Nomos 38

CILICIA. Tarsos. Circa 440-410 BC. Stater (Silver, 21 mm, 10.90 g, 11 h). Satrap, wearing Persian costume, riding a horse prancing to right, holding the reins with his left hand and a sword, held downwards by the horse's right flank, with his right. Rev. 𐡆𐡓𐡕 = Ṭrz = (Tarsos in Aramaic) Hoplite, nude but for his Corinthian helmet, kneeling to left, holding a couchant spear with his right hand and defending himself with a round shield that covers his left knee and upper body and is decorated with an aegis . Casabonne type F10. Müseler, Tarsos, Group 5, l. SNG Levante 61. SNG Paris 230. Lightly toned and unusually nice. Reverse struck from slightly worn dies, otherwise, good very fine.

The types found on Greek coins are often related to each other, as with Athena and her owl, but they only rarely depict an action that continues from one side to the other. Here we have a Persian horseman, his sword held downwards by his right leg (oddly enough not raised in attack), starting to charge to the right, seemingly against a Greek hoplite who is kneeling left to meet the attack. Could this be taken from a contemporary painting or a sculptural group?