ally's population, and the arrogance with which the Roman ambassadors sent to Carthage to seek redress were met, led directly to the Second Punic War: the great statesman Quintus Fabius, speaking to the Carthaginian senate, gathered a fold of his toga to his chest and held it out, saying "Here, we bring you peace and war. Take which you will." The Carthaginians replied "Whichever you please - we do not care." Fabius let the fold drop and proclaimed "We give you war."

The obverse of this coinage is popularly believed to depict Hamilcar Barca (or depict his features assimilated into Herakles-Melqart), who had after 247 commanded Carthage's fleet and army in the Sicilian theatre of the First Punic War. The reverse of this type clearly alludes to the Carthaginian tradition of being a primarily naval power, and probably more specifically, to a renewed strengthening of the fleet, which had been so devastated in the war - according to Polybius' estimates, Carthage had lost 500 ships and he commented that the war was, at the time, the most destructive in terms of casualties in the history of warfare, including the battles of Alexander the Great. Yet despite rebuilding their ships, Carthage's naval supremacy and the confidence to use them aggressively had been broken. Although Hamilcar himself had been an able admiral, after his death Carthaginian commanders (including his sons) appear not to have been sufficiently confident to aggressively challenge the Romans at sea in the Second Punic War, which in contrast to the preceding war, was largely a land-based conflict.