Item: i8855
 
Certified Authentic Ancient Coin of:

GREEK Thessalian League City of Larissa - Bronze 16mm (5.5 grams) Struck 196-146 B.C.
Reference: Sear 2235; B.M.C. 7.47,48 -
Laureate head of Apollo right.
ΘΕΣΣΑ / ΛΩΝ above and below horse trotting right.

Following the great victory of the Roman general Flamininus over Philip V of Macedon, in 197 B.C., the freedom of the Greeks was proclaimed at Corinth and a number of new autonomous coinages were initiated. Those in the name of the Thessali were struck probably at Larissa. The Thessalian League was a loose confederacy of feudal-like city-states and tribes in the Thessalian valley in Northern Greece and was run by a few aristocratic Thessalian families (Aleuadae and Skopadae).

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Larissa, sometimes written Larisa on ancient coins and inscriptions, is near the site of the Homeric Argissa. It appears in early times, when Thessaly was mainly governed by a few aristocratic families, as an important city under the rule of the Aleuadae, whose authority extended over the whole district of Pelasgiotis. This powerful family possessed for many generations before 369 BC the privilege of furnishing the tagus, the local term for the strategos of the combined Thessalian forces. The principal rivals of the Aleuadae were the Scopadac of Crannon, the remains of which (called by the Turks Old Larissa) are about 14 miles south west. The inhabitants sided with Athens during the Peloponnesian War.

As the chief city of ancient Thessaly, Larissa was directly annexed by Philip II of Macedon in 344, and from then on Larissa was under Macedonian control; in 196 B.C. Larissa became an ally of Rome and was the headquarters of the Thessalian League.

Thessaly was home to an extensive Neolithic culture around 2500 BC. Mycenaean settlements have also been discovered, for example at the sites of Iolcos, Dimini and Sesklo (near Volos). Later, in ancient Greek times, the lowlands of Thessaly became the home of baronial families, such as the Aleuadae of Larissa or the Scopads of Crannon. These baronial families organized a federation across the Thessaly region, later went on to control the Amphictyonic League in northern Greece. The Thessalians were renowned for their cavalry.

In the summer of 480 BC , the Persians invaded Thessaly. The Greek army that guarded the Vale of Tempe , evacuated the road before the enemy arrived. Not much later, Thessaly surrendered. The Thessalian family of Aleuadae joined the Persians. In the Peloponnesian War the Thessalians tended to side with Athens and usually prevented Spartan troops from crossing through their territory with the exception of the army of Brasidas. Jason of Pherae briefly transformed the country into a significant military power, though he was assassinated before any lasting achievements were made. In the 4th century BC Thessaly became dependent on Macedon and many served as vassals. In 148 BC the Romans formally incorporated Thessaly into the province of Macedonia, though in 300 AD Thessaly was made a separate province with its capital at Larissa.

It was part of the Byzantine Empire and suffered many invasions. In 977 it was occupied by the Bulgarians, who remained there until 1014. In 1204 he was assigned to Boniface of Montferrat and in 1225 to Theodore Komnenos Doukas, despot of Epirus. From 1271 to 1318 he was an independent despotate that extended to Acarnania and Aetolia, run by John III Angelos Komneno. In 1309 settled there the Almogavars or Catalan Company of the East (Societas Catalanorum Magna), which in 1310, after lifting the siege of Thessalonica, withdrew as mercenaries in the pay of the sebastocrátor John II, and took over the country organized in a democracy. From there went to the Duchy of Athens called by the duke Walter I. In 1318, with the extinction of the dynasty of Angelos, the Almogavars occupied Siderocastron and southern Thessaly (1319) and formed the duchy of Neopatria.

Later it was occupied by the Serbs until 1393, after being dominated by the Ottomans. In 1821 participated in the Greek War of Independence, but was not recognized as part of Greece until 1881.


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