Hellenistic Coin Images from Pictures of the Gods to Real Portraiture

Transcription

1 Hellenistic Coin Images from Pictures of the Gods to Real Portraiture "You shall not make for yourself an image of God," it says in the Bible. This was completely different in ancient Greece, where it was customary to mint coins with the image of a deity. The Hellenistic rulers changed this, however: just as vain as the gods and knowing that there is hardly anything that travels as far as a coin, they perpetuated themselves on their money. At first they endued themselves with the attributes of a deity. Later, this guise could be given up, as the rulers themselves were considered as gods now, or at least as their deputies. From this time on, power was not in the hands of the community under divine protection any more, but in those of the king alone. 1 von 10

2 Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander III the Great ( BC) in the Name of Philip II, Stater, c. 324 BC, Colophon Stater King Alexander III of Macedon Colophon Year of Issue: -324 Weight (g): 8.6 Diameter (mm): 19.0 Gold Through decades of war, King Philip II of Macedon established his authority over the Greek world. This was a remarkable achievement for the previously insignificant Kingdom. It had first and foremost been made possible by military reforms that Philip had implemented during his first years of reign, when he had appointed capable generals, introduced new armament and reorganized the army. Never before had the world known such effective armed forces as Philip's Macedonian army; Macedon had developed into a superpower. In the summer of 336 BC, Philip II was assassinated and his son Alexander III succeeded him. Alexander soon followed in his father's footsteps and celebrated under the name of Alexander the Great fabulous triumphs ( BC). However, Alexander's achievements would not have been possible without the reorganization of the Macedonian army and the powerful position that his father had achieved. This coin of Alexander was minted in the Lydian town of Colophon only one year before his death. It bears a beautiful portrait of the Greek god Apollo. It is a so-called Philip's stater, for Alexander's father Philip had already minted thousands such coins for diplomatic purposes (for bribery thus) and for the pay of his mercenaries. These mercenaries, among them many Celts from northern and central Europe, spread the Philip's staters on their return home. The coins became so popular that they were minted long after Philip's death not only by his son Alexander and his successors, but also by diverse Celtic tribes. 2 von 10

3 Alexander's Empire, Alexander III, the Great ( BC),, Memphis King Alexander III of Macedonia Memphis Year of Issue: -332 Weight (g): Diameter (mm): 28.0 The obverse of this tetradrachm shows Alexander the Great in the guise of the Greek hero Heracles, whom Alexander regarded as progenitor of his family. The reverse depicted the father of the gods, Zeus, with an eagle, and the inscription "Alexandroy" (for Alexander's coin). Alexander had such tetradrachms minted in huge numbers. Whenever he captured a new city, the silver reserves kept in the temples were turned into money in this case it was the silver of the Egyptian city of Memphis: the rose besides Zeus is the mint mark for Memphis. Alexander's soldiers spread his coins all over the then-known world. The reputation and degree of popularity of Alexander's coins assured them wide acceptance as trade money. Soon cities, and later also Celtic tribes, started to issue money modeled after Alexander's tetradrachms. 3 von 10

4 Kingdom of Thrace, Lysimachus ( BC),, c BC, Magnesia King Lysimachus of Thrace Magnesia Year of Issue: -297 Weight (g): Diameter (mm): 29.0 After the death of Alexander the Great, his generals divided the huge empire into independent kingdoms and adopted the title of king. Individual kings like Ptolemy in Egypt and Demetrius in Macedon renounced Alexander's tetradrachms and began to strike new coins with their own portraits. Not so Lysimachus, king of Thrace. He was one of the few to stay faithful to Alexander's type of coin motifs at least as far as the obverse was concerned. On it, he had Alexander depicted with the features of a son of Zeus Ammon, therewith he proclaimed his divine power as ruler. The reverse Lysimachus claimed for himself, however: there Nike, the goddess of victory, crowns his name. 4 von 10

5 Kingdom of Egypt, Ptolemy I Soter ( BC),, Alexandria King Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt Alexandria Year of Issue: -305 Weight (g): Diameter (mm): 27.0 The Ptolemies were Macedonians on the Egyptian throne. The founder of the dynasty was Ptolemy I Soter, of whom see a wonderful portrait of old age in Hellenistic style on this tetradrachm. The reverse depicts the eagle of the Greek godfather Zeus on a thunderbolt. Ptolemy was one of the diadochs, one of the commanders of Alexander the Great who divided Alexander's empire after his sudden death in 323 BC. Ptolemy became satrap of Egypt, which he turned into a kingdom in 305 BC. Since then he called himself king and had himself depicted on his coins. The style of his portrait was to dominate Ptolemaic coinage with variations until the end of the dynasty in the year 30 BC. 5 von 10

6 Kingdom of Macedonia, Philip V ( BC), Didrachm, Pella? Didrachm King Philip V of Macedonia Pella? Year of Issue: -221 Weight (g): 8.51 Diameter (mm): 25.0 Philip V of Macedonia was an ally of Hannibal, yonder Carthaginian general who in 218 BC crossed the Alps with war elephants and over the next decade gave the Romans a lesson in fear. In the end, however, Rome defeated all her enemies: In 201 BC Carthage was subdued and in 196 BC Philip suffered a decisive defeat: he had to abandon his fleet, give hostages and pay a tribute of 1,000 talents, which amounted to about 3,000 didrachms. The obverse of this didrachm shows Philip with a short beard and a diadem in his hair. On the reverse is a club within a wreath of oak leaves. Oak leave-wreaths were the distinguishing marks of ancient Italic regents, and the club was the weapon of heroes, especially of Heracles, whose attribute it was. It symbolized valor and the readiness to defend oneself. These were certainly among Philip's qualities, even though they did not help him in the end. 6 von 10

7 Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom, Demetrius I (c. 200-c. 180 BC), King Demetrius I of Bactria Undefined Year of Issue: -200 Weight (g): Diameter (mm): 33.0 This tetradrachm shows Hellenistic culture at its best. We are looking at King Demetrius I wearing an elephant scalp. This peculiar headgear alludes to Demetrius' conquest of India. Demetrius obviously felt he was the successor of Alexander the Great. Unquestionable Greek influence can also be seen on the coin's reverse, which shows the Greek hero Heracles, and the Greek inscription "Basileos Dimitrioy" (King Demetrius). s of Bactria were famous for their wonderful royal portraits. They look so modern that one might think the coins had been minted in the 18th century. 7 von 10

8 Kingdom of Macedonia, Perseus ( BC),, Amphipolis? King Perseus of Macedonia Amphipolis? Year of Issue: -179 Weight (g): 15.4 Diameter (mm): 32.0 Perseus was the last king of Macedonia. During his reign a whole series of brilliant portrait coins was issued. This one shows the young king wearing a short beard and a royal diadem very realistically, without pretension to represent a god or a hero. The reverse illustrates an eagle standing on a thunderbolt. 8 von 10

9 Seleucid Empire, Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( BC),, c BC, Antioch King Antiochos IV of the Seleucids Antioch Year of Issue: -169 Weight (g): Diameter (mm): 32.0 This tetradrachm features the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes as the Greek god Zeus. Today it may seem rather puzzling to compare a political ruler with a god. However, in antiquity this was nothing extraordinary: other kings gave themselves divine features and attributes. It helps to recall that in antiquity the king held office as a divine representative. The reverse depicts Zeus again, this time sitting on a throne. On his right hand he holds a nike who offers him a laurel wreath, while in his left hand Zeus holds a scepter. 9 von 10

10 Parthian Empire, Mithradates II ( BC), Drachm, Ekbatana Drachm King Mithridates II of Parthia Ekbatana Year of Issue: -123 Weight (g): 4.06 Diameter (mm): 20.0 This drachm depicts King Mithradates II of Parthia who was called "the Great" in Ancient Times already. He was the most significant of all Parthian kings, expanding his empire to its largest area. Mithradates II was the first Parthian king to call himself shahanshah (King of Kings) on his coins, thus tying up with the Achaemenid kings. The reverse of our coin features Arsaces, the founder of the Parthian Empire. 10 von 10