didrachm of The Campani (Kampanoi), c. 415-405 BC

Rutter 2d (this coin)    7.45 g     Antikenmuseum Basel + Sammlung Ludwig 28
                                    Numismatica Ars Classica AG Auction 13 1998 no. 28
                                    Estimate 800 CHF, realized 900 CHF 

type Rutter 1-2



Didrachm, circa 415-400, AR 7.45 g. 
Female head r., hair bound wirh ribbon.
Rev. KPPANOS above man-headed bull walking slowly r. over double exergual line; below serpent r.
Sambon 771. de Luynes 162 (these dies). Rutter 2d (this coin). Rutter KO 90 (Cuma) this obv. die). Jameson 34 (this coin).
Extremely rare. About very fine


Around the mid fifth century BC, Etruscan rule in Campania was challenged by the first attack of Samnite tribes, who swarmed
down from the mountaains and advanced over the Campanian plain, at that time occupied by the Aurunci. This resulted in a
considerable mixing of population ("denizens of the plain" or Campani, as opposed to the "denizens of the mountains" - the Samnites.
According to Diodorus Siculus (Sicilian Greek historian who lived from 90 to 21 BC) this was under the rule of Theodorus (438 or 445 BC),
Titus Livius (421 BC), and under the consulship of C. Sempronius Atratinus and Q. Fabius Vibolanus.
Exact details of the details are unknown, but it seems that Capua was the first to fall, followed by Cumae in 421 BC and perhaps
Dicaerchia (= Pozzuoli).
Strabo (V 4, 4, C 243) wrote around 18 AD "later, when the Campani became established as masters of the city (Cumae), they committed numerous
outrages against the population in general, and, what is more, cohabited with the wives of the citizens". This didrachm, struck during the years 415-400, bears a female head (nymph), head to right on the obverse, hair bound with a ribbon, and a bearded man-headed bull 
advancing r., with a snake between his legs.

[text mostly from the catalogue Numismatica Ars Classica AG Auction 13 1998 no. 28]