‘Archers’ of the Blessed City: City’s Deliverance in the Coinage of Early Hellenistic Olbia
‘Archers’ of the Blessed City: City’s Deliverance in the Coinage of Early Hellenistic Olbia

Summary/Abstract: Despite continuous and thorough studies of Olbian coinage, the chronology of some coin series produced by this Pontic city and the messages communicated by their types remain obscure. One such controversial issue, standing out from the total mass, is the so-called ‘archers’, the early Hellenistic coins bearing the image of Demeter in mural crown on the obverse and an archer on the reverse. Taking an integrated approach, this article examines archaeological, iconographical, stylistic and prosopographical evidence elucidating the chronology of this issue and demonstrates its association with the major turning point in the city’s history, namely its deliverance from the siege laid by Macedonian troops in the course of Zopyrion’s campaign against the Scythians around 331 BC.

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