Samphoras and Κoppatias. The brand-name horses ofSikyon and Corinth

This study examines the archaeological data concerning famous branded horses of the ancient Greek world. More specifically, the symbols and representations of the brand-name horses originating in the two NE Peloponnesian neighboring cities are examined. This paper presents written sources and surviving depictions of the Koppatias horse branded with the letter Koppa (ϙ), from the city of Corinth, and of the Samphoras branded with the Doric letter sigma (Σ), from Sikyon. The article brings together for the first time references to ancient sources and surviving depictions of those horses on Attic vases, mainly Samphorae on Panathenaic amphorae. Apart from the scenes painted on Attic vases of the second half of the 6th and the first half of the 5th century BC, evidence regarding the brand-name horses from Corinth and Sikyon may also be found in the comedies of Aristophanes dating from the early years of the last quarter of the 5th century BC, namely his Clouds and Knights. Finally, the symbols of these expensive racing horses in ancient Greece are associated with the coinage of these cities and the archives of the Athenian cavalry.