LYCAONIA. Laranda. Philip II, as Caesar, 244-247. Diassarion (Bronze, 26 mm, 12.27 g, 6 h). M IOYΛION ΦΙΛIΠΠOC KAIC Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust of Philip II to right, seen from behind. Rev. CЄB ΛAPANΔЄΩN / MH[T]PO / KOINO[N] Wolf standing left, clutching human hand in his jaws. SNG von Aulock 5401 = Von Aulock, Lykaonien, 134 (same dies). Very rare and with an interesting reverse. Patina stripped. Very fine.




The reverse of this coin refers to the myth of Lycaon, an Arcadian Greek who received a prophecy from Apollo that he was to found a city in Asia Minor on the spot where a restless wolf appeared, clutching a human hand. The Lycaonians and the region they inhabited supposedly took their names from him, and the myth was duly commemorated on Laranda's coinage.