Dear friends of Ancient Mythology! Here I want to tell about Histiaia and her family and hope that ou can read some new. 1st Coin: Euboia, Histiaia, 196-146 BC. AR - Tetrobol, .3g, 13.37mm, 315°. Av: Bust of Histiaia, draped, wearing necklace and earring, hair rolled up in sphendone, wreathed with vine leaves and grapes. Rv.: [IΣTI] - AIEΩN Nymph Histiaia, in long dress, seated r. on stern of ship, ornamented with wings, leaning backwards with her right hand and holding stylis in left hand. below ME(?) and trident Ref.: BMC 128, 30ff; BCD Euboia 382; SNG 517var. VF, old dark toning, Rrev. a bit off-centre. 2nd Coin: Euboia, Histiaia, 196-146 BC. AR - Tetrobol, 1.32g, 13.91mm, 315° Ref.: BMC 128, 30ff; SNG 517var. Small, irregular flan Notes: The stylis is a freestanding hasta with transverse bar on the stern of ancient ships. It can be traced back to 340 on coins of Histiaia and others. Its origin is Phoenician and marked as a sacred standard it takes the place of statues of gods at the stern (Pauly). For this reason, it cannot be a prora. Earlier publications, even Mionnet and the great Eckhel, erroneously had Histiaia sitting on the front of the ship and mistook the aphlaston for a swelling sail. Problem of dating: This type has been struck in different periods The first coinage is thought to have begun around 340 BC to commemorate the expulsion of the Promakedonian tyrant Philistides. A second issue probably existed between 313 BC to 265 BC, thus beginning at the time when Euboia had declared itself independent. The last period was from 196 to 146 BC, beginning shortly before the Roman victory over Perseus in 168 BC. There are also a large number of Macedonian imitations from this period. These are of coarse style and easily recognisable and go under the name of Histiaika or Argyria Histiaika (Head, HN). In Pat Lawrence's opinion, my first coin does not date from the 4th century because of its style. Rather, it bears resemblance to the "Invitation to the Dance" group from the later Hellenistic period, the so-called "Hellenistic Rococo". The second coin is probably one of the Macedonian imitations. Mythology: Histiaia was the daughter of Hyrieos. The city of Histiaia in northern Euboia is said to have been named after her (Eustath. ad Hom.). Hyrieos was a son of Poseidon and Alkyone and king of Hyria in Boiotia. He was married to the nymph Klonia, by whom he had the sons Nykteos, Lykos and Orion (Apollodor; Hygin. Fab.). There is a story of the treasure-house of Hyrieos told by Pausanias: Agamedes and Trophonios, the sons of Erginos, king of Orchomenos, were architects and were considered specialists in the construction of temples and palaces. When King Hyrieos commissioned them to build a treasure house, they added a stone to the walls which they could remove without anyone noticing. Through this opening they kept crawling and stealing Hyrieos' treasures. The king saw his treasure getting smaller and smaller, even though the door locks were not broken. So he set traps to catch the thief. Agamedes got caught in these traps and, to prevent discovery, Trophonios cut off his brother's head. But he himself was swallowed up by the earth at the same moment. Close to Histiaia was the village of Oreos, which was united with Histiaia to form one polis (Synoikismos) in 445 BC. Oreos, however, is said to have received its name from Orion, who was brought up here (Strabo). This is why August Baumeister, for example, suspects that Hyrieos, the father of Histiaia, was Orion himself. But Histiaia and Orion, the representatives of the two sister cities, may also have been siblings, both children of Hyrieos. Orion, the brother of Histaia, is the well-known giant hunter of Greek mythology from Boiotia, who was transferred to the sky as a constellation after his death. There is an account of his conception in Palaiphatos, which I will quote here: his name comes from Greek ουρησις, from piss, and he was initially called Ourion because he was created through urine. But since this name was a bit too indecent, they made an O out of the Ou and called him Orion. And that's how it all happened: Once Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes were visiting King Hyrieos. In gratitude for his hospitality, they allowed him to make a request. Thereupon the childless Hyrieos wished for a son. The gods took the skin of the ox sacrificed to them, let all their urine into it, ordered him to bury it in the earth and only take it out after 10 months. This he did and found Orion in it. Roscher writes: "An ugly fairy tale has arisen about its creation through etymological wit. History: Histiaia is situated on the northern coast of Euboia, the second largest island of Greece, and was founded as an Attic colony. It is already mentioned in Homer's Iliad and described as πολυσταφυλος = rich in wine. Thus the vine leaves on the head of Histaia are easily explained. The ancient and modern name Εὔβοια is derived from Greek εὖ 'good' and βοῦς 'cattle' and means 'land of well-fed cattle'. After the departure of the Attic colonists it united with the neighbouring town of Oreos, as it was afterwards generally called by writers. They were given a common wall, 2 acropolises and a common port. The territory of Histiaia encompassed the entire north, a quarter of the whole island. In the Xerxes campaign it was occupied by the Persians. It then joined the 1st Attic Naval League. In 446 BC there was an uprising over tribute payments, which was put down by the Athenians. The inhabitants were expelled and Attic colonists settled there. In 404 the inhabitants were allowed to return. In the Corinthian War it stood with the whole of Euboia against Sparta and came under Spartan occupation until its liberation in 377. Thereafter it was a member of the 2nd Attic Naval League, interrupted only in 343-341 by the tyranny of Philistides, who was supported by Philip. In Hellenistic times it was mostly under Macedonian rule until the conquest by the Romans and Attalus of Pergamon. In 197 BC it was declared free. Its widespread coin finds testify to its great trading importance in Hellenistic times. Pliny already mentions it as an abandoned place in the 1st century AD. Today there are only a few archaeological remains, some walls and temple foundations (Pauly). Modern Oreoi lies slightly to the west of ancient Oreos. The modern Oreoi (Geotag Aeroview, Wikipedia) Sources: (1) Homer, Iliad (2) Eustath. ad Homer (3) Palaiphatos, Incredible Stories (4) Strabon, Geography (5) Apollodorus, Library (6) Hyginus, Fabulae Literature: (1) Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie. (2) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon, Leipzig 1770 (facsimile) (3) August Baumeister, Topographical Sketch of the Island of Euboia, 1864 (Reprint) (3) The Kleiner Pauly (4) Barclay V. Head, Historia Numorum (Ed Snible online) Best regards Jochen
Thanks for the nice write-up! I definitely learned something about a popular coin type that many of us on this board have in their collections. Here is my example: Euboia, Histiaia, AR tetrobol, ca. 196–146 BC. Obv: head of Maenad wearing wreath of grapes r.; Rev: [IΣTI]-AIEΩN; nymph Histiaia seated right on stern decorated with wing, holding stylis; below, labrys and unclear monogram. 16mm, 2.34g. Ref: BMC 59–64.
Stunning coins and thanks so much for enlightening me on Histiaia I've a couple of her coins and have been thinking of trying to start at collection with the different symbols on the bottom left of her ship: EUBOIA. Histiaia. 3rd-2nd centuries BC. Tetrobol (Silver, 15 mm, 2.06 g, 9 h). Vine-wreathed head of nymph Histiaia to right, wearing pendant earring and necklace. Rev. IΣTIAIE-ΩN Nymph seated to right on stern of galley, holding stylis in her left hand and resting her right on the deck; on the side of the stern, wing; below to left, monogram, labrys. ANS 1944.100.24022. BCD Euboia -. Lovely style; well-struck and rather uncommon. Minor die break on reverse, otherwise, very fine. From the Vineyard Collection, ex Hirsch, March 2002 ,219 (part of lot). Ex: Nomos Obols Histiaia , Euboia. c. 168-146 BC AR Tetrobol 1,94gr, c. 168-146 BC. Head of nymph Histiaia / Histiaia seated on galley decorated with wing holding mast. SNG.Cop.518. Double struck on obv. VF. Purchased from Art & Coins #2 Jan 2022
...i have one...a bit worn on the obverse...i bought it because i saw a gal holding an umbrellla on a boat reverse...THEN learned about Histiaia.. tetrabol 13mm, 1.34grams
