325, Lot: 45. Estimate $150. Sold for $170. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Koinon of Thessaly. Nero. AD 54-68. Æ Trihemiassarion(?) (20mm, 6.88 g, 12h). Aristion, strategos. Radiate head right / APIΣTIΩ/N–OΣ Σ–TPATH/ΓO–Y, Taurokathapsia scene: the hero Thessalos jumping from his horse, in background galloping right, onto bull running right, the head of which he restrains with a band; monogram below. Burrer Em. 1, Series 2, 35 (A9/R23); RPC I 1440; BCD Thessaly I 1436.4 (same dies). Near VF, dark green patina, a few minor scratches.

From the BCD Collection.

The taurokathapsia was a form of bull fighting that was popular at many games in the ancient Greek world, particularly in Crete and Thessaly. Scenes of this event are depicted on coins from various cities in Thessaly, but it is especially prevalent in the 5th century BC coinage of Larissa, which provides much of the current evidence about the sport. In the Thessalian version of the event, a man on horseback was to chase down and subdue a bull. He first rode alongside the running bull, then grabbed the bull by the horns and jumped from his steed onto the back of the bull. It is now known – after close examination of some dies used for silver denominations – that the rider then subdued the bull by passing a cloth or (more likely) a leather band below his horns, thus restricting or possibly even totally blocking his eyesight. This would cause the animal to lose his ferocity and eventually come to a halt.

Interestingly, the early stages of the event are not depicted on the coins at Larissa except on some scarce drachms as BCD II 186 and BCD I 1136, but can be seen on rare issues of Atrax (BCD Thessaly II 53), where the rider is pursuing the bull, and the Thessalian League (BCD Thessaly II 897 and the current type), where the rider is shown moving from his horse to the bull.