Rare Naxos Fraction

Sale: CNG 82, Lot: 281. Estimate $7500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2009.  Sold For $9500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Naxos. Circa 420-403 BC. AR Hemidrachm (2.13 g, 3h). Youthful head of the river god Assinos left, wearing wreath of selinon leaves; AΣΣINO-Σ around / Silenos, nude, squatting on rocks, head left, holding kantharos and thyrsos. Cahn 115 (V73A/R93); SNG ANS 528; SNG Lloyd 1160; Rizzo pl. XXVIII, 22; Basel 387; BMC 23; Boston MFA 310; Jameson 638; McClean 2476 (all from the same dies). Good VF, attractively toned. Rare.

Located on the eastern shore of Sicily in the shadow of Mt. Aitna, Naxos was the oldest of the Greek colonies on the island, founded in 735 BC by colonists from Chalkis (in Euboia), and Ionia. According to Thucydides (1.100), Naxos established its own colony by founding Leontini in 730 BC, which was soon followed by the foundation of a second colony, Aitna, later known as Katane. Owing to the fertility of the volcanic soil of Mt. Aitna, Naxos developed an economy of viticulture, and along with Leontini and Katane, became very prosperous. This wealth attracted the attention of Syracuse, which subjugated Naxos in 476 BC, removing its citizens along with those of Katane to Leontini. Upon the death of Hieron in 461 BC, the Naxians were reinstated to their original city, and formed a close alliance with Leontini and Katane. During the Sicilian Expedition in 427 BC, Naxos actively provided support to the Athenians, who had sent a large fleet to attempt to neutralize Syracuse’s aid to Sparta. In 409 BC, Naxos sided with Syracuse against the Carthaginians, but in 403 BC, the tyrant Dionysios of Syracuse turned against the Naxians, destroying the city and selling the women and children into slavery.

Coins of Naxos in this period display a genuine classical style, with lifelike depictions of the river god Assinos on the obverse and Silenos on the reverse. Silenos was the companion and tutor of Dionysos and was often depicted as a bald, fat man with thick lips and a squat nose. A figure who was usually drunk because he often consumed large quantities of wine, he had to be supported by satyrs or carried by a donkey. Silenos, however, was considered quite wise, and was claimed to possess secret knowledge and the power of prophecy while intoxicated. According to a play of Eurpides, the Cyclops, he had been forced to attend Polyphemos, who dwelled in the region of Mt. Aitna, one reason for its appearance on this coin of Naxos. The obvious reason for the choice of these types, however, is that they are direct allusions to the source of Naxos' wealth and power, her wine production.