SICILY, Motya. Circa 400-397 BC. Æ (9mm, 1.4g,). Bare head of male right / Crab. Jenkins, Punic 13; Campana 30a; CNS 9; CNP 521; cf. HGC 2, 946. Green patina. VF.
From the L.H. Collection.
The island city of Motya was founded as a trading post by Phoenician settlers in the eighth century BC as part of a wave of Phoenician colonization in the western Mediterranean. The city was the largest and most influential of the Phoenician colonies founded in Sicily and this continued into the period of Carthaginian domination of the western half of the island. The city was used as a stronghold for Punic forces during Carthage's conflicts with the Greek cities in Sicily and finally Dionysios of Syracuse decided to target the city. The siege and capture of the city in 397 BC resulted in its complete destruction and it never recovered. The survivors were eventually resettled in the new Punic stronghold in Sicily, Lilybaion.