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PKIMITIAE HERACLIENSES. 177that contemporary coins of Velia bear the same letterQ, but that, as there is a later fourth-century artistPhilistion at Velia, these fifth-century coins of Veliaare referred to an " earlier Philistion " byPoole andEvans (Horsemen of Tarentum, p. 114, note 142).Q and PProbably most Greek numismatists regardat Thurium and Terina as artists' signatures(Evans, Num. Chron., 1912, p. 35), although even inthe case of 4> and P this view has not passed unchallenged(H. von Fritze and H. Gaebler, Nomisma,1907, p. 16, and 1914, Exkurs B, p.54 ;see also E. J.4Seltman, Journ. Int., 1913, pp. 3-10). Some alternativeexplanationshave been beside the mark. Thus thelate J. R. M c Clean's proposal to interpret Q and Pas numerals (Num. Chron., 1907, p. L07) must surelybe rejected, although accepted by M. Jean de Foville(Rev. Num., 1908, p. 7).It is probable that 4> and P have a better claim torepresent artists' signatures than many other lettersand abbreviations commonly explained in the sameway. At any rate, they are often, though not universally,small and inconspicuous on the coins ofThurium and Terina. It is curious, therefore, that somuch attention has been paid to these particularexamples, while the development of the theory tofurther instances has, as a whole, escaped detailedcriticism. 4 For them we must turn to those pagesin the Horsemen of Tarentum which deal with artists'signatures. That Sir Arthur Evans still adheres to4Mr. Seltman's article confines itself, in the main, to the singleletters on coins of Thurium. He protests, however, against thewhole theory in a sober judgement with which those who haveexamined a number of alleged examples must agree.