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Although little is known about the peoples of Bruttium, the few sources that do refer to them all seem to suggest that they had a turbulent existence, particularly in their interactions first with Greek colonists, then fellow Italic tribes and later with the Romans. Strabo describes them as being the ex-slaves of their neighbours to the north, the Lucanians, against whom they rose up and took their freedom [Geographica, vi.1.4] and that their name 'Brettii' derives from the Lucanian dialect for 'rebels'. Diodorus Siculus seemingly corroborates this view of their origin, casting the Brettii as runaway slaves who happened to gather in that part of southern Italy in the middle of the 4th Century BC, perhaps attracted by the mountainous terrain which lent itself to spontaneous attacks, and who proceeded to antagonise and attack inhabitants of nearby Greek poleis and the settlements of the Lucanians. In a nuanced difference from Strabo, Diodorus states that the local Lucanian word from which he claims their name evolved meant 'runaway slaves' [Biblioteca Historica, xvi.15].
Nevertheless, as the power of Rome began to grow in the 3rd Century BC, skirmishes with local tribes and contests for small coastal cities were no longer the focus of the Brettii and, in the face of a more daunting force, they allied with the Lucanians and Samnites against the Romans, only to be comprehensively defeated [Livy, Epit. xii]. A few years later the Brettii again sided with Rome's enemy, this time in support of King Pyrrhus, the failure of which resulted in eventual severe repercussions. It was perhaps long-lasting resentment from this episode of their history that inspired the people of Brutiium to lend their support to Hannibal's Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, only a few decades after their last defeat. It was in early phase of this war, when Carthage was in the ascendency, that this coin was minted.
It is a much more obscure and later source that sheds perhaps the most light on the iconography of this gold hemidrachm, namely Stephanus of Byzantium in his work the Ethnica, which only survives as an epitome. He presents a much less prosaic version of the origin myth of the Bretti and one which appears to be referenced in the depiction of the head of Herakles wearing his lion skin on the obverse of this coin. Stephanus, writing in the 6th Century AD, asserts that the name 'Brettii' or 'Bruttii' came not from the pejorative vernacular of their neighbours and erstwhile masters, but rather from a son of Herakles and one of his lovers, called Bruttus, from whom they claimed descent. It is possible, likely even, that this is a retrospective reading, from a much later writer, but it nevertheless conjures a more romantic history for the Brettii and presents them in the positive, victorious light that they were clearly trying to convey in this coin.
Nevertheless, as the power of Rome began to grow in the 3rd Century BC, skirmishes with local tribes and contests for small coastal cities were no longer the focus of the Brettii and, in the face of a more daunting force, they allied with the Lucanians and Samnites against the Romans, only to be comprehensively defeated [Livy, Epit. xii]. A few years later the Brettii again sided with Rome's enemy, this time in support of King Pyrrhus, the failure of which resulted in eventual severe repercussions. It was perhaps long-lasting resentment from this episode of their history that inspired the people of Brutiium to lend their support to Hannibal's Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, only a few decades after their last defeat. It was in early phase of this war, when Carthage was in the ascendency, that this coin was minted.
It is a much more obscure and later source that sheds perhaps the most light on the iconography of this gold hemidrachm, namely Stephanus of Byzantium in his work the Ethnica, which only survives as an epitome. He presents a much less prosaic version of the origin myth of the Bretti and one which appears to be referenced in the depiction of the head of Herakles wearing his lion skin on the obverse of this coin. Stephanus, writing in the 6th Century AD, asserts that the name 'Brettii' or 'Bruttii' came not from the pejorative vernacular of their neighbours and erstwhile masters, but rather from a son of Herakles and one of his lovers, called Bruttus, from whom they claimed descent. It is possible, likely even, that this is a retrospective reading, from a much later writer, but it nevertheless conjures a more romantic history for the Brettii and presents them in the positive, victorious light that they were clearly trying to convey in this coin.