Seleukid Coins
Alexander I
Silver coin • Bronze coin • References
| Identification Number AX1-AR-01 | |
| Mint: | uncertain North Syrian mint |
| Period: | 150 - 145 BC |
| Denomination: | AR Tetradrachm |
| Weight: | 16.91 g |
| Diameter: | 28 - 30.5 mm |
| Obverse: | Diademed head of Alexander I right |
| Reverse: | ‘ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ’ right, ‘ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ’ left (“of King Alexander, Son of a Deified Father and Benefactor”); Zeus Nikephoros (“carrying victory”) seated to left on high backed throne, holding Nike in his right hand and long scepter in left hand; ‘ΗΡ’ monogram in exergue |
| Die Position: | c. -10º |
| References: | Houghton, CSE, 558 (same obverse die); Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger, Auction 368 (April 25, 2001), Lot 284 (same obverse die); Jean ELSEN & ses Fils s.a., Auction 84 (June 18, 2005), Lot 286 (same obverse die) |
| Notes: | (1) The majority of Alexander I’s tetradrachms of Attic standard bear the inscription ‘ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ’. The inscription variation with the word ‘ΚΑΙ’ (“and”) on the last line is rare. Notice that there is no space between the words ‘ΚΑΙ’ and ‘ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ’, because ancient Greek texts were written without spaces between words. |
| (2) The portrait style of this coin is unsual and different from the coins of Alexander I from the Antioch mint. | |
| Identification Number AX1-AE-01 | |
| Mint: | Seleukeia in Pieria1 (quasi-municipal issue) |
| Period: | 150 - 145 BC |
| Denomination: | AE Unit |
| Weight: | 11.40 g |
| Diameter: | 21 - 23 mm |
| Obverse: | Diademed, radiate head of Alexander I right; dotted border |
| Reverse: | ‘ΣΕΛΕΥΚΕΩ[Ν] ΤΩΝ’ right, ‘(ΕΜ ΠΙΕ)[ΡΙΑΙ]’ left (“of Seleukeia in Pieria”); Zeus Nikephoros (“carrying victory”) seated to left on throne, holding Nike in his right hand and long scepter in left hand; Nike facing left and holding thunderbolt2; monogram in outer right field; border, other control marks and date, if any, off flan |
| Die Position: | 0º |
| References: | BMC 4, p. 57, Nos. 68 (Plate XVII, 5) and 69 |
| Notes: | (1) According to Houghton, CSE, p. 26, it appears that a special status was conferred on Seleukeia in Pieria by Alexander I. The city struck two tetradrachm issues, a local coinage both with and without the king’s portrait, and a bronze coinage meant for circulation in both Seleukeia and Antioch (a series inscribed ΑΔΕΛΦΩΝ ΔΗΜΩΝ). |
| (2) This rare coin has a grayish-green patina. According to Lura, The patina of ancient coins: an overview, the natural green patina is usually caused by copper chloride. Chloride is found everywhere, but particularly in regions surrounding bodies of salt water. Therefore coins buried in regions near sea coasts would be expected to have the green color of the copper chloride, as the soil has been exposed to salt from the sea. | |
1 History. Seleukeia in Pieria was founded by Seleukos I Nikator and named for himself. It was a very important Seleukid port and one of four primary Syrian cities founded more or less simultaneously which formed the Syrian Tetrapolis (Seleukeia in Pieria, Antioch on the Orontes, Apamea and Laodikeia ad Mare). Seleukos I was burried here. Seleukeia in Pieria was to be the capital of the Seleukid Empire, but it was captured by Ptolemy III in 246 BC. By the time it was recaptured by Antiochos III in 219 BC, Antioch became one of the capital cities of the Seleukid Empire. Seleukeia in Pieria received the title ‘holy’ (ιερα) in the 140s BC, and was given the right to call itself ‘inviolable’ (ασυλος) by 138 BC (the towns which enjoyed the right of inviolability, ασυλια, claimed to be under the divine protection of the gods whose temples stood within their territories). Its autonomy was recognized by Antiochos VIII (or, less probably, by Antiochos IX) in 109 BC. In 64 BC, it was made a free city by Pompeius. (Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 683 - Antiocheia-in-Syria, p. 775 - Seleukeia-in-Pieria; the titles ‘holy and inviolable’: Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period, p. 292 and footnote 3; the note about the right of inviolability: Head, Historia Numorum, A Manual of Greek Numismatics, Introduction - § XIII, p. lxxx)
Pieria region. Pieria was a district on the northern coast of Syria, so called from the mountain Pieria, a branch of the Amanus, a name given it by the Macedonians. The Macedonian Pieria was a narrow strip of country on the southeastern coast of Macedonia, extending from the mouth of the Peneus in Thessaly to the Haliacmon, and bounded on the west by Mount Olympus and its offshoots. A portion of these mountains was called by the ancient writers Pierus, or the Pierian Mountain. The inhabitants of this country, the Pieres, were a Thracian people, and are celebrated in the early history of Greek poetry and music, since their country was one of the earliest seats of the worship of the Muses, hence called Pierides, and Orpheus is said to have been buried there. After the establishment of the Macedonian kingdom in Emathia in the seventh century BC Pieria was conquered by the Macedonians, and the inhabitants were driven out of the country. See Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities - Pieria (1), (3).
Primary sources. 1. The burial of Seleukos I Nikator:
Appian, Syriake, 10.63: Philetaerus (Philetairos, the founder of the Attalid dynasty), the prince of Pergamum, bought the body of Seleucus (Seleukos I) from Keraunos (Ptolemy Keraunos, son of Ptolemy I) for a large sum of money, burned it, and sent the ashes to his son Antiochus (Antiochos I). The latter deposited them at Seleucia-by-the-Sea (Seleukeia in Pieria), where he erected a temple to his father on consecrated ground, to which ground he gave the name of Nicatoreum.2. Polybios’ description of the city (2nd century BC):
Polybios, Histories, 5.59: The situation of Seleucia (Seleukeia in Pieria) and the natural features of the surrounding country are of this kind. The city stands on the sea coast between Cilicia and Phoenicia; and has close to it a very great mountain called Coryphaeus, which on the west is washed by the last waves of the sea which lies between Cyprus and Phoenicia; while its eastern slopes overlook the territories of Antioch (Antioch on the Orontes) and Seleucia. It is on the southern skirt of this mountain that the town of Seleucia lies, separated from it by a deep and difficult ravine. The town extends down to the sea in a straggling line broken by irregularities of the soil, and is surrounded on most parts by cliffs and precipitous rocks. On the side facing the sea, where the ground is level, stand the market-places, and the lower town strongly walled. Similarly the whole of the main town has been fortified by walls of a costly construction, and splendidly decorated with temples and other elaborate buildings. There is only one approach to it on the seaward side, which is an artificial ascent cut in the form of a stair, interrupted by frequently occurring drops and awkward places. Not far from the town is the mouth of the river Orontes, which rises in the district of Libanus and Anti-Libanus, and after traversing the plain of Amyca reaches Antioch; through which it flows, and carrying off by the force of its current all the sewage of that town, finally discharges itself into this sea not far from Seleucia.3. Strabo’s description of the region and of the city (1st century BC/1st century AD):
Strabo, Geography, 14.5.20: After Cilicia, the first Syrian city is Seleucia-in-Pieria; near it the river Orontes empties itself. From Seleucia to Soli is a voyage in a straight line of nearly 1000 stadia.
Strabo, Geography, 16.2.2: Beginning from Cilicia and Mount Amanus, we set down as parts of Syria, Commagene, and the Seleucis of Syria, as it is called, then Coele-Syria, lastly, on the coast, Phoenicia, and in the interior, Judaea. Some writers divide the whole of Syria into Coelo-Syrians, Syrians, and Phoenicians, and say that there are intermixed with these four other nations, Jews, Idumaeans, Gazaeans, and Azotii, some of whom are husbandmen, as the Syrians and Coelo-Syrians, and others merchants, as the Phoenicians.
Strabo, Geography, 16.2.4: Seleucis is the best of the above-mentioned portions of Syria. It is called and is a Tetrapolis, and derives its name from the four distinguished cities which it contains; for there are more than four cities, but the four largest are Antioch Epidaphne (Antioch on the Orontes), Seleuceia in Pieria, Apameia, and Laodiceia (Laodikeia ad Mare). They were called Sisters from the concord which existed between them. They were founded by Seleucus Nicator (Seleukos I). The largest bore the name of his father, and the strongest his own. Of the others, Apameia had its name from his wife Apama, and Laodiceia from his mother.
Strabo, Geography, 16.2.8: ... After these places, near the sea, are Seleuceia and Pieria, a mountain continuous with the Amanus and Rhosus, situated between Issus and Seleuceia. Seleuceia formerly had the name of Hydatopotami (rivers of water). It is a considerable fortress, and may defy all attacks; wherefore Pompey, having excluded from it Tigranes, declared it a free city.
4. Royal letter announcing the autonomy:
Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period, pp. 289-290, Letter 71: King Antiochus (probably Antiochos VIII) to king Ptolemy (Ptolemy X Alexander I Philometor), also called Alexander, his brother, greeting. If you were well it would be as we wish; we ourselves were well and were remembering you with love. The people of Seleucia in Pieria, the city holy and inviolable, [from of old] supported our father and throughout maintained steadfast their good-will toward him. They have been constant in their love toward us and have shown it [through many] fine deeds especially in the most desperate times we have experienced. We have therefore hitherto furthered their interests generously as they deserve and have brought them into [more conspicuous] honor. Now, being anxious to reward them fittingly with the first [and greatest] benefaction, [we have decided that they be] for all time free, [and we have entered them in the treaties] which we have mutually concluded, [thinking] that thus [our piety and generosity] toward our ancestral city will be more apparent. [So that you also may] know [these concessions, it seemed] best [to write you]. Farewell. Year 203, Gorpiaeus 29 (September 109 BC). (Note: Ptolemy X is numbered as Ptolemy IX by Welles. For the numbering see Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Ptolemy X.)5. Myth about Pierus:
Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.29.3-4: But they say that afterwards Pierus, a Macedonian, after whom the mountain in Macedonia was named, came to Thespiae and established nine Muses, changing their names to the present ones. Pierus was of this opinion either because it seemed to him wiser, or because an oracle so ordered, or having so learned from one of the Thracians. For the Thracians had the reputation of old of being more clever than the Macedonians, and in particular of being not so careless in religious matters. There are some who say that Pierus himself had nine daughters, that their names were the same as those of the goddesses, and that those whom the Greeks called the children of the Muses were sons of the daughters of Pierus. Mimnermus, who composed elegiac verses about the battle between the Smyrnaeans and the Lydians under Gyges, says in the preface that the elder Muses are daughters of Uranus, and that there are other and younger Muses, children of Zeus.2 The thunderbolt was a frequent symbol on the coins of Seleukeia in Pieria. The thunderbolt was a cultus-object of Zeus Keraunos (“Zeus of the Thunderbolt”) and, according to Appian, Syriake, 9.58, it was connected with the foundation of the city: They say that when he (Seleukos I) was about to build the two Seleucias (Seleukeia in Pieria and Seleukeia on the Tigris) a portent of thunder preceded the foundation of the one by the sea, for which reason he consecrated thunder as a divinity of the place. Accordingly the inhabitants worship thunder and sing its praises to this day.