Illyrian coinage began in the 6th century BC and continued until the 1st century BC, when the kingdom of Illyria became the Roman province of Illyricum. It then eventually became the two provinces, Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. Prior to the Roman rule, numerous Greek colonies had been established in the 7th century BC, and their Hellenising influence can be clearly seen in Illyrian coinage. Apollonia was one such Greek colony, located at the crossroads of an important trade route. Dyrrhachium is perhaps most famous for being the site of the Battle of Dyrrhachium in 48 B.C. After months of skirmishes, Pompey was able to break through the fortified lines of Caesar’s army, forcing him into a strategic retreat into Thessaly. The armies of Caesar and Pompey met again near Pharsalus, where Caesar won a decisive victory, bringing the end of the Roman Republic ever closer.
Long after the Greeks could have been considered pastoralists, cows and the herding of these creatures remained still a prominent feature of the Ancient Greek psyche. They were evident in Greek sayings, literature, and visual art. They were essential to Ancient Greek society and communal life, offered to the gods as a sacrifice and then consumed communally. The motif of a cow suckling her calf appeared not only on the coinage of the ancient Greeks but also on intaglios, scaraboids, and jewellery. This image, and the cow itself, was associated with fertility, charity, motherhood, and the beginnings of life.
