287
Mithradates I (164-132 BC), Silver Tetradrachm, 16.12g, 12h. Minted at Seleucia on the Tigris. Diademed
and bearded bust right, reel-and-pellet border. Rev. Naked Heracles standing left, wine-cup and club in right
and left hands respectively, lion skin over left arm, monogram in field left, four-line inscription
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ
ΜΕΓΑΛΟY ΑΡΣΑΚΟY ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ
, date
ΓΟΡ
(173 SEM = 140/139 BC) in exergue (S 13.3; Sunrise 261).
About very fine, porous surfaces.
Rare
.
$ 1,500
ex Dr. Busso Peus Nachf., Auction 378, 28 April 2004, lot 306
Supported by the extant classical literary sources, contemporary Babylonian cuneiform documents attest that Parthian forces annexed
Mesopotamia in the summer of 141 BC. Soon afterwards and in order to celebrate the occasion, the royal mint at Seleucia on the
Tigris reverted to issuing coins for the victorious Arsacid monarch, Mithradates I, who might have visited the newly conquered
territories and tarried in Babylon during autumn - winter of that same year. The first Arsacid issue from Seleucia, the S 13.1-2
Tetradrachms and S 13.6 Drachms, are undated while the subsequent outputs, the S 13.3-5 Tetradrachms and S 13.8-10 Drachms,
carry Seleucid Era dates 173 and 174 SEM, corresponding respectively to 140/139 BC and 139/138 BC. Moreover, the Tetradrachms
carry the additional epithet ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ “Philhellene, Lover of Greeks”. This was, as Sellwood related, “a somewhat transparent
attempt to placate the Greek commercial element in the newly conquered lands”. See also the commentary under lot 339.
288
Phraates II (132-127 BC), Silver Tetradrachm, 16.10g, 12h. Minted at Seleucia on the Tigris. Diademed
and lightly bearded bust right, reel-and-pellet border. Rev. Male deity enthroned left, holding Nike in
outstretched right hand, cornucopia in left hand, four-line inscription
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟY ΑΡΣΑΚΟY
ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟY
, two monograms in exergue (S 17.1 var, exergual monograms reversed; Sunrise 267). About
very fine.
Rare
.
$ 2,200
To recover Mesopotamia and the former Seleucid satrapies of Elymais and Media, the Seleucid king Demetrius II (first reign, 145-138
BC) led an expedition against Mithradates I. However, he was, according to our combined literary and Babylonian cuneiform sources,
defeated in the summer of 138 BC, captured and delivered to the Arsacid monarch who treated him magnanimously. Less than a
decade later, Antiochus VII (138-129 BC), the younger brother and successor of Demetrius II, declared war on Parthia and marched
out of Antioch with a large army. He recovered Mesopotamia and Elymais in the summer of 130 BC and then moved to Ecbatana in
Media to challenge the reigning Arsacid prince, Phraates II. Some months later, Antiochus was caught in a Parthian ambush, defeated
and slain about the end of summer – beginning of autumn 129 BC. The S 17 series of Tetradrachms and Drachms were minted at
Seleucia on the Tigris to celebrate Phraates’ triumph over Antiochus. Hence their epithet ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟY, “Bearer of Victory”.
