Akragas, Sicily AE27, Hemilitron 400-380 BCE 

• -390 
• KM#  
• Akragas 

  + 1

  Greece (ancient)
• AE 27 

6966377

Coins

Akragas, Sicily AE27, Hemilitron 400-380 BCE

Akragas, Greece (ancient)

-390

Crabs, Eagles

17

27

AKRAGAS

• • • • • •

KM#

SNG ANS 1097ff; Calciati I pg. 194, 89; SNG Copenhagen 93; SNG Morcom 534; Laffaille 126; Virzi 636ff

Obv; diademed and horned head of the river-god Akragas left Rev; Eagle standing left, with head reverted, on Ionic capital; with crab left, and six small pellets above. Agrigento is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas, also known as Agrigentum or Acragas (Latin) and Kirkent or Jirjent (Arabic). it was founded around 582-580 BCE on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas, likely by Greek colonists from Gela (also a river-god), who named it Akragas. It was one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden age of Ancient Greece, with population estimates ranging of 200K-800K before 406 BCE. The city was disputed between the Romans and the Carthaginians during the First Punic War. The Romans laid siege to the city in 262 BC and captured it after defeating a Carthaginian relief force in 261 BC and sold the population into slavery. Although the Carthaginians recaptured the city in 255 BC the final peace settlement gave Punic Sicily and with it Akragas to Rome. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it. The Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 BC and renamed it Agrigentum, although it remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule and its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE.