v29_0033 - CARIA - ISOLA DI CARIA - COS Tétradrachme

CARIA - CARIAN ISLANDS - COS

(4th century BC)

Cos was originally a Dorian colony from Epidaurus which brought the cult of Asklepios to the island. It is the homeland of Hippocrates, the founder of medicine. Cos was part of the League of Delos and paid tribute to Athens. The founding of a new symmachic capital in 366 BC revived the economic activity which was to last until the Macedonian conquest. Rival of Rhodes and Halicarnassus, the island lost its importance after 333 BC After the death of Alexander the Great, it fell under the domination of Ptolemy. The latter stayed on the island in 309 BC with his wife Berenice and it was there that Ptolemy II Philadelphus was born..