SICILY, Syracuse. Second Democracy. 466-405 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27.5mm, 17.00 g, 10h). Struck circa 466-460 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron in right hand, reins in both, driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses with open wreath held in both hands; in exergue, ketos right / Head of Arethousa right, wearing pearl tainia, single-pendant earring, and necklace; ΣVR-A-KO-ΣIOИ and four dolphins around. Boehringer Series XIIIa, 410 (V212/R289); HGC 2, 1309; SNG ANS 408; SNG Fitzwilliam 1208 (same rev. die); SNG Lloyd 1308 (same obv. die); BMC 71 (same rev. die); Boston MFA 359 = Warren 341 (same obv. die). Light iridescent tone, a few faint scratches, some horn silver at edge on reverse, area of porosity on edge. Near EF. Struck on a broad flan.
The tyranny of the Deinomenids, under whom Syracuse had become a great power in the Greek world, was overthrown in about 466 BC and replaced by a new oligarchic constitution traditionally called the Second Democracy. This tetradrachm is from the rare first issue of this new government. While superficially similar to the Deinomenid issues of the 470s BC, it bears an innovation: the serpentine figure of a Ketos, or sea-serpent, in the obverse exergue. Perhaps the emblem of the ruling oligarchy, the Ketos would feature on Syracusan tetradrachms for roughly the next 30 years.
