PHLIASIA

Sale: CNG 81, Lot: 2016. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009.  Sold For $260. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHLIASIA, Phlious. Circa 430 BC. AR Hemidrachm (2.69 g). Bull, with central garland, kneeling right, head left / Large Φ, with central pellet, in dotted square with pellet in each corner; all within incuse square. BCD Peloponnesos 82 (same dies). VF, porous, obverse a little off center. Extremely rare.

Ex BCD Collection (not in LHS sale).

Phliasia, once a district of Achaia, is primarily known for its principal city, Phlious, which was the setting for Plato’s Phaedo. Located on the river Asopus, near the juncture of Argolis, Achaia, Arcadia, and Corinthia, Phlious’ acropolis, known as Trikaranon, commanded one of the subsidiary roads leading to Corinth. The city was also renowned for a sacred stone omphalos, which its inahabitants revered as the center of the Peloponnesos. During the Persian Wars, a contingent of 200 Phlians served at Thermopylai, and a thousand were later deployed to Plataia. Although it incurred Sparta’s wrath in 383 BC and was compelled to withstand a lengthy Lakedaimonian siege, Phlious remained a loyal ally of Sparta. With the loss of Spartan supremacy, Phlious eventually joined the Achaian League.