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Obverse: Head of young Herakles, clad in lion-skin.
Reverse: Head and neck of horse, palm tree behind; (Punic legend = '
the people of the Camp') beneath the horse's head.
The
reference used for this coin is Principal Coins, Volume IV, C. 19.
The great maritime trading city of Carthage was founded by Phoenician
colonists in the 8th Century B.C. and was the great historical opponent
both of the western Greeks and Rome. It was a Semitic (an important
family of languages related to the Hamitic, including Akkadian, Hebrew,
Aramaic, Arabic and Amharic) city. Through its favorable geographical
position and the excellence of its harbor it gradually achieved economic
and political importance and became independent of its mother city.
From the 6th to the 3rd Century B.C. the Carthaginians dominated trade
in the western Mediterranean area and established outposts in southern
Spain, Sardinia and Sicily. Carthage struggled with Rome for more than
a century, which finally resulted in 146 B.C. in the total destruction
of Carthage. Although carried on after his death, the obverse of
Herakles reflects the type used by the Macedonian king. The reverse
bears the traditional horse, which is tied to the foundation legend of
Carthage as mentioned by Virgil. |
