Sicily, Assoros
Late 1st century BCE
AE Hemilitron 8.50g, 21mm
Obv: ASSORV, laureate head of Apollo right.
Rev: River-god Chrysas standing to left, holding kantharos and cornucopiae; CRYCAS before.
Campana 1; CNS 1; SNG Copenhagen 150; RPC I 665
I was once only forty minutes from the modern-day city of Assoros, Sicily, but didn’t know at the time it had been an ancient city. I would have loved to explore it for signs of the ancient past, but I did at least greatly enjoy Sperlinga, which was as close as I got.
Assoros, unlike many of the other ancient cities of Sicily, was never a Greek colony. It was inland and remained populated by the Siculi, one of the native tribes of the island. In 396 BCE, the city remained loyal to Dionysos over Carthage, which turned to their great advantage.
Below the town was the river Chrysas, whose river-god was worshipped by the inhabitants. Interestingly, this coin must have been minted relatively late, because its ethnic is in Latin. Coins from Assoros are relatively rare.