Marcellus, the conqueror of Syracuse

Do you know this symbol? Have you ever been to Sicily or did you see it in another context? We know for sure this is really ancient. The symbol is called a triskelion or triskeles, which is Greek for “three-legged”. It consists of three spirals rotating symmetrically and was used in artifacts from the Neolithic time onwards, especially in ancient Greek pottery and coinage. In antiquity the triskeles became associated with the island of Sicily, because just as the symbol, the island also has three edges. It became the symbol of the Greek city of Syracuse, Sicily’s most rich and powerful center. The city used this symbol on its coins under the tyrant Agathocles (4th to 3rd centuries BCE).

To this day it remains the official flag of the Italian region of Sicily, one of the country’s 20 administrative regions. Through relations between English kings and Sicily, the symbol crossed to the Isle of Man, where it was adopted as the official flag of the island.

The depicted Marcus Marcellus conquered Syracuse in 212 BCE. This victory was a great success for the Roman republic and from that time on, Marcellus was known as the conqueror of Syracuse, who introduced Greek art to the Romans. Our coin, struck roughly 160 years later, references this victory. Marcellinus, a descendant of Marcellus, promotes his prestigious family history and connects the “face” of Marcellus of the front side to himself. Members of the same family (the Marcelli were part of one of the oldest and most important families in Rome, the gens Claudia) have also issued coins with this symbol to commemorate their ancestor’s victory.