Thasos

Topography and History

Thasos, the westernmost of the Thracian islands, lies close to the mainland, opposite the Nestos Delta and the ancient site of Neapolis, a Thasian foundation. The nearly circular island contains mountain massifs rising in places to over 1,000 metres.

The name of the island is most commonly traced back to a mythical figure named Thasos. According to one tradition, he was a son of the Phoenician king Agenor, who landed on the island while searching for his sister Europa and settled there. According to another tradition, Heracles gave the island to the Parian king Androgener, who bequeathed it to his sons, with Thasos being the first Parian settler of the island. These myths reflect the demographic situation on the island, where Phoenicians and Thracians were already living when Parian settlers arrived in the 7th century BC.

The Thasian Peraia, whose main purposes — alongside agriculture and trade — included the exploitation of mineral resources in the southern Rhodopes, extended between the Strymon and Nestos rivers. Mining of precious metals, silver, and especially gold also took place in the eastern part of the island itself. By the end of the 6th century BC, Thasos and its Peraia could count on an annual yield of precious metals of around 200 talents (approximately 7,200 kg of silver). Wine was also cultivated on the island, contributing further to its wealth.

The history of Thasos and its Peraia is eventful and shaped by external ambitions regarding the precious metal deposits found in the region. Only the dates most relevant to coinage are briefly summarised here.

From 463 to 447/6 BC, the Athenians controlled the Peraia following Thasos's withdrawal from the First Attic League. In 411 BC the Spartans took the Peraia, and in 410 BC they seized the island of Thasos itself. The Athenian Thrasybulus defeated the Thasian fleet in 408/7 BC. The Spartan Lysander conquered the island in 404 BC. Neapolis, the main settlement of the Peraia, continued to side with Athens. It was not until 390 BC, after Thasos had once again been conquered by Thrasybulus and had joined the Second Attic League, that a peace treaty between Neapolis and Thasos was concluded under the mediation of Paros.

The Peraia was ultimately occupied by Philip II in 340/39 BC, who also took control of the island. Thasos retained its mainland possessions throughout the periods of Macedonian and Roman rule.

When Philip II annexed the island in 340/339 BC, this resulted in the loss of the Thasian Peraia. No direct dependence on Macedonia arose, however. Maritime trade flourished, above all the export of marble and wine. The island's particular economic strength continued to lie in its large ore reserves and in metal — especially precious metal — extraction. Many Thasian inhabitants emigrated nonetheless, presumably descendants of the former Parian colonists. The island's population was estimated at between 60,000 and 80,000.

In the second half of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC, Thasos navigated skillfully between the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Mediterranean. Thasos came through the Wars of the Diadochi uninvolved and unscathed. For the late 3rd century BC, archaeology paints a picture of a flourishing community with very vigorous construction activity and continuing strong exports. Despite a decline in silver coinage on Thasos, there were no signs of economic weakness.

From 287 to 281 BC, Thasos was part of the kingdom of Lysimachus. In 202 BC, Philip V seized the island in a surprise attack and controlled it for six years. After his defeat by the Romans at Cynoscephalae in 197 BC, Macedonia lost its possessions in Asia Minor and Greece. At the Isthmian Games of 196 BC, the Roman general Titus Quinctius Flamininus proclaimed the "freedom" of the Greeks, and Thasos became independent once more.

From 146 BC, Thasos was part of the new Roman province of Macedonia and was regarded as an ally of Rome. In the early Imperial period, Thasos again enjoyed privileges: according to an inscription dated to the mid-40s AD, Vettius Marcellus, the imperial procurator of the province of Thracia — newly established in 46 AD — exempted the Thasians from providing soldiers for the Thracian army. The island itself served as a naval base during the Roman period.

State of Research

Archaeological excavations have been carried out on Thasos since 1911 until today by the École française d’Athènes. During excavations on the island itself, more than 10,000 coins of all local series were unearthed. The island's coinage was intensively worked on by Olivier Picard, who wrote numerous essays on the entire minting period. The Hellenistic Thasian tetradrachms and their imitations were presented in a monograph by Ilya Prokopov.

The Coinage of the Roman Imperial Period

The Thasian coinage output of the Roman imperial period is extremely small. Bronze coinage was produced on Thasos during the reigns of Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus (Iulia Domna) and of Caracalla and Geta. All of these coins show the exclusive reverse motif of the standing Heracles with lion skin and club, as already depicted on the Hellenistic tetradrachms.

Special Features of the Coinage

Our type catalog represents the state of research as of August 2023 and does not take into account coin types that only became known later. Further information, especially regarding new types, is always welcome.