Dido, Queen of Carthage

Relief of Apollo with Nike

Roman, Augustan, 27 BC-14, greek marble, overall 41,60x46,40 cm 

This is a typical example of Neo-Attic work, a school that revived the Archaic style of the late sixth century BC. The elongated figures and mannered gestures are typical of this school.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Greek Silver Tetradrachm minted under the Tyrant Agathokles from Syracuse, Sicily, c. 310/08-306/5 BC

This lovely coins shows the wreathed head of Kore wearing a single pendant-style earring and necklace. The reverse shows the winged goddess of victory, Nike. She is standing right, holding a nail in her raised left hand and hammer in her right as she prepares to fix a conical helmet to a trophy of arms made of a cuirass, shield and greaves. There is also a monogram, a triskeles and the inscription AΓAΘOKΛEOΣ.

Agathokles (361-289 BC) took control of Syracuse in 317 BC at the head of a large army, banishing or murdering all those who opposed him. Clearly a man of ambition, he proceeded to invade the territories of the surrounding cities of Sicily and eventually became embroiled in war with the Carthaginians - the longstanding enemies of the Sicilian Greeks since the 6th century.

Peace was finally concluded in 306 BC with Carthaginian power restricted to west Sicily. Thereafter, Agathokles continued to strengthen his rule over the Greek cities of Sicily. By 304 BC he declared himself King of Sicily, extending his influence into southern Italy and the Adriatic.

This coin was struck towards the height of Agathokles’ power with the reverse proudly boasting of his great military achievements. We see the goddess of victory putting the finishing touches to a military trophy constructed from the spoils of war of one of Agathokles’ unfortunate enemies.

c. 200 B.C.E.

The Nike of Samothrace. c.190 BC. Parian Marble.

Displayed in the Louvre.

(by leeherrera_ca)

Tetradrachm of Seleucus I Nikator, Susa, minted after 301 BC

On the obverse, a bust of the hero right (assimilating King Seleucus I, King Alexander III of Macedon, and the god Dionysus), wearing helmet covered with panther’s skin and adorned with bull’s ear and horn, panther’s skin tied around neck. On the reverse,  ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ, Nike standing right, crowning trophy of arms, monograms below and in left field.

Rare. An outstanding specimen, deeply struck from fresh dies in exceptional metal. Perhaps the finest known of this type. Good extremely fine.

The obverse of this tetradrachm bears an image of the deified Alexander the Great. He wears a helmet covered with panther skin and adorned with a bull’s horns and ear. All of these are attributes of Dionysus, the god of wine but also of eternal life, who rode about on a panther and could transform himself into a bull. According to myth, Dionysus conquered India through his mysterious power; thus Alexander, who conquered parts of India by force of arms, could be seen as a second Dionysus. The coin type is yet more complex, because the issuer of this coin, Seleucus I, had repeated Alexander’s exploit of campaigning in western India. Thus he could claim to be a third Dionysus and a second Alexander, and this is undoubtedly implied by the heroic image.

Depicted on the reverse is Nike, the winged goddess of victory, crowning a trophy of arms. After a battle, the victors gathered arms from their fallen foes and attached them to a tree trunk to form a quasi-human figure. This trophy became the god of the battlefield, to which prayers of thanksgiving were offered. In this case the trophy probably alludes to the Battle of Ipsus (301 BC), in which Seleucus secured his kingdom with the aid of the war elephants he had acquired through his Indian campaign.

Estimated Value: $65,000

From the Getty’s collection: Fresco Panel Depicting Dionysos and Ariadne (1st century) and Wall Fragment with Winged Female (Nike) on Black Ground (70 AD) 

Temple of Athena Nike | Kari L. Nelson

Gold Stater of King Lysimachus of Thrace, Lampsakos mint, Black Sea region, struck c. 297/6-282/1 BC

On the coin, the head of the deified Alexander the Great wearing a diadem with fluttering ends and with the horn of Ammon around his ear. On the reverse, Athena, wearing robes and a helmet, seated on a throne, holding Nike and resting her elbow on large round shield adorned with a gorgoneion; on the inner left, a race torch; on the throne, monogram. M.

Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and diadochus (successor) of Alexander the Great, who eventually became king of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon. He had been one of Alexander’s trusted bodyguards during his Persian campaigns.

Since Alexander didn’t leave an heir when he died in 323 BC, a power struggle soon erupted between various diadochi for control of the empire. They argued about who should rule which part and each of them tried to make themselves look like his lawful heir. One of the best ways to do this this was to mint coins with Alexander’s picture, but with their own name inscribed on them. That is exatly what Lysimachus did.

Lysimachus did eventually issue coinage solely in his name, like the one pictured here, which featured a different design than the one originally employed by Alexander. This coin features an idealized portrait of the deified Alexander on the obverse, and a seated Athena holding Nike on the reverse. These types of Lysimachus’ coins were popular enough in commerce to be adopted and imitated in other places, and by other kings up until the 1st century BC. The coins of Lysimachus are some of the most beautiful and realistic portraits from Hellenistic Greece.