SICILY, SYRACUSE, time of Agathokles, 317-289 BC, bronze

DescriptionAgathokles was the son of a potter who attempted several times to overthrow an oligarchic government, finally succeeding in 317 BC. Ruling in the name of “the people,” he conquered most of Sicily. Then he started fighting with Carthage, which project had its ups and downs. Having made himself a “king” at one point, on his deathbed he restored the Syracusan constitution.Syracuse was founded by Greek colonists from Corinth and Tenea around 734 BC. No mention is made regarding who financed the expedition. The government was usually despotic, the head of government going by the title of tyrant.Ancient Sicily was the subject of colonizing activity by Greeks and Phoenicians, who contested control of the island and carved out zones of activity for several centuries before the coming of the Romans.We think that our culture grew out of the culture of Greece because it was in Greece (and in China) that people started thinking about how things could be different than they were in a world where everything was dangerous and might made right. They also established principles of artistic expression that we still use today. We see this approach to art in their coins.“Ancient Coins” includes Greek and Roman coins and those of neighbors and successors, geographically from Morocco and Spain all the way to Afghanistan. Date ranges for these begin with the world’s earliest coins of the 8th century BC to, in an extreme case, the end of Byzantine Empire, 1453 AD.