Greek Sicily Syracuse Time Of Agathokles

With the usurpation of Agathokles in 317 BC, Syracuse once more monopolised the right of coinage for the whole of Sicily, even more distinctly than in the time of Dionysios. The change from a conservative late-classical style to the new modes of the early-Hellenistic period came very quickly, within the space of a decade, and it coincided with the replacement of democratic government by the new monarchy. It is clearly perceptible in the coins that Agathokles issued the bronze Artemis Soteira and the electrum Apollo-Artemis issues, both of which belong after Agathokles' assumption of the kingship in 304, document the full acceptance of early-Hellenistic style. Certainly, the quality of the artistry demonstrated on this coin is of the highest standard. The opposing portraits of the divine twins were no doubt favoured by Agathokles on account of being patron deities of the island-fortress of Ortygia, the ancient heart of Syracuse, where according to myth the goddess Leto stopped to give birth to Artemis - and in some versions Apollo too. A temple is present on Ortygia which according to its inscription honours Apollo, but when Cicero visited Syracuse he wrote that it was dedicated to Artemis.

Despite having suffered a humiliating defeat against Carthage and settled a peace treaty re-establishing the status quo between Carthage and Syracuse, the latter years of Agathokles' reign were comparatively peaceful, and were prosperous times for the city. From c.300 Agathokles concentrated his efforts on southern Italy [Diodorus Siculus 21 4 ff]. In two campaigns he briefly brought Bruttium under his control, and supported Tarentum in 298/7 against the native Lucanians and Messapians. He conquered Kroton in 295 and concluded alliances with other cities. His aim seems to have been the union of Sicilian and south Italian Greeks under his rule. His preparations for another campaign against Carthage were brought to nothing however, as he was assassinated in 289/8, and owing to familial rivalries his designs for a dynasty were thwarted. Thus he 'restored to the people their self-government' [Diodorus Siculus 21. 16. 5].

Depicted often as a cruel and unscrupulous adventurer and tyrant, Agathokles achieved little of lasting historical importance; indeed after his death anarchy erupted both in Syracuse, where a damnatio memoriae was decreed, and in other places that had been under his rule [Diodorus Siculus 21. 18]. Nonetheless, his patronage of the arts left a legacy of beauty as embodied by a small number of surviving works of art from his reign, and smaller but no less wonderful objects such as this stunning coin.