A NEW DIDRACHM OF MAGNESIA ON THE MAEANDER 41

A New Didrachm of Magnesia on the Maeander

PHILIP KINNS1

PLATE 13

IN 2003 a previously unknown silver didrachm of Magnesia on the Maeander made its appearance.2 The obverse type is a draped bust of Artemis to right, her hair drawn into a topknot with a braid from the temple, wearing stephane and ear-ring, with bow (ending in a small stag’s head) and quiver at her shoulder. The reverse shows a grazing stag to right, standing on a strip of maeander pattern. Below the stag’s belly is a triangular monogram (¡), above his back an eight-pointed star. Curved around above is the full ethnic ΜΑΓΝΗ ΤΩΝ (broken by the star), while in the exergue appears the name (with patronymic) of the responsible ‘magistrate’ in two lines : ΜΑΙΑΝΔΡΙΟΣ ΑΡΤΕΜΙΔ[ΩΡΟ]Υ. The weight is 6.04g, the die axis 12 o’clock. Pl. 13, A

The auction description offered no discussion of its possible historical context, just the vague chronological indication ‘2-1. Jh.’ and the undoubtedly justifi ed, but not especially helpful, comment ‘Unikum von grosser numismatischer Bedeutung.’ The purpose of this article is to arrive at a rather more precise interpretation.

The types, and the distinctive hairstyle of the Artemis bust, associate the new didrachm closely with a tight group of seven bronze issues, struck in the names of just two pairs of magistrates, ΠΑΥΣΑΝΙΑΣ (and) ΜΗΤΡΟΔΩΡΟΣ and ΕΥΚΛΗΣ (and) ΚΡΑΤΙΝΟΣ,3 which represents the bulk of the output of this mint between c.145 BC and the beginning of the Imperial period. Those bronze issues are clearly later than what had previously been regarded as the last Hellenistic silver issues of Magnesia, namely the wreathed tetradrachms and contemporary smaller denominations struck c.155-145,4 and Richard Ashton has recently suggested that the high denomination bronzes of Pausanias-Metrodoros may belong to the same historical context as the large Helios right / rose bronze diobols (c.28mm, 16-18g) of Rhodes, which he connects, with compelling arguments, with the crisis of 88 BC.5

1 The following abbreviations are used. Ashton 2001 = R.H.J.Ashton, ‘Rhodian bronze coinage and the siege of Mithradates VI’, NC 2001, pp. 53-66. de Callataÿ = F. de Callataÿ, L’Histoire des Guerres Mithridatiques vue par les Monnaies (Louvain, 1997). Imhoof-Blumer, MG = F. Imhoof-Blumer, Monnaies Grecques (Paris-Leipzig, 1883). Jones 1979 = N.F.Jones, ‘The autonomous wreathed tetradrachms of Magnesia-on-Maeander’, ANSMN 24 (1979), pp. 63-109. Kinns, KME = P. Kinns, ‘Two studies in the silver coinage of Magnesia on the Maeander’ in G. Le Rider et al. (eds), Kraay-Mørkholm Essays, Numismatic Studies in Memory of C.M. Kraay and O. Mørkholm (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1989), pp. 137-48. Kinns, ‘Milesian notes’ = P. Kinns, ‘Milesian notes’ in R. Ashton and P. Kinns, ‘Opuscula Anatolica II’ (NC 2003), pp. 1-47, at 4-26. Kinns, NC 1999 = P. Kinns, ‘The Attic weight drachms of Ephesus: a preliminary study in the light of recent hoards’, NC 1999, pp. 47-97. Lagos = C. Lagos, A Study of the Coinage of Chios in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods (PhD diss., Durham 1998; unpub.). Regling, Priene = K. Regling, Die Münzen von Priene (Berlin 1927). Studies Price = R. Ashton and S. Hurter (eds), Studies in Greek Numismatics in Memory of Martin Jessop Price (London, 1998).

2 Hauck & Aufhäuser 17 (18/3/2003), 94 = Hauck & Aufhäuser 18 (5/10/2004), 211.3 See Kinns, KME, p. 48, at 148, with nn. 53-4.4 See Jones 1979, and Kinns, KME, pp. 143-8.5 See Ashton 2001, p. 65.

PHILIP KINNS42

Corroboration of a date for the new didrachm in the vicinity of 100 BC is provided by epigraphic evidence. For the didrachm magistrate is surely to be identifi ed with the Maiandrios son of Artemidoros who is named as a civic offi cial of Magnesia, probably the grammateus or secretary to the council, in an important inscription enacting regulations for the celebration of the annual festival of Artemis Leucophryene, conventionally dated ‘after 129 BC.’6

The bronzes of ΠΑΥΣΑΝΙΑΣ−ΜΗΤΡΟΔΩΡΟΣ (three types) and ΕΥΚΛΗΣ−ΚΡΑΤΙΝΟΣ (four types) now require detailed description and discussion. It must be emphasised that each combination of types was struck on this occasion only, with one exception: the Athena / horseman types (as 5 below) were also struck, almost certainly at a later date, with the legend ΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΟΣ ΛΕΥΚΟΦΡΥΗΝΗΣ and therefore by authority of the goddess rather than responsible magistrates.7

ΠΑΥΣΑΝΙΑΣ−ΜΗΤΡΟ∆ΩΡΟΣ

1. Obv.: Head of Athena right, wearing crested helmet with wreath on bowl. Rev.: Nike advancing right, holding fi lleted wreath in extended right hand and palm branch over left shoulder. Above, ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ. Downwards at right and left, ΠΑΥΣΑΝΙΑΣ, ΜΗΤΡΟΔΩΡΟΣ. Between Nike’s feet, letter. Denomination: Diobol. Size range 23-26mm (average 25mm), weight range 15.57-18.78g (average 16.77g). Examples recorded: 4 - BMC 43, SNG Copenhagen 848, SNG Tübingen 2946, Gorny & Mosch 142 (2005), 1543 (Pl. 13, 1)Reverse controls noted: Α (Gorny & Mosch 142, 1543), Ν(?) (BMC 43)8

2. Obv.: Armed horseman advancing right, spear couched. Rev.: Tripod with lebes and hanging fi llets. Above, ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ. Downwards at right and left, ΠΑΥΣΑΝΙΑΣ, ΜΗΤΡΟΔΩΡΟΣ. Below the tripod, letter or monogram.Denomination: Diobol. Size range 24-27mm (average 25mm), weight range 12.46-19.98g (average 15.99g).Examples recorded: 9, including Imhoof-Blumer, MG, p. 291 no. 89; J.Hirsch XIII (1905), 3724; Winterthur 3461 (Pl. 13, 2); CNG 69 (2005), 404 (ex CNG 57 (2001), 486) Reverse controls noted: ¡ (Winterthur 3461), ¢ (Imhoof-Blumer, MG, p. 291 no. 89), Ν (Oxford), Σ (Vienna 31800).

3. Obv.: Draped bust of Artemis right, hair rolled, wearing stephane and ear-ring. Bow and quiver at shoulder. Rev.: Stag grazing right, on strip of maeander pattern. Above, ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ. Below (two lines), ΠΑΥΣΑΝΙΑΣ, ΜΗΤΡΟΔΩΡΟΣ. In left fi eld, letter.Denomination: Trihemiobol. Size range 21.5-25mm (average 23mm), weight range 9.97-14.67g (average 12.18g).Examples recorded: 13, including SNG Fitzwilliam 4514; SNG Munich 602; SNG von Aulock 2041; MMAG Deutschland 17 (2005), 855 (Pl. 13, 3)

6 Syll³ 695, line 93. For a convenient English translation see O. Bingöl, Magnesia on the Meander (Ankara 1998), pp. 34-5. I am most grateful to Federico Santangelo for valuable assistance with the interpretation of this inscription. He is preparing a new study of it, which will integrate the numismatic evidence provided by the present article.

7 I have recorded 8 examples, as Winterthur 3462 , SNG Munich 606-7 (legend misunderstood) and H. Weber 6005 (now BM – Pl. 13, B), size range 18.5-20.5mm (average 20mm), weight range 7.81-10.97g (average 9.06g). The module and therefore presumably the denomination (obol) are identical to issue 5 below. Note that the Winterthur example uniquely has a rectangular quiver countermark on the reverse.

8 Unclear or off-fl an on the others.

A NEW DIDRACHM OF MAGNESIA ON THE MAEANDER 43

Reverse controls noted: Α (Kölner Münzkabinett 38 (1985), 97), Μ (SNG Fitzwilliam 4514, MMAG Deutchland 17, 855), Ν (SNG Munich 602, SNG von Aulock 2041).

ΕΥΚΛΗΣ−ΚΡΑΤΙΝΟΣ

4. Obv.: Draped bust of Artemis right, hair with braid from temple tied into a topknot, wearing stephane and ear-ring. Bow and quiver at shoulder. Rev.: Humped bull butting right, on ground-line. Above, ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ. In exergue (two lines), ΕΥΚΛΗΣ, ΚΡΑΤΙΝΟΣ. Between bull’s hind legs, letter.Denomination: Obol. Size range 18.5-21mm (average 19.5mm), weight range 6.65-10.55g (average 8.70g)Examples recorded: 17, including SNG Copenhagen 851; SNG Kayhan 438;9 SNG Munich 603; SNG Tübingen 2956; H.Weber 6008 (now BM 1921-5-20-89).Reverse controls noted: Α (Kinns coll. – Pl. 13, 4), Ν (SNG Kayhan 438), Σ (G. Hirsch 212 (2000), 264, ex G. Hirsch 208 (2000), 1733).

5. Obv.: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet. Rev.: Armed horseman advancing right, spear couched. Above, ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ. Below (two lines) ΕΥΚΛΗΣ, ΚΡΑΤΙΝΟΣ. In left fi eld, letter.Denomination: Obol. Size range 19-23mm (average 20.5mm), weight range 5.15-12.63g (average 9.39g).Examples recorded: 80, including BMC 44-5; SNG Copenhagen 849-50; SNG Kayhan 426-37;10 SNG Lewis 932; McClean 8182; SNG Munich 608; SNG Tübingen 2947-55; H.Weber 6006-7.Reverse controls noted: Α (SNG Kayhan 426-8, SNG Tübingen 2947-8, Kinns coll. – Pl. 13, 5), Ν (SNG Kayhan 429-31, SNG Tübingen 2949-50), Σ (SNG Kayhan 432-6, SNG Tübingen 2951-2).

6. Obv.: Head of Apollo laureate right, hair rolled. At neck, bow and quiver.11 Rev.: Nike advancing right, holding fi lleted wreath in extended right hand and palm-branch over left shoulder. Above, ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ (sometimes abbreviated). Downwards at right and left, ΕΥΚΛΗΣ, ΚΡΑΤΙΝΟΣ. In fi eld right or below, letter.Denomination: ¾ obol. Size range 16-21.5mm (average 18.5mm). Weight range 2.94-7.52g (average 5.76g).Examples recorded: 26, including BMC 46; SNG Copenhagen 852; McClean 8183; SNG Kayhan 439;12 SNG Munich 604; SNG Tübingen 2957; SNG von Aulock 2094; Winterthur 3463.Reverse controls noted: Μ below (Aufhäuser 9 (1992), 128), Ν between Nike’s feet (Kinns coll. – Pl. 13, 6), Σ below (Winterthur 3463) or in fi eld right (SNG Munich 604).

7. Obv.: Stag standing right on ground-line. Above, eight-pointed star. In exergue, ΜΑΓΝΗΤ.

9 SNG Kayhan 438 from a hoard found in 2001, with 427-37 (issue 5) and 439 (issue 6).10 SNG Kayhan 427-37 from a hoard found in 2001, with 438 (issue 4) and 439 (issue 6).11 The obverse type has usually in the past been identifi ed as a draped bust of Artemis right, wearing stephane,

but the laurel wreath and lack of drapery are clear on well-preserved examples. The heads on Winterthur 3463 and Aufhäuser 9, 128 were noted as laureate, but still assumed to be Artemis.

12 SNG Kayhan 439 from a hoard found in 2001, with 438 (issue 4) and 427-37 (issue 5).

PHILIP KINNS44

Rev.: Cult statue of Artemis Leucophryene facing. Downwards at right and left, ΕΥΚΛΗΣ, ΚΡΑΤΙΝΟΣ.13 Denomination: Half-obol. Size range 14.5-18mm (average 16.5mm). Weight range 3.13-5.45g (average 4.28g).Examples recorded: 15, including BMC 47 (Pl. 13, 7); SNG Copenhagen 853; SNG Munich 609; SNG Tübingen 2958; H.Weber 6009; Winterthur 3465.

These seven issues, although formally divided into two groups (1-3; 4-7) by the two pairs of magistrates, seem certain to be the product of a single minting episode. Of particular importance in this regard are the shared reverse controls observed on 1-6. Their signifi cance is unknown,14 but we fi nd ‘Α’ on 1, 3, 4, 5; ‘Ν’ on 1(?), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; ‘Μ’ on 3, 6; and ‘Σ’ on 2, 4, 5, 6, in each case linking the two pairs of magistrates. The shared Athena obverse type of issues 1 and 5, and Nike reverse type of 1 and 6 are also noteworthy.

To describe this group as remarkable would be an understatement. Although no systematic die studies have been attempted,15 the surviving numbers suggest that the quantities produced were large, and the parallel issue of seven different types, involving fi ve denominations, is without precedent at Magnesia.16 The range of denominations, on the assumption that 4-5 were tariffed as obols,17 is quite extraordinary, for 1-2, with average weights higher than any other known pre-imperial bronze issues of Ionia, must then be taken as diobols, with 3 as a trihemiobol, 6 as a three-quarter obol and 7 as the half-obol. At no other Ionian mint has it been necessary to postulate the existence of a bronze trihemiobol or three-quarter obol, and the only other diobols are the portrait bronzes of Mithradates struck at Smyrna c.88-85.18

13 One example (Kinns coll.) shows the names transposed, with ΚΡΑΤΙΝΟΣ down at right, ΕΥΚΛΗΣ down at left.

14 Two options can probably be dismissed. They cannot be numerical, nor do they appear to be initial letters of the months of the Magnesian calendar. Obverse die-links between controls might establish a pattern, but none has been noted as yet.

15 The four recorded examples of issue 1 are all from different dies. Issue 3 involved 5+ obverses. 16 The possibility that the range of types should be extended to nine, and the range of denominations to six, cannot

be excluded, as there are two further varieties with the rather uncommon name ΕΥΚΛΗΣ which could conceivably be contemporary with 4-7 above. An issue with obv. radiate draped bust of Artemis (?) to right, bow and quiver at shoulder, with ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ curved around below, rev. cult statue of Artemis Leucophryene facing and ΕΥΚΛΗΣ ΑΙΣΧΡΙΩΝΟΣ (= name and patronymic) down at right and left (as BMC 48 (Pl. 13, C); SNG Copenhagen 854; SNG Munich 610; SNG Tübingen 2959), seems comparable in module to 7 above , which also has the ethnic below on the obverse and the same reverse type: 19 examples recorded, size range 15-18mm (average 17mm), weight range 3.11-4.22g (average 3.57g). The presence of the patronymic here perhaps argues against exact contemporaneity, although Eukles is likely to be the same man. But a smaller denomination with obv. armed horseman right, spear couched , rev. humped bull butting left, with ΕΥΚΛΗΣ above, ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ below (as F. Imhoof-Blumer, Kleinasiatische Münzen (Vienna, 1901), p. 76 no.11; cf. Pl. 13, D – Kinns coll.) would fi t readily with 1-7. Five examples are recorded, with size range 13-14.5mm (average 14mm) and weight range 1.59-2.55g (average 2.19g), suggesting a denomination of quarter-obol or dichalkon. Here the absence of the second magistrate (Kratinos) could be explained by lack of space, or the small value, which perhaps required a lower level of authority for striking.

17 Their standard closely parallels that of the Apollo / Homer bronzes of Smyrna, struck in a long series c.190-75, whose valuation as obols seems certain. See Ashton 2001, p. 65 n. 20.

18 Average weight of 27 weighed examples 14.08g, the recorded maximum being 16.90g (Aufhäuser 10 (1993), 187). See below, n. 30.

A NEW DIDRACHM OF MAGNESIA ON THE MAEANDER 45

The repertory of types also calls for comment. The armed horseman (2, 5),19 bust of Artemis (3, 4),20 butting bull (4),21 head of Apollo (6)22 and cult statue of Artemis Leucophryene (7)23 are all familiar from 2nd century and earlier Magnesian coinage, but the head of Athena (1, 5) had not been used since the mid 4th century,24 while Nike (1, 6), the tripod (2) and the grazing or standing stag (3, 7) are all entirely new. Of these three types the tripod is of course a standard Apolline attribute, and the stag an animal sacred to Artemis, so their belated adoption as coin types at Magnesia is not particularly unexpected, and for the present we should focus on the (identical) Nike reverse of issues 1 and 6.

Although the fi gure of Nike was a coin type in regular use throughout the Hellenistic period, in all areas of the Greek world, instances of its use in Ionia are few. Priene issued silver Attic weight drachms with reverse Nike in maeander circle apparently in the mid 3rd century, probably under the infl uence of contemporary Seleucid bronze.25 The same mint issued rare bronze obols in the early 1st century with a bust of Nike on the reverse,26 which may be mentioned here for completeness. At Heraclea ad Latmum, two of the four varieties of wreathed tetradrachms issued c.155-145 had a fi gure of Nike as a symbol or sub-type on the reverse,27 with which may belong small bronzes (as BMC 12) with a fi gure of Nike in a wreath as the obverse type. At Ephesus a fi gure of Nike features twice as a symbol in the cistophoric series: fi rst on tetradrachms (and a unique didrachm) c.150-140,28 secondly, and apparently more signifi cantly, on the tetradrachms of year ΜΘ (= 86/5 BC),29 where its appearance seems likely to refer to the Roman defeat of Mithradates in that year. Finally, and most dramatically, a fi gure of Nike identical in pose and attributes to that found on Magnesia issues 1 and 6 constitutes the reverse type of the bronze diobols with obverse portrait of

19 Standard obverse type of Magnesian silver and bronze, c.350-200, and of the value-marked silver series c.155-145. Reverse type of the series of bronze half-obols c.155-145. See P.Kinns, ‘A hoard group of 3rd century hemichalka from Magnesia’, in R. Ashton and P.Kinns, ‘Opuscula Anatolica III’, NC 2004, pp. 71-107, at 71-83, and Kinns, KME, pp. 137-48.

20 Obverse type of the wreathed tetradrachms (and unique drachm) and contemporary bronze half-obols, c.155-145; see Kinns, KME, p. 145. Also the obverse type (surrounded by laurel wreath) of bronze obols (as Winterthur 3464) with reverse type cult statue of Artemis Leucophryene facing, ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ (down at right) and the two names ΠΥΡΡΑΛΙΩΝ (and) ΠΑΜΦΙΛΟΣ (down at left), which seem likely to pre-date the present group.

21 Standard reverse type of Magnesian silver and bronze, c.350-200, and of the value-marked silver series c.155-145. For references, see above, n. 19.

22 A laureate head of Apollo (but without bow and quiver at shoulder) had been the regular obverse type of Magnesian silver and bronze c.400-350 (as Winterthur 3450 – hemidrachm, SNG Kayhan 400-01, 403 – trihemiobols, and Kinns, NC 2004 (n. 19 above), p.76 with n.23 – bronze) and of rare silver diobols c.350-325 (as BMC 14; cf. SNG Kayhan 402). Three separate bronze issues with reverse cult statue of Artemis Leucophryene (as SNG Copenhagen 856 – monogram on obverse; SNG Tübingen 2961 – name ΑΠΟΛΛΟΔΩΡΟΣ ΚΑΛΛΙΚΡΑΤΟΥ on reverse ; SNG Copenhagen 855 – names ΝΙΚΑΝΩΡ ΚΑΙ (sic) ΖΩΠΥΡΟΣ on reverse) which seem to belong to the mid-late 2nd century have a laureate head of Apollo with bow and quiver at his shoulder as their obverse type. Note that Apollodoros Kallikratou is one of the magistrates of the wreathed tetradrachms. A bronze issue obv. head of Apollo laureate right, rev. horse walking right with ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ below (as BMC 41, SNG Copenhagen 847), is of uncertain date and indeed attribution; it may belong to a different Magnesia.

23 First seen on bronze issues of the mid-late 2nd century, as nn. 20, 22 above. 24 Confi ned to the single issue of silver trihemiobols with reverse trident in maeander circle (as BMC 15-16, SNG

Copenhagen 810 etc.) 25 See Regling, Priene, no. 27, dated c.270/240 BC.26 ibid, no. 174.27 See S.Lavva, ‘Zur Silberprägung von Herakleia am Latmos’, Chiron 23 (1993), pp. 391- 414. 28 F.S. Kleiner and S.P.Noe, The Early Cistophoric Coinage (ANS NS 14; New York, 1977), p. 46, series 23. A new

variant with Nike standing right on platform (as CNG 57 (2001), 412 and CNG 58 (2001), 572 – same dies) may be from a separate issue, although clearly of similar date.

29 F.S.Kleiner, ‘The dated cistophori of Ephesus’, ANSMN 18 (1972), pp. 17-32, at p. 27 no.50. de Callataÿ, pp. 162 (die study) and 172-3 (interpretation).

PHILIP KINNS46

Mithradates VI struck at Smyrna c.88-85,30 and here the reference is very obviously to the Pontic king’s defeat of the Romans in 89/8.

So, however banal the Nike type may have become,31 it could clearly still carry its full weight when occasion demanded, reappearing as a symbol at Ephesus after a lapse of 60 years or so, and featuring on a high-profi le issue in a new high denomination at Smyrna, intruding on the century-old sequence of Apollo / Homer obols. The question is, will the Nike reverse of Magnesia issue 1 (and 6) bear a similar interpretation? The formal association between Magnesia 1 and the Smyrna issue is strong, in as much as both are the highest bronze denominations ever struck at their respective mints, and indeed in the whole of Ionia. But the parallel use of different types (issue 2) for the same denomination at Magnesia, and the case of the ΜΘ cistophori at Ephesus, where Nike apparently has the opposite political reference, advise caution.

In fact, however, if we return to our examination of the new didrachm and its close links with the bronze group, the balance does seem to tip decisively in favour of a pro-Mithradatic interpretation, as at Smyrna. The basic types of the didrachm (draped bust of Artemis right, bow and quiver at shoulder / stag grazing right on maeander strip) are the same as those of the bronze trihemiobol (3 above), and it was noted that the stag had not previously been used as a coin type at Magnesia. The obverse details differ, in that Artemis has her hair rolled on the bronze but braided into a topknot on the silver, but we encounter the precise didrachm type in the bronze obol issue (4 above) with reverse butting bull right. Further specifi c points of contact between the didrachm and the bronze group are provided by the reverse monogram (¡), shared with the Winterthur example of the horseman / tripod bronze diobols (2 above), and the star symbol above the stag’s back, a feature also found above the back of the standing stag on the obverse of the half-obol denomination (7 above). And it must be emphasised that neither this monogram nor a star symbol is known from any other Hellenistic issue of Magnesia.

A combination therefore of types, style, monogram and symbol binds the silver didrachm to the group of seven bronze issues, and given the extraordinary character of the latter, with its large volume of production and unparalleled denominational structure, it is no real surprise to fi nd now that it was accompanied by an equally exceptional silver issue.

The iconography of the didrachm favours a Mithradatic interpretation. The grazing stag reverse, with no previous history at Magnesia, refl ects the reverse type of the gold staters and silver tetradrachms of Mithradates struck at Pergamum c.88-85 BC.32 Prior to 88 the regular reverse type of his silver had by contrast been a grazing pegasus.33 Again, the hairstyle of Artemis, with braids from the temples tied into a topknot, while differing from earlier Artemis busts on Magnesian coinage, reproduces a model familiar from Pontic civic bronze and silver.34 A further shared detail, the termination of the bow at Artemis’ shoulder in a stag’s head, tends to confi rm that this is no accidental resemblance, although the same ornament also features on many of the obverses of the Magnesian wreathed tetradrachms of c.155-

30 See de Callataÿ, p. 293, with discussion and die-study of 15 examples. See Pl. 13, E (BMC 118).31 See de Callataÿ, p. 292 with n. 86 for a sceptical survey of possible Pontic-infl uenced types in the late Hellenistic

coinage of Asia Minor. He makes no reference to the Nike types of Magnesia.32 See de Callataÿ, pp. 4-5 (die study of gold staters, years Β, Γ, Δ of the Pergamene era), p. 23 (die study of

tetradrachms, years Γ, Δ of the Pergamene era), pp. 41-2 (commentary).33 At the main Pontic mint the reverse type of the tetradrachms changed from pegasus to stag only in July 85, after

which the change was permanent. Gold staters (never issued with the pegasus type) with stag reverse had been issued in 93/2 (Pontic year ΕΣ) and 89/8 (ΘΣ). See de Callataÿ, pp. 4, 16, 38, 41-2.

34 Compare de Callataÿ, pl. L. C, D (bronzes from Panticapaeum and Phanagoria, with kneeling stag reverse) and F (silver drachm of Panticapaeum, with stag grazing right on reverse – here Pl. 13, F = SNG BM Black Sea 935).

A NEW DIDRACHM OF MAGNESIA ON THE MAEANDER 47

145.35 The star too may well now seem to have Pontic overtones, given its invariable presence (admittedly with accompanying crescent) on the reverse of Mithradates’ silver and gold.

If this hypothesis is correct, the new silver didrachm represents clear evidence that Magnesia on the Maeander sided with Mithradates, and the supposition that the bronze group (1-7) should be associated with the bronze portrait diobols of Mithradates struck at Smyrna becomes a necessary conclusion. Both silver and bronze should accordingly be dated c.88-85 BC.

Such a conclusion is at fi rst sight contrary to the evidence from the literary sources for Magnesia’s role in the Mithradatic revolt. Far from being a supporter of Mithradates, she has been claimed as a city that famously resisted the Pontic king, and as a result was rewarded by Sulla with her freedom. But the literary sources are open to interpretation, since they do not in fact specify Magnesia on the Maeander, and could rather refer to Magnesia ad Sipylum.36 The numismatic evidence now suggests that the latter is the more likely option.

With a chronology now in place for the didrachm, we can identify its weight standard as cistophoric. Ephesus continued to issue cistophoric tetradrachms throughout the period of the Mithradatic revolt,37 and a recently discovered didrachm of year ‘ΜΑ’ (= 94/3 BC) indicates that the smaller denomination was still occasionally struck at that mint.38 It may be mentioned that, apart from Ephesus, where the issue of gold staters also apparently continued down to at least 78 BC,39 few other Ionian mints are known to have made precious metal issues after c.100 BC. Miletus and Priene had almost certainly ceased production,40 which leaves us with just Smyrna,41 and Chios,42 and an isolated issue from Teos.43

We can also speculate on the purpose of the associated bronze issues of Pausanias-Metrodoros and Eukles-Kratinos, given that their scale and remarkable range of denominations seem out of proportion with the previous needs of the city, which had apparently been met by a small number of issues during the preceding century. Clearly an exceptional demand had arisen. Was this perhaps a forced levy by Mithradates, such as he is known to have made on the city of Chios in 86 BC?44 Large (and relatively fl ashy) bronze coins, recalling the staple currency of the Pontic kingdom, would have been highly suitable for paying his troops.45

35 See Jones 1979. Only selected obverses are illustrated on his plates 20-26, but the stag’s head, while clearly absent from obverses 1-4, can be detected on 5, 7-10, 12, 13, 26, 28, 32 and 35.

36 See de Callataÿ, p. 286 with nn. 37-8, and p. 328 with n. 23, giving ancient and modern references. The two most recent commentaries on Appian both favour Magnesia ad Sipylum: A. Mastrocinque, Appiano. Le Guerre Mitridatiche (Milan 1999), p. 189 n. 151, and P. Goukowsky, Appien. Histoire Romaine Tome VII. Livre XII. La Guerre de Mithridate (Paris 2001), pp. 149-50, n. 199. I owe these references to Federico Santangelo.

37 F.S.Kleiner, ‘Dated cistophori of Ephesus’, ANSMN 18 (1972), pp. 17-32, at 26-7, nos 47-50. For die-study and discussion see de Callataÿ, pp. 160-79. The latter records 13 obverse dies for years 46-49 (= 89-85 BC.)

38 Kinns coll., 5.65g , ex CNG electronic auction 80 (1/2004), 27. The only dated didrachm listed by Kleiner (p. 28 no. 75) was from year ‘Α’ (= 134/3 B.C.), but he overlooked a ‘ΚΑ’ (= 114/3 BC) issue recorded by Head (NC 1880, p. 140).

39 See de Callataÿ, pp. 289-90, with n. 69. 40 See P.Kinns, ‘CH 8, 474: Milesian silver coinage in the second century BC’ in Studies Price , pp. 175-95, with

discussion of the latest issues at p. 183. An issue of Priene dated c.50 B.C. by Regling , Priene, no. 31, may be as early as c.200 BC.

41 Gold staters apparently during the Mithradatic revolt (but see de Callataÿ, p. 290, for a more sceptical view), as well as several issues of Attic weight tetradrachms and drachms during Milne’s periods XIII-XVII. See J.G. Milne,’The autonomous coinage of Smyrna II’, NC 1927, pp. 1-107, and ‘The autonomous coinage of Smyrna III’, NC 1928, pp. 131-71.

42 See now Lagos, pp. 297ff. for die studies and discussion of the 1st century ( reduced Attic) drachm isssues. The large issue of ΔΕΡΚΥΛΟΣ (29 obverse dies) can be associated with the Mithradatic revolt.

43 One issue of reduced Attic drachms (weights 3.16-3.73g), as SNG Copenhagen 1483 (head of Dionysus / seated griffi n) : fi ve examples recorded (all different dies).

44 Appian, XII.7.47. de Callataÿ, p. 31845 Cf. Ashton 2001, p. 65.

PLATE 13

KINNS, A NEW DIDRACHM OF MAGNESIA ON THE MAEANDER

76543

21

FEDCB

A