Thessalian League. Nero, AD 54–68. AE Tetrassarion

Thessalian League. Nero, AD 54–68. AE Tetrassarion (32 mm, 19.41 g). Laouchos, strategos, AD 66–68. Obv. ΝΕΡΩΝ ΚΑΙ–Σ[ΑΡ Θ]ΕΣΣΑΛΩΝ, laureate head of Nero right, aegis visible at the point of the neck truncation. Rev. ΛΑΟΥΧΟΥ Σ–[ΤΡ]–ΑΤΗΓΟΥ, Thessalia standing facing, holding in her right hand the reins of a horse standing right. Burrer 38 ff., A–/R35; RPC I 1442; BCD Thessaly I 1404 (this coin). Brown-green patina; flan crack and light smoothing in the fields, otherwise nearly extremely fine. Provenance: Ex Nomos AG, Sale 4 (2011), BCD Collection, lot 1404.

This impressive large bronze was struck under Nero for the Thessalian League during the final years of his reign, when the office of strategos was held by Laouchos. The obverse portrait presents the emperor in a mature style, distinguished by the aegis at the neck, an attribute emphasizing divine protection and imperial authority within a Greek civic context. The reverse type is particularly evocative of Thessalian identity. The personification Thessalia stands calmly, grasping the reins of a horse, a clear reference to the region’s ancient and enduring fame for horse breeding and cavalry. From Homeric epic through the Roman period, Thessaly was synonymous with horsemanship, and this imagery served as a proud civic emblem when paired with the name and titles of the local magistrate. Large denomination bronzes such as this tetrassarion functioned as the principal fiduciary coinage for regional circulation and civic payments. The survival of this piece with its original BCD provenance further enhances its importance, as that collection remains the definitive reference for Thessalian numismatics.