BITHYNIA. Nicaea. Caracalla, 198-217. Tetrassarion (Bronze, 30 mm, 16.33 g, 12 h), circa 214-215. ANTΩNINOC AYΓOYCTOC Laureate and cuirassed bust of Caracalla to right, seen from behind. Rev. NIKAIЄΩN Herakles advancing left, head to right, holding club in his raised right hand and dragging Kerberos behind him with his left; lion's skin draped over his right arm. RG 448 corr. RPC V.2 online ID 78258 (this coin illustrated). SNG Copenhagen -. SNG von Aulock -. Very rare. Slightly smoothed, otherwise, very fine.




In the final and most daunting of his twelve labors, Herakles was tasked with bringing the three-headed hound Kerberos up from the Underworld. His master, Eurystheus, had given him this challenge hoping it would finally prove impossible. Herakles descended into the realm of Hades, where he encountered the god of the dead himself. Hades agreed to let him take Kerberos, but only on the condition that Herakles subdue the beast without the use of weapons. Relying solely on his strength, Herakles grappled with the monstrous creature, which not only had three heads but also a serpent's tail and snakes writhing along its back. He eventually overcame Kerberos and led him up to the surface world.

When Herakles presented the beast to Eurystheus, the king was so terrified that he hid inside a large jar. After fulfilling the task, Herakles returned Kerberos unharmed to the Underworld. The episode came to symbolize triumph over death and the hero’s power to cross and return from the boundary between life and the afterlife. On our coin, the hero is shown heroically nude, with only his lion skin draped over his right arm. He wields his club in his right hand while pulling the captured hound of the Underworld behind him with his left.