SICILY. Syracuse. Fifth Democracy, 214-212 BC. 12 Litrai (Silver, 23 mm, 10.13 g, 8 h). Head of Athena to left, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with a griffin on the bowl, single pendant earring and pearl necklace; around neck, aegis. Rev. ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ Artemis, in hunting dress and with quiver on her back, standing left, shooting arrow; at feet, hunting dog leaping left; in field to left, ΥA above ΣΛ. BMC 652 (same dies). Burnett, Enna, 33 (dies 12/t) and pl. 9, D33 (same dies). HGC 2, 1412. Jameson 892. SNG Lewis 412. A very well struck and beautifully toned piece of lovely Hellenistic style, with an extensive pedigree going back to the 19th century. Tiny marks and with a small flan fault on the obverse, otherwise, extremely fine.

As pro-Roman and pro-Carthaginian factions vied for control, the assassination of Hieronymos in 214 BC plunged Syracuse into turmoil, ushering in the so-called Fifth Democracy. The brothers Hippokrates and Epikydes ultimately seized power and forced an irrevocable break with Rome. In response, Rome dispatched its most experienced general, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, to lay siege to the great city. Syracusan resistance was fierce: its formidable fortifications, combined with the genius of Archimedes - the greatest mathematician of Antiquity - held off Roman attacks for two years. But in the end, Roman persistence and military might prevailed. Syracuse fell, and Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier, who is said to have struck him down while he was absorbed in a mathematical diagram. The conquest of Syracuse marked not only the definitive end of the independence of the most important Greek city in the West, but also a major turning point in the Second Punic War - one that would see Rome ascend to unmatched superpower status. Remarkably, the coinage minted in Syracuse during the brief period of the Fifth Democracy is diverse, displaying a wide array of types. Many of the dies produced during the siege are in exquisite full Hellenistic style, attesting that the city’s finest artists remained active. Yet this cultural vitality would soon fade: the sparse post-siege bronze coinage of Syracuse, like all Sicilian civic issues under Roman rule, was crudely executed - a pale echo of the city’s illustrious past.