Ancient Coin Stories

There’s an interesting story related to the presence of a goat on the coins of Aigai. In the Alexander Romance, which is one of the least accurate ancient sources, Alexander the Great writes his mother Olympias a letter stating that he tied torches to a herd of goats, then let them loose at night in order to scare Darius’ troops away. After the success and victory, he founded the city called Aigai.

There is little doubt that this story is false. First, the act is completely unbecoming of Alexander, who was known for facing his enemies head on. Second, there’s ample evidence that Aigai already existed as a city by then. Third, a very similar story already existed for Aegeira in the Peloponnese, as was told by Pausanias.

So, the story isn’t true. However, what is true is that Aigai strongly benefited from the Macedonian presence. Perhaps the city invented the story or perhaps someone else did and the city chose to make use of it. The word Aiga means ‘goat’ in Greek, so that’s more likely the reason for the goat on their coins.