MEGARIS. Megara. Pseudo-autonomous issue. Diassarion (Bronze, 26 mm, 9.80 g, 4 h), time of Hadrian, circa 117-138. ΜΕΓΑ-ΡΕΩΝ Veiled and beared head of the philosopher Eukleides to right, wearing single pendant earring. Rev. Artemis advancing right, holding torch in each hand. BCD Peloponnesos 41. BMC 43. RPC III online 408.6 (this coin). Extremely rare and of great historical interest, with a wonderful portrait of Eukleides dressed as a woman. Minor traces of corrosion and with light deposits, otherwise, nearly very fine.



Eukleides of Megara, not to be confused with the mathematician Eukleides of Alexandria, belonged to the inner circle of Sokrates’ pupils and was later remembered as the founder of the Megarian school. His philosophy combined Sokratic concerns with Eleatic thought: for him, the Good was a single reality, appearing under various names such as wisdom, god, or reason. Megara also occupied a special place in the Sokratic tradition, since Plato and other followers of Sokrates are said to have taken refuge with Eukleides there after their master’s death.

Our provincial coin from Megara, struck in the reign of Hadrian, shows on the obverse the veiled and bearded head of Eukleides, wearing an earring; the reverse depicts Artemis holding two torches. While the long beard belongs to the familiar iconography of the philosopher, the veil and earring are striking details, pointing to a specific biographical anecdote. Aulus Gellius relates that, despite an Athenian decree threatening any Megarian who entered the city with death, Eukleides secretly made his way to Athens by night to attend Sokrates’ teaching. Gellius describes his disguise in the words 'tunica longa muliebri indutus et pallio versicolore amictus et caput rica velatus' (Noctes Atticae 7.10): dressed in a long woman’s tunic, wrapped in a coloured cloak, and with a rica, or veil, drawn over his head.

The coin translates this episode into a concise but eloquent image: Eukleides appears at once as philosopher, Megarian, and faithful pupil of Sokrates. That this type was struck under Hadrian fits well with the emperor’s philhellenism and with the broader return, among many cities of mainland Greece, to their classical past. Against the background of imperial benefaction and Hadrian’s foundation of the Panhellenion, the issue may thus be read as a local statement of Hellenic learning, memory, and civic identity.