AR stater 368-364 BCE
12.062g 21.2mm
Kabi magistrate
BCD Boiotia 539, BMC Central p.83, 150; SNG Cop 339; Hepworth 61
Thebes, of course, was a major player in the Greek world. While our schools simplify ancient Greece as “Athens vs Sparta” the reality was more complex. Thebes was easily an equal at times to those powers, and fought against both.
Thebes was also a bulwark againts the rise of Philip II, and joined together with Athens in one final battle to prevent his hegemony in Greece. They were soundly defeated in the Battle of Chaeronea. Not long afterward, however, the received the great news that Philip II had been assassinated.
Feeling that Alexander III was a young kid who couldn’t handle a rebellion, Thebes did just that, while Athens supported them in words and not actions, since they were anxious what would happen. Thebes had made a huge mistake.
Although Alexander gave them multiple attempts to submit and avoid war, they only insulted the Macedonians. It was time for an example. Alexander obliterated the city, killed the men, and sold the women and children into slavery. Thebes, one of the great powers in Greece for hundreds of years, ceased to exist. The other cities, Athens included, got the message and capitulated.
The city remained in ruins until after Alexander‘s death, when it was rebuilt by Kassander. This coin was minted shortly after the Battle of Mantinea, in which Thebes stunned the world by defeating a Spartan army in the field. This earned Thebes the top spot among Greek cities, but it didn’t last long.
I’d like to think that this coin was minted at a time when Thebes was king, then was cached away while Alexander‘s armies approached. The city was destroyed and its owner never returned. Over 2000 years later, it was dug up, sold, and eventually reached my home.