Tarentum: Sparta's Great Colony in Southern Italy

Ancient Tarentum, modern Taranto in southern Italy, was traditionally founded around the late eighth century BC by Spartan colonists led by Phalanthos. Alongside that historical foundation tradition stood the city's mythological story centered on Taras, the son of Poseidon.

Its excellent harbor and fertile hinterland helped Tarentum become one of the wealthiest and most influential Greek cities of southern Italy.

Why Is It Called a Stater or Nomos?

The principal silver coin of Tarentum is commonly called a stater by collectors and a nomos in much numismatic literature. Weight standards changed over the long life of the series, so collectors should not assume every Tarentine stater was intended to weigh the same. Many later Classical and Hellenistic issues are encountered around the high-7-gram range, while earlier issues can follow different standards.

From the Kinzer Coins Collection

Selge Ancient Greek Silver Stater — Wrestlers & Slinger

A Greek silver stater from the same broad Hellenistic world, with civic imagery celebrating strength and identity.

$2,000.00 View This Coin

What Does the Tarentum Stater Show?

The Horseman

One side commonly shows a mounted horseman. Depending on the issue, the rider may gallop, crown the horse, hold a spear or shield, dismount, or perform an equestrian exercise. Magistrates' names, monograms, letters, and control symbols distinguish individual emissions.

Taras Riding a Dolphin

The other side usually shows a youthful figure riding a dolphin, conventionally identified on later issues as Taras. He may hold a trident, kantharos, distaff, Nike, cornucopia, shield, helmet, or other attributes. Many coins bear ΤΑΡΑΣ or related civic inscriptions.

Taras, Phalanthos, and the Dolphin

Taras was the city's legendary eponymous hero and son of Poseidon. Ancient traditions also connected a dolphin rescue with Phalanthos, the Spartan founder of the colony. Because the literary traditions are not completely consistent, scholars have long discussed the precise identity of the dolphin rider on some early issues. On much of the later coinage, Taras remains the conventional identification.

Why the Horseman Matters

Tarentum became famous for its equestrian culture and mounted troops. The term “Tarentine cavalry” later became associated with highly mobile light cavalry in the Hellenistic world. The coin type may evoke civic cavalry, aristocratic horsemanship, military training, athletic competition, or equestrian victory; the precise identity of individual riders is often uncertain.

Why Are Tarentum Staters So Varied?

Across centuries of production, magistrates, engravers, symbols, legends, poses, and artistic styles changed repeatedly. The horseman and dolphin rider remained the recognizable civic core, but the details were constantly renewed.

That combination of continuity and variation makes Tarentum especially rewarding for specialists. Collectors can pursue the series by magistrate, control symbol, horseman pose, object held by Taras, style, reference number, historical period, or die combination.

Tarentum and Pyrrhus

By the early third century BC, Tarentum faced increasing pressure from Rome. The city invited Pyrrhus of Epirus to intervene in 281 BC. He arrived in Italy the following year and defeated Roman armies at Heraclea and Asculum, but at heavy cost. Those campaigns gave rise to the modern expression “Pyrrhic victory.”

Rome captured Tarentum in 272 BC. The city continued under Roman power, but its political independence and monetary history changed substantially.

From the Kinzer Coins Collection

Brundisium Bronze Sextans — Civic Coinage of Roman Italy, c. 215 BC

Struck in southeastern Italy after Rome's expansion into Magna Graecia, this bronze offers a later chapter in the region's monetary history.

$395.00 View This Coin

Collecting Tarentum Staters

Because the dies were engraved individually, style can matter as much as technical grade. A beautifully engraved example may command a substantial premium, while centering determines how much of the horse, dolphin, inscriptions, and symbols survive on the flan.

How Rare Are Tarentum Staters?

As a broad type, Tarentine silver is collectible and appears regularly in the market. Rarity varies greatly by period, magistrate, control symbol, pose, and die. Market desirability also depends heavily on style, centering, relief, surfaces, toning, and provenance.

Why the Tarentum Stater Matters

The coin unites land and sea: the horseman reflects Tarentum's equestrian culture, while the dolphin rider evokes its maritime identity and foundation mythology. It also preserves the culture of Magna Graecia at the moment Greek southern Italy was moving into Rome's expanding political orbit.

Spartan in origin, Italian in geography, Greek in culture: Tarentum captured its identity in a horseman and a dolphin rider.

History wasn't just written. It was minted.

Frequently Asked Questions