Apulia, Ausculum
Circa 240 BCE
Æ 17mm, 4.81g, 1h
Head of Herakles left, wearing lion skin /
Nike standing right, attaching tainia with pendant wreath to palm frond.
HN Italy 654
Asculum is the modern day city of Ascoli Satriano. Originally home of the Dauni tribe, it was first populated in the 9th-6th centuries BCE and the area was the site of the Battle of Asculum, where Pyrrhos of Epeiros defeated Rome, who Asculum aided. The Romans were again defeated in another Battle of Asculum, this one during the Second Punic War, when Hannibal won a victory against Rome.
Rome’s luck at Asculum finally changed during the Social War, when Rome besieged the city, brought it to starvation, then decapitated every male after flogging them and burned the city down. The city was later reestablished by Sulla.
Today, parts of a Roman villa are visible near the city.