Christopher de Lisle
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198861720
- eISBN:
- 9780191894343
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198861720.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The only truly contemporary source material that we have for Agathokles is his coinage and it has a number of stories to tell that no other source offers. The circulation patterns of Agathokles’ ...
More
The only truly contemporary source material that we have for Agathokles is his coinage and it has a number of stories to tell that no other source offers. The circulation patterns of Agathokles’ coinage show that Syracuse’s economic interactions with the wider world under Agathokles were similar to those which took place under his predecessor Dionysios. Quantification of Agathokles’ coinage allows us to compare his economic resources with those of his predecessors and contemporaries. The iconography of Agathokles’ coinage shows the same effort to connect Agathokles to both his Sicilian predecessors and Macedonian contemporaries. The idea that the legends and iconography of Agathokles’ coins illustrate a transition from tyrant to Hellenistic king is challenged.Less
The only truly contemporary source material that we have for Agathokles is his coinage and it has a number of stories to tell that no other source offers. The circulation patterns of Agathokles’ coinage show that Syracuse’s economic interactions with the wider world under Agathokles were similar to those which took place under his predecessor Dionysios. Quantification of Agathokles’ coinage allows us to compare his economic resources with those of his predecessors and contemporaries. The iconography of Agathokles’ coinage shows the same effort to connect Agathokles to both his Sicilian predecessors and Macedonian contemporaries. The idea that the legends and iconography of Agathokles’ coins illustrate a transition from tyrant to Hellenistic king is challenged.
Christopher de Lisle
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198861720
- eISBN:
- 9780191894343
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198861720.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The nature of the source material means that our understanding of Agathokles’ activities in Italy will always be patchy. This chapter reconstructs the course of events in the region during his reign ...
More
The nature of the source material means that our understanding of Agathokles’ activities in Italy will always be patchy. This chapter reconstructs the course of events in the region during his reign as far as is possible. Agathokles’ activities in this region are best understood in the context of earlier Syracusan interventions in Italy. Like them, he entered the region as a result of the ideology of Sicilian tyranny, the absence of a clear border at the Straits of Messana, the pull of internal Italian conflicts, and the desire to have a forward defence against invasion from mainland Greece. The goal was not control of territory per se but the control of movement through that territory.Less
The nature of the source material means that our understanding of Agathokles’ activities in Italy will always be patchy. This chapter reconstructs the course of events in the region during his reign as far as is possible. Agathokles’ activities in this region are best understood in the context of earlier Syracusan interventions in Italy. Like them, he entered the region as a result of the ideology of Sicilian tyranny, the absence of a clear border at the Straits of Messana, the pull of internal Italian conflicts, and the desire to have a forward defence against invasion from mainland Greece. The goal was not control of territory per se but the control of movement through that territory.
