THESSALY. Koinon of Thessaly. Pseudo-autonomous issue. Assarion (Bronze, 18 mm, 3.99 g, 6 h), Ulpius Nikomachos, strategos, time of Hadrian, circa 123-125. ΑΧΙΛΛΕΥΣ Head of Achilles to right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Pegasos. Rev. NIKOMAXOY Horse prancing right; below, monogram of CTPA. BCD Thessaly I, 1410. Burrer 152 (A41/R126). RPC III 459. Rare. Somewhat rough and with light deposits, otherwise, nearly very fine.


Undefeated in direct combat, steadfast in his friendships, quick to anger and a bitter foe, Achilles was the greatest Greek hero of the Trojan War, managing to best the Trojan Hector, thus spelling doom for Troy itself. As Achilles' father, Peleus, was the King of Phthia in Thessaly, it is not surprising that the Thessalians claimed Achilles as a sort of 'national' hero, and the Thessalian Koinon duly commemorated him on their coins. The choice to place Achilles on the Koinon's coins may further be related to Hadrian's famed Philhellenism. After all, the Trojan War for the first time united the disparate Greeks under one banner against a common foe, prefiguring the later Greek resistance against Persia and Hadrian's attempts at creating a grand league of Greek cities, the so-called Panhellenion, in 131 or 132.