Silver tetradrachm, minted in Amphipolis in 357-356 BC, when the city officially passed into the Macedonian kingdom.
The obverse depicts the head of the god Apollo with a laurel wreath facing forward. The frontal depiction of human figures – gods and nymphs – is an artistic innovation, which is due to the engraver Kimon in Syracuse and quickly spread to mainland Greece and Asia Minor, leading to the creation of unique works of art in various cities, such as Amphipolis, Larissa, Rhodes, and Clazomene.
The reverse depicts a torch within a square banded frame on which the inscription of the issuing authority is stated: ΑΜΦ-ΙΠO-ΛΙΤΙΤ-ΩN. In the lower left field there is a vat, as a symbol. The torch is related to the torch relays held in honor of Artemis Tauropolus by the Amphipolis people.
The representation is projected within a hollow square, a characteristic feature of ancient coins found up to the 4th century BC. It is a survival of the original form that the reverse sides of the coins had, an amorphous hollow, usually square in shape. The tetradrachm belongs to a numismatic “hoard” that came to light in 1965, on the outskirts of Thessaloniki and its hiding is dated to 349/8 BC. or 336 BC. It included 17 tetradrachms of Philip II, 3 tetradrachms of Amphipolis, 3 tetradrachms of Acanthus, 2 drachms of Larissa, 2 Boeotian staters and 2 staters of Sikyon.
Amphipolis
The city was founded by the Athenians in 437 BC, in a privileged and naturally fortified position, between Mount Pangaeus, rich in precious metals and timber, and the Strymon, the great navigable river, which washed it from two sides. The commercial and naval importance of its location, as a port in the northern Aegean, predetermined its history. The Athenians lost control of the colony in 422 BC, after the confrontation between the Athenian and Spartan forces in the region, during the Peloponnesian War.
Amphipolis was incorporated into the Macedonian kingdom by Philip II in 357 BC, and became the seat of a royal mint. From there, Alexander the Great’s fleet began its victorious campaign in Asia. Its strategic importance, in addition to its commercial and cultural influence, was also evident in the Hellenistic period, when it was the base for the campaigns of the last Macedonian kings in Thrace.
After 168 BC, the city became the capital of one of the four administrative regions into which the Romans divided Macedonia. In the 1st century BC. It suffered great destruction from the invasion of Thracian tribes. However, it remained prosperous until the end of the Roman Empire due to its location on the Via Egnatia.