Nomos 21

CILICIA. Tarsos. Circa 410-385 BC. Stater (Silver, 21.5 mm, 10.65 g, 3 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. TRW (= Tarsus in Aramaic) Hoplite, nude but for his Corinthian helmet, kneeling to left, holding couchant spear with his right hand and defending himself with a round shield, held with his left, that is decorated with an aegis and covers his left knee and upper body. Casabonne type F10. SNG Levante 61. SNG Paris 226. An attractive coin with types that show a scene extending over both sides of the coin. Struck from slightly worn dies, otherwise, good very fine.

The types found on Greek coins are often related to each other, as 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?