4th-3rd Century BCE
AE 15.91mm 3.73g
Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena right
Reverse: TEΓE, owl standing left, head facing, palm branch before
BCD Peloponnesos 1727
Ex BCD Collection Purchased April 1979
Per legend, Tegea was founded by Tegeates, who was a son of Lykaon, a king of Arkadia who infamously cooked one of his sons in an attempt to trick Zeus. Needless to say, that backfired on him majorly.
During ancient times, Tegea was an extremely powerful city in Arkadia that was mentioned in Homer and which gave serious opposition to Sparta. Its king Echemos killed Hyllos, who was a son of Herakles, in combat.
For two hundred years the Spartans waged war against the Tegeans without success. In one case their king was even taken prisoner. However, when the Spartans obtained the bones of Orestes, they finally defeated Tegea in 560 BCE and became masters of Arkadia.
For the most part, Tegea remained on the side of the Spartans after that, though there were a few revolts against them. They were firmly on Sparta’s side during the Peloponnesian War, but joined Epaminondas and Thebes in their attack and defeat of Sparta.
Although the legend on my coin is mostly illegible, I really like it. The owl looks cute in my opinion and something about this coin is striking. It’s easily one of my favorite bronzes and the type is relatively rare.