Late 4th century BCE
Æ 16mm, 3.66 g, 9h
Head of Aeneas right, wearing Phrygian cap /
Bull butting right.
AMNG III/2, 8; HGC 3, 379
Ex G. Hirsch 296
Aineia was probably founded by Corinthian colonists in the 8th century BCE and was named for the famed Aeneas, long before Vergil’s Aeneid. Interestingly, there were a number of myths before Roman times that it was Aeneas who had betrayed Ilion and had helped the Greeks get the Trojan Horse inside. Perhaps that may indicate why he was cherished in a Thracian city.
Most likely the city received its name because it was visited by Aeneas and his crew while they criss-crossed the Mediterranean after fleeing Troy. Barbarians called Crusaeans offered them safe harbor there. There, they built a temple to Aphrodite and then those who were too tired to continue remained.
In 348 BCE, the city waags destroyed by Philip II. However, it continued to function after then, though most of the inhabitants moved to nearby Thessaloniki when it was founded by Kassander.