Sicily Akragas .CRAB, CORINTHIAN HELMET. TYRANT THERON CENTER of GREEK CULTURE, MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY Start Price USD 0.99 Current Price USD 600.00 Time Left - Bid Count 14 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, October 01, 2008 End Time Saturday, October 11, 2008 Location Vienna See more about 'Sicily Akragas .CRAB, CORINTHIAN HELMET. TYRANT THERON' Description        Early in the establishment of a democracy at Akragas there was a change in the principal denomination of the coinage, with the Tetradrachm replacing the Didrachm. The principal types, however, remained unchanged. .                               Sicily, Akragas. Circa 485-470 BC. AR Didrachm ( 8.10 gm.; 20 mm.).                                                          Dark, attractively toned !                                                                                                    Obv.: Eagle with closed wings standing left .                                         Rev.: Crab, Corinthian helmet below, all in shallow incuse circle.                                             SNG ANS 946.Theron became tyrant of Akragas in 488 B.C. His reign was distinguished by a love of culture, as illustrated by the fact that he was closely attached to the lyric poets Pindar and Simonides. Under his rule Akragas became a center of Greek culture and one of the most beautiful cities of the Greek world, evidence of which can still be seen today in the remains of magnificent temples. In about 483 B.C. Theron captured Himera, which remained subject of Akragas until 472 B.C. The booty from this enterprise greatly augmented the coin output of Akragas. In 480 B.C. Theron, with the aid of his son-in-law Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse, decisively defeated a great Carthaginian invading army at Himera. In 472 Theron died. Later that year his son, Thrasydaios, was expelled after an unsuccessful war with Hieron, Gelon's brother and successor at Syracuse. A democracy was established at Akragas and the city entered upon a period of exceptional prosperity.                                                                                                                                                                                       Akragas. Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582-580 BC and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it Akragas. The meaning of the word is unclear, though the stock commonplace referred to an eponymous legendary founder, an Akragante, apparently no more than a retrospective etiology of an obscure name. Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia. It came to prominence under the sixth-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus. Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BC. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the fourth century.In 490-483 BC the city was sacked by both the Romans and the Carthaginians in the third century— the Romans in 262 BCE and the Carthaginians in 255 BC. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it. The Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 and renamed it Agrigentum, although it remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule and its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.                                                                                                                                      Every item offered by VIVITE LAETI is unconditionally guaranteed to be genuine & authentic. Place a Bid!