Numismata hellenica: a catalogue of Greek coins; with notes, a map ...

Metal
M
M
JR
M
JR
M,
M
M
M
M
M
Size
ei
5
4
4-
6-4
3
3
M 10
9-7
SICILY AND ADJACENT ISLANDS. 49
Weight
265 Eagle, standing to I. ; in field to r., AKRAC ; to I, jOTIa- R- Crab.
268-7 Same legend and type. B. Crab ; under which, dolphin to r., reversed.
263-4 Same type ; in field to I., AKRAC ; to r., AUTOS. R. Crab ; below which, bud of
pomegranate I
138-3 Same type ; in field to r., AkrA. R. Crab, in concave field.
133-8 Same legend and type. R. Same type.
131-2 Eagle, standing to r. ; above it, AK ; below, Afl. R. Same type.
131-4 Same type; above, AK; below, pa. R. Same type; below, small bearded head
to r.
128-9 Same type and legend.
R. Same type, without head.
1258 Same type and legend. R. Same type; below which, grain of barley.
60-6 Eagle, on narrow basis, to I. R. Same type ; below, AKRA.
31-8 Eagle to r., bending its head towards hare in its claws; to l, grain of barley.
R. [a]KPA. Crab ; below which, Cetus or Pistrix, to I., with fish in mouth.
27-7 Another similar, but Pistrix to r.
Note.—This imaginary animal is named KtjroQ in the taivo/ieva of Aratus, and Neptunia Pistrix
in the translation, or rather imitation of that poem by Cicero. Its ' '
cauda spinifera is particularly
noticed, and its resemblance in this respect to Scylla, as Virgil intimates, is exactly confirmed by the
coins. The same kind of tail was given to Triton and the Hippocampus. The Pistrix was the seamonster,
which the Nereides prevailed upon Neptune to send against Andromeda, and which was
transferred to the
deliverer Perseus.
skies together with Andromeda, her parents Cepheus and Cassiopeia, and her
On modern globes the k^toq, or Pistrix, has been converted into a whale. The
Pistrix appears as an attendant or symbol of Neptune on coins also of Cumse, Posidonia, and some
others of Magna Groecia. Triton, Scylla, the Cetus, the Hippocampus, were all ministers of Neptune,
the Proteos pecus (Herat. Od. 1, 2), or rather different forms of the ever-varying Proteus himself.
663-4 Two eagles to I., holding in their claws a hare ; the nearer, with head thrown back ;
the further, bending head towards hare ; in field to r., cicada. R. [A]KPArAS.
Quadriga to I., with horses in strong action above the ; horses, eagle, with
serpent coiled round it, flying to I. ; below, crab.—
Electrotype from the Bibliotkique
Nationale.
Two eagles, with hare as before, but to r. ; around, [A]KPArA[C]. R. Scylla to l. ;
above which, crab; around, AKVhVAlyi'Vlff'p^.—Electrotype from the Collection
of Lord Northwick.—A specimen in the B. M. weighs 266-7 grains.
AW.— Virgil must have bad before him some work similar to this beautiful piece of Agrigentine
money, when he thus described the Neptunian
monster :
" Prima hominis facies et pulcro peetore virgo
Pube tonus ; postrema immani corpore pistrix
Delphinum caudaa utero commissa luporum." —^En. 3, v. 426.
266-2 Same type ; in field to l, €IAA. R. Quadriga, with winged charioteer, to I. ;
above, tablet, on which, ^^^^^ ; in exergue, knotted staff, placed obliquely.
iV^ote.— Agrigentum, at the time of these coins, exceeded all the cities of SicUy in its horses and
chariots. Two of the odes of Pindar record two victories of Theron of Aeragas ; the former of which
(in the quadriga) occurred in the year 472 b.c.; Diodorus (13, 82) relates, that in the !)2nd
Olympiad (b.c. 412), Extenetus of Aeragas gained the prize at Olympia, and entered his native city
in a chariot, accompanied by 300 bigse, drawn by white horses.
103-6 Youthful diademate head, adv., hair radiating, surrounded by six dolphins (Apollo ?).
R. Crab ; over which, sea-fish ; below, V\xa-*\ .—This and the one preceding are
the B. M.
Electrotypes from
Note.—These Punic letters show that the coin was struck between B.C. 405, when the Agrigentines
returned to their city under the government of the Carthaginians, and 383, when the latter were
confined by their treaty with Dionysius to the country west of the Halycus.