Tetradrachm (Coin) Depicting Quadriga with Bearded Charioteer

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

485-478 BCE

Greek, minted in Syracuse, Sicily

The official record of quadrennial games honoring the supreme Greek god Zeus at a sanctuary dedicated to him at Olympia began in 776 BCE. With few interruptions, they took place every four years for about 1,100 years. In 394 CE, the Christian emperor Theodosius I (reigned 379–395) abolished them as pagan rites.
The most prestigious competition remained the footrace, but eventually it was supplanted in popularity by the horse races. Horses were symbols of socioeconomic status, since only the privileged could afford to buy, feed, and train them and transport their teams and trainers to Olympia every four years. In time, many of the victors in the horse races included kings and tyrants.

Gelon of Syracuse minted this coin to commemorate his victory in the four-horse chariot race in 488 BCE. Three years later he became ruler of the city.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Greek
Title: Tetradrachm (Coin) Depicting Quadriga with Bearded Charioteer
Place: Ancient Greece (Minted in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 485 BCE–478 BCE
Medium: Silver
Dimensions: Diam.: 2.4 cm (1 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of William F. Dunham
Reference Number: 1920.722
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/130141/manifest.json

Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 155, April 20, 1994 - February 6, 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 151, November 11, 2012 - July 7, 2021.

William F. Dunham (1857-1936), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1920.

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Tetradrachm (Coin) Depicting Quadriga with Bearded Charioteer

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.