Circa 400-375 BCE
AR Obol 10 mm, 0.82 g
Boeotian shield
Rev. M – Y Thunderbolt; all within an oval incuse.
BCD Boeotia 178. BMC 1. HGC 4, 1231. SNG Copenhagen 190-191
Mykalessos was the site of perhaps the greatest tragedy in the Peloponnesian War. When a Thracian contingent arrived too late for Athens to make use of them, the Athenians sent them back in order to not pay them. Since the Thracians had gone out with the goal of income, they decided to stop in Boeotia on their war back.
They spent the night a few miles from Mykalessos, then in the morning attacked the city, which Thukydides described as as “not a large one.” The Mykalessians hadn’t expected any attack from anyone. Their wall was crumbling in some parts and their gates were wide open.
The Thracians rushed into the city and proceeded to slaughter everyone. Not just men but women too were murdered. Many children rushed to the school for safety, but the Thracians found them there and massacred them. Even many beasts of burden were slain. Thukydides wrote “In short, the disaster falling upon the whole town was unsurpassed in magnitude, and unapproached by any in suddenness and in horror.”
This coin was minted a number of years after that horrible episode, indicating that the city must have gained enough people and prominence to begin issuing coins again. Strabo mentioned it as still existing in his time and mentioned that the name of the city in the Boeotian dialect was “Mykalettos”.
Pausanias, too, mentioned the travesty that occurred in Mykalessos, but also stated that it still existed so some people must have escaped and subsequently repopulated it.
Supposedly Mykalessos obtained its name from a cow that was guiding Cadmus to Thebes. It was at Mykalessos that it lowed. He also stated that there was a temple to Mykalessian Demeter that was open and shut each night by Herakles. In the autumn, villagers would place fruit at the base of an image there and they would remain fresh throughout the year.
Parts of the city wall remain. In truth, this coin was minted a bit early for my collection, but the story of the massacre moved me so much that I picked up this coin when I had an opportunity to grab it at a decent price.