Obv. Free horse prancing right.
Rev. Six-spoked wheel, with hub, seen in perspective. Dotted circle.
Bronze, 8,84 g, 18,5 mm. BMC 189-193. Good Fine.
The name of Ophellas appears in the account of Flavius Arrian, known as "Indica", describing the Indian episode of the expedition of Alexander of Macedon. According to a Roman historian, Ophellas was supposed to have been a trireme commander on the Indus River. After the death of Alexander, he joined Ptolemy I Soter, by whom he was sent at the head of the army to suppress the civil war that broke out in Cyrenaica. Having defeated Thimbron and his supporters, Ophellas helped establish Ptolemaic control in Cyrenaica. He married Eurydice of Athens, daughter of Militiades (later wife of Demetrius I of Macedon). In 309/8 BC, Agathocles of Syracuse saw him as a potential ally in the war with Carthage. To persuade him, he promised to cede to him any conquests their combined forces might make in Africa. Ophellas gathered a large army and, after two months of arduous and dangerous march, reached the territory of Carthage, where he joined forces with Agathocles. The Syracusan at first seemed friendly, and the two armies camped close together. However, it wasn't long before Agathocles betrayed his new ally. During the attack on the Cyrenean camp, Ophellas was killed and the stray Cyrenaic army went over to the side of Agathocles.
