The magnificent artistic flowering in Sicily in the 5th century BC has its origins in times of great strife. When the first colonists from Greece arrived on the fertile island in the 8th century BC, they found competitors in both the aboriginal inhabitants, the Sicels, Sicani, and Elymi and the Punic colonists who established Carthage at about the same time. The social stresses set up by these conflicts prepared the way for the establishment of tyrannies, or rule by strongmen. Hippokrates of Gela was the first of the well known tyrants, and his son Gelon founded the greatest of the Sicilian courts at Syracuse in 485 BC. By the middle of the century, the situation began to resemble that of Renaissance Italy, where the princes engaged in continual warfare between themselves, while engaging the services of the finest artists and craftsmen of their time. Such fighting required significant amounts of money to hire mercenaries, and the increasing cultural sophistication of the courts encouraged experimentation in the all the arts, including the minor ones- the result was the patronizing of some of the most talented coin engravers in history.
In Syracuse and surrounding cities, the anonymous "Demareteion Master" and the "Maestro della foglia" were followed by their students and successors who proudly signed their work, such artists as Choirion, Euainetos, Eumenos, Exakestidas, Herakleidas, and others. These masters developed new ways of viewing the world through art, breaking the static forms of Classic art and developing new methods of portraying motion and life in miniature. The silver tetradrachm was the prefered mode of expression, being large enough for the expression free-ranging talents and also being minted in vast quantities to finance the expensive operations of the Greek hegemons. Even more remarkable were the large silver dekadrachms of Syracuse, which have become universal symbols of Greek numismatic art. Despite the emphasis on the great masterpieces, even the smallest of the silver fractions received the attentions of the masters, and the infrequent issues of gold likewise.
Gold was not a common circulating medium in Sicily, being used only in time of dire emergency when a rapid disbursment of funds was required. This generally entailed the hiring of mercenaries to repel invaders, and most issues can be ascribed to specific historical events. The first occured after 410 BC, when the Carthaginians took advantage of the exhaustion that settled over the Greek city-states in the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War to attempt a conquest of the entire island. Most of the cities had fallen to the invaders before Dionysios of Syracuse rallied the Greek forces and drove off the Carthaginians. Again, after the death of Dionysios feuding among the Greeks and further encursions by their rivals was met with another military ruler, Timoleon and more emergency gold coinage. Finally after the reign of Agathokles, another high water mark in Sicilian history, the ensuing chaos was bridged by the arrival of Pyrrhos of Epiros and one final flourishing of numismatic art in silver and gold. The reign of Hieron II and the ephemeral republic that succeded him ended with the ultimate Roman invasion and conquest of the island, bring to an end both Sicilian autonomy and one of the most extraordinary episodes in the history of art, numismatic and otherwise.
SICILY, Syracuse. Second Democracy. 466-406 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.29 gm). Struck circa 466-460 BC. Charioteer driving walking quadriga right, holding reins with both hands; Nike flying left above, crowning charioteer; ketos right in exergue / ΣVRA-KO-ΣI-ON, diademed head of Arethusa right, surrounded by four dolphins swimming clockwise. Boehringer 443 (V233/R319); SNG ANS 136 (same reverse die); SNG Lloyd -; SNG Copenhagen 640 (same reverse die).
