Ambrakia, c. 278-275 BCE
Æ 26mm, 8.09g, 9h
Laureate head of Zeus r.
R/ Thunderbolt within oak wreath.
SNG Copenhagen 100; HGC 3, 267
This coin was minted under Pyrrhos, who made Ambrakia his home and capital when it was gifted to him by one of Kassander’s sons. For some time before that it had been controlled by Macedonia, who obtained it in 338 BCE when Philip II put it under siege. Although helped by its allies Corinth and Athens, Ambrakia was still forced to submit to Macedonian control, although the city itself escaped destruction.
Ambrakia’s sister colony was Korkya, with whom it constantly quarreled. While Ambrakia often took the side of Corinth, Korkyra always opposed it. Therefore, they were typically on opposite sides of the battlefield.
The city itself was founded between 650 and 625 BCE by settlers from Corinth. Not long after, it switched to a democracy. Some of the city’s ruins are still visible.