Late 4th-Early 3rd Century BCE
AE 21.03mm 6.57g
Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus right
Reverse: The hero Phernios advancing left, looking back over his shoulder and shooting sling to right, two spears behind
BCD Thessaly 31.4
Ex BCD Collection
The Ainianes were an ancient people mentioned in Homer’s Iliad as following Gonnios. They were mentioned by many ancient writers including Apollodoros, Xenophon, Herodotus, Thukydides, Diodorus Siculus, and Theophrastos among others.
Depicted on the reverse of this coin is the ancient king Phemios. According to Plutarch, the Ainianians were evicted from Thessaly by the Lapiths and they wandered until reaching their current land. There, King Phemios killed Hyparochos, King of the Inachian inhabitants, by hitting him with a rock when he wasn’t looking.
The novel “The Golden Ass” by Apuleius mostly takes place in this area.