Bithynia, Herakleia Pontike
Timotheos & Dionysios (Tyrants, 346/5-337 BCE)
AR Stater 9.47g 20mm
Obv: Wreathed head of Dionysos left; thyrsos over shoulder
Rev: ΔΙΟΝΥΣΙΟΥ / ΤΙΜΟΘΕΟΥ. Herakles standing left, erecting trophy; head of ram left between legs.
RG 33; SNG BM Black Sea 1605-8; HGC 7, 496
Timotheos was a co-tyrant with Dionysios in Herakleia Pontika from the death of his father, Klearchos. Initially, he was under the guardianship of his uncle, Satyros, but then took the rule. When he died in 338 BCE, Dionysios became the sole ruler. He is described in Photius’ summary of Memnon of Herakleia’s History of Herakleia.
Timotheus took over the government and reformed it to a milder and more democratic regime, so that his subjects no longer called him a tyrant, but a benefactor and saviour. He paid off their debts to the moneylenders from his own resources, and gave interest-free loans to the needy for their trade and for the rest of their living expenses. He released innocent men, and even the guilty, from the prisons. He was a strict but humane judge, and in other respects he had a good and trustworthy nature. So he cared for his brother Dionysius like a father in every way, making him joint ruler at the start, and then appointing him to be his successor.