three seleucid notes / brian kritt, oliver d. hoover and arthur houghton

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CONTENTS

James A. Schell. Observations n the metrology f the preciousmetal coinage of Philip II of Macedón: the Thraco-Macedonian tandard or the Corinthian tandard? 1

Peter G. van Alfen. The owls from he 1973 Iraq hoard 9Melíh Arslan and Ayça Özen. A hoard of unpublished ronze

coins of Ptolemy Ceraunus 59Catharine C. Lorber. Large Ptolemaic bronzes n third-century

Egyptian hoards 67Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur Houghton.

Three Seleucidnotes 93Michael L. Thomas. An imitative nsealed semis from northern

Etruria 113Martin Beckmann. The early gold coinage of Trajan's sixth

consulship 119David Woods. Julian, Gallienus, nd the solar bull 157Stuart D. Sears. An Abbāsid revolution oard from hewestern

Jazīra al-Raqqa?) 171L. A. Saryan. An unpublished ilverdouble tram of Gosdantin

(1298-1299),king of Cilician Armenia 195Warren C.Schultz and Haim Gitler. A Mamlukbronzeweight

in the Israel Museum,with further omments on this raremetrological pecies 205

John M. Kleeberg. Three notes on the private gold coinage ofthe United States 215

BOOK REVIEWS

Ian Carradice, Greek oins N. K. Rutter, TheGreek oinages fsouthern taly and Sicily CarmenArnold-Biucchi 239




SoHEiRBakhoum, ed., Syllogenummorum raecorum rance 4Département esmonnaies,médailles t antiques,Alexandrie .Auguste-Trajan.William E. Metcalf 247

Philip Grierson, Catalogue of the Byzantine coins in theDumbarton Oaks collection nd in the Whittemore ollection,volume 5. Robert Hallman 249

Philip Grierson and Lucia Travaini, Medieval Europeancoinage,with catalogue f he oins n the itzwilliamMuseum,Cambridge 4: Italy (III) (South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia .William R. Day, Jr. 254

ACQUISITIONSFOR 1999 IN THEAMERICANNUMISMATICSOCIETYCOLLECTION

Greek.CarmenArnold-Biucchi 261Roman and Byzantine.William E. Metcalf 265Islamicand East Asian. Michael L. Bates 266Medieval. 267Medals and decorations. 269

Modern, atin American, nd US. John M. Kleeberg 270




AJN volume 12(2000)pp. 93-112©2001TheAmericanumismaticociety

THREE SELEUCID NOTES

(Plates 18-20) Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, andArthur Houghton

Thiscollection f short rticles utilizesthe approachusedin AJN 5-6. The notes format providesan opportunity o publish togetherarticles too short for single submissions.More importantly, t is amethod to announce new discoveries in a single specializedfield,conveniently ollected for scholars n that field. t is the hope of thepresent uthors that it will continue o be a usefulvehicle for cholarsof Seleucidnumismatics.

The notes are arranged hronologically:I. Coinageof Antiochus II in Bactria (BK)II. A Unique Tetradrachm of Demetrius II Nikator at Seleucia-in-

Pieria (OH)III. A Mint ofAntiochus X at Samaria-Sebaste?AH)

I. COINAGEOF ANTIOCHUS III IN BACTRIA

Brian Kritt

Seleucid controlof Bactria led to the operation n that provinceofat least two royal Seleucidmints, beginning . 290 BC at a mint ofuncertain ocation(MintA), and continuing few years later at the

93




94 Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur Houghtonfar northeastern ity at Ai Khanoum.1Based on the evidence of thebronze coins found in the French excavations at the site of AiKhanoumbetween 1965 and 1978,this city was the sourceof theSeleucid coinswith the delta-circlemonogram,whose attribution othe provincialmint at Bactra by Newell(1938)had not previouslybeen questioned.Ai Khanoumquicklybecamethe principalSeleucidmint n Bactria. The fact that the Seleucidbronze coin types found n

the excavationshad neverbeen seenbefore,2nd that numerous xam-plesof the individual types were found at the site, combinedwith theappearanceof the delta-circle monogramfrom the coins on bricksfound n the excavations were important lements n establishing hatAi Khanoum,not Bactra, was the locationof issue.

The last Seleucidcoins from Ai Khanoumappear to be those ofAntiochus I, with his bronzes from hat mint bearing types relatingto Hermes,connected o the usurperDiodotus,whoeventually ecededfrom the Seleucid Empire and ruled Bactria as an independent

monarch.These Hermes-typebronzes in the name of AntiochusIIapparently represent an intermediate stage in the secession,withDiodotusretainingnominalrecognition f the Seleucidoverlord.3

Ai Khanoummay have remainedthe initial mint of the Diodotids(cf. Kritt 1996:Chapter5). Holt has accepted Ai Khanoum as themint for three groupsof Hermes bronzes n the name of Antiochus I,of type Hermes bust/caduceus his G2-G4), but not for the typeHermesbust/crossed aducei(ESM 716-716A,his Gl), as well as themint for some of the royal Bactrianbronzes n the name of Diodotus

(II) and Euthydemus cf. Holt 1999:96,114, 124,132).4The crossed-caducei coins he assigned to a second, uncertain mint, possibly

1The nalysisnd ttributionf he oins romhesemints ere resentedn fulldetailnSCB(Kritt 996).2With he xceptionf singleMint bronzeKritt 996:25I).3Thecoins reESM716 nd716A,CBpp.37-38 oins and7,Plate N andP (Kritt 996),HoltG2 and G3 Holt1999:164-165),ndpossiblyCBp.26V 2(Kritt 996).

It s possible,s noted bove,hatAi Khanoumasthe nlymint uringhelast yearsof Seleucidule and the first earsof DiodotidhegemonyHolt1999:125).




Three Seleucid Notes 95Bactra, on the basis of the lack of monogram nd variable die axes.5Actually,most rossed-caducei oins have the usual six o'clockdie axesof Ai Khanoum.6 The appearanceof the planchetsand the method ofedge finishing f the crossed-caducei oins are identical to those ofHolt's G2 and G3 singlecaduceuscoins(cf. photos of Gl and G3 inthe plate), and most specimensexhibit the characteristic ed-brownpatina associatedwith Ai Khanoum bronzes (cf. Bernard and Guil-

laume1980:9-10).The dropping f the monogramhas clearprecedentsat Ai Khanoumin the earlier Seleucidperiod cf. Kritt 1996:42),andcould presagethis practice with succeedingroyal Bactrian bronzes,such as those of Euthydemus.Thus the crossed-caducei coins arelikely ssues of Ai Khanoum also.

The Seleucidcoinagein Bactria has been considered o have endedwith the coins of Antiochus II struck at Ai Khanoum.7But newevidence from ecently iscovered oinsnowcallsthis assumptionntoquestion.First, two Bactrian Seleucidbronzes have turned up with

Seleucid anchorcounterstamps. ne of these coins is an unquestionedAi Khanoum bronze of Antiochus , SCB, p. 26, Type IV 3, Heracleshead/bull Plate 18 no. 1).The secondcoin is an exampleof the Antio-chus II crossed-caduceibronzetype (Plate 18 no. 2).8Both counter-stamps are fresh, nd evidentlyaffixed after the coins had been incirculation or longtime. SCBType IV 3 is the most prolific eleucidbronze ssue found n the excavations at Ai Khanoum,with 36 speci-

5 Nocrossed-caduceioinsGl)were oundn the excavationst Ai Khanoum,butneither ere here ny ingle-caduceusoinsG2-G4),whose elta-circleono-gramsssureheir rigint the ocalmint.6 Ofthenineknownpecimens,nly wocan be verifieds deviatingromixo'clockie axes.There re ample recedentsor ccasionaleparturesrom stab-lished ie-axisonventionsor eleucidssuese.g.,Le Rider 965:23Ecbatana,Seleucus], 135-136Seleucian the Tigris, eleucusV];Kritt 997:n. 29,n.183;for he complexnd changingature f the die-axis onventions or arlierSeleucid ronzest Ai Khanoum,f.Kritt 996:28-30).7 Theres noevidencef any ater after ntiochusI] SeleucidmintageromBactria...Holt1999:95).8 J. Winter ollection,ancaster,a. Theobversef his oin asbeenharpenedby ooling,or ommercialeasons,o thereversesthebetterndicatorf hewornstate f heundercoin.llother oins llustratednthis rticle refromhe uthor'scollection.




96 Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur Houghtonmens represented.No specimensof this type were known beforetheexcavations.9Like other Seleucid bronzesof Ai Khanoum,it enjoyedonly ocalcirculation. or such a localtype to be thus counterstampedargues for this to have happenedat Ai Khanoum. This is stronglysupportedby the followingotallynew bronze coinvarieties,publishedfor the first time, here attributed as issues of Antiochus III at AiKhanoum,c. 208-206 BC(Plate 18 nos. 3 and 4)

Obv.: Laureate head ofApollor.Rev.: Tripod;to r, inverted nchor. No borders.3. In exergue,worn but legible nscription: NTIOXOY.

To 1,facing1,faint nscription: . 21AE . .Î, 8.07g,22 mm, thick flan, bevelededge, edgetechnique (cf.Kritt 1996:27-28),red-brown atina.Burtonsville,Md. B. Kritt Collection.

4. Inscriptionsllegible.n exergue,possibly . 2IAE . .1, 17.00g, 27 mm, thick flan, bevelededge, edge techniquea,red-brown atina.Burtonsville,Md. B. Kritt Collection.

In c. 212BC,AntiochusII undertook n expeditionnto the East inan attempt to recapture he lost Seleucidsatrapiesof Central Asia.InBactria,he encountered nd defeatedthe cavalryof the Bactrian kingEuthydemus t the River Arius,and besiegedthe latter at Bactra fortwoyears,208 to 206 BC.A treaty wasthen negotiated,which llowedEuthydemus o remainas king of Bactria, and AntiochusdepartedtoIndia (Polybius10, 11; Holt 1999:Chapter).

Holt analyzed Euthydemus'soinageto find videnceof this famousepisode.For the preciousmetal coinage,he identified wo distinct etsof issues (A and B), differing n technical elements, uch as reverseborder. He dated the transformation romA to B to the period of

9 Subsequentlyhree pecimensave beenfound n archeologicalontext tTakht-i-SanginndDil'berdzin,nthenatural xus rade outecf.Kritt 996:39).A few ther pecimensaveappearedn commerceueto pillagingf the areaaround i Khanoumcf.Kritt 996:27;olt1999:50),r the ootingf museums(cf.Holt 1999:88. 5).For the very imitedreaof diffusionf the Seleucid iKhanoumronzes,eeSCB(Kritt 996:27).




Three Seleugid Notes 97Antiochus's invasion, 208-206 BC (Holt 1999:130-133).For thebronzes,with types of Heracles head/prancing orse, there are twodistinctgroups.For one group, the fabric s thick, the edgesheavilybeveled,and there are no monograms. or a second(later) group, theplanchetsare thin, the edgesrounded,and there are control marks.The die axes are variablefor both groups.A largenumber f examplesof the first roupwerefound n the excavationsat Ai Khanoum,but

none of the second group.This led Holt to suggestthat Ai Khanoumitselfmayhaveproducedmanyof the earlier thickflan]coins,but notthe later [thin flan]ones (Holt 1999:132).

One of the thin bronzes has a (Seleucid)anchor symbol on thereverse below the horse (Bopearachchi1991:162,34). Holt believesthat this s a chronologicalinge betweenthe two phasesof coinage,and was struck n 206 BC at the time of the treaty, o acknowledgeAntiochus's nominal suzerainty. At this time, Ai Khanoum ceasedstriking he Euthydemusbronzes, nd the secondgroup s assigned byHolt to Bactra.The fabric f the new coins 3 and 4 is very close to that of the thickflan Euthydemusbronzes cf. Plate 18 no. 5), indicating common,contemporary rigin.10 he reversetype of the tripod had not beenseen on Seleucidcoins of Bactria previously,but both obverse andreverseof 3 and 4 are very closein type and style to issuesof Antio-chus III assigned by Newellto Apamea,WSM 1187-1188,dated byNewell to 223-208 BC(cf. Plate 18 no. 6). Althoughthe location ofthe Apamea mint has been questioned recently (cf. Le Bider1999:49, 90;Houghtonand Spaer19989o),1 the referenced oins arewestern n fabric,have the twelve o'clock die axes common n Syriainthis period, and have provenances n that area. The new Bactrianversions eem to have been copiedfrom r modeled on the Apameacoins,evenin the denominational ystem,12 ut employed he fabric f

10Theshape f the flans nd angle f the beveleddges f coins and 5 arestrikinglyimilar.

Themint as been ssociated ith hevicinityfAntioch.12Both he mallernd arger oins and 4 haveequivalentenominationstApamea,ut heweightf alsofallswellwithinhenominalangef heEuthy-

demuspecimensoundt Ai Khanoum.




98 Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur Houghtonthe contemporary i Khanoumbronzesof Euthydemus.Theborrowingin Bactria of types from farther west has been discussed n detail inSCB(Kritt 1996:13-15).

Furthermore, oins 3 and 4 have the characteristic ed-brown atinaof Ai Khanoum bronzes,and were obtained by the author, togetherwith a group of earlier Seleucid Ai Khanoumbronzes including oin1 above),from Pakistan in the usual commercialchannels for coins

exportedfrom Afghanistan.Althoughthe Syrianmodelshave twelveo'clock die axes, the Ai Khanoum copies appear to have the non-adjusted convention characteristic f the Euthydemusbronzes fromAi Khanoum. The new coins also replacethe Apamealegend place-ment with a format used extensivelyfor earlier Seleucid coins inBactria (cf. Kritt 1996:46),including he cover coin of SCB, an Anti-ochus I Ai Khanoumbronze. The published Apamea coinsdo nothave the subsidiary ymbol of the vertical anchor found on coins 3and 4, but an unpublished Apamea coin in the author's collection

does Plate 18 no. 7).13

Finally,Bactra itself s ruledout as the mint for the new AntiochusIII coins.They are unlikely o have been struck here since Antiochusnevercapturedthe city cf. Polybius 10, 11;Holt 1999:129).Not onlydoes this strengthen he argumentfor Ai Khanoum as the mint, buthas repercussionsorthe earlier Seleucidperiod n Bactria.Bactra hasoftenbeenfavored s the principalmint of the Seleucidsn Bactria onthe groundsof historical ikelihood,becauseof its prominence hysi-callyand historically, ven in the face of direct archeologicalvidence

to the contrary cf. Kritt 1996:22-23;Bopearachchi1999).Now thenew Antiochus II coinsjoin the extensive Euthydemusthick bronzeissues and other Diodotid bronzesin a continuing eries at a clearlyprominentmint demonstrably ot at Bactra.

Without the evidenceof coins3 and 4, the counterstamped oins1and 2 wouldpresent substantialproblem.Whowouldaffix Seleucidanchorto these coins? Although herewas stilla Seleucidpresence nBactria somewhat fter he issuingof 1, the coin is worn, nd had seen

13Toavoid onfusionn nterpretinghis oin,t should epointedutthat hereverse as a counterstampf a double-axet four 'clock,rientedoward ouro'clock.




100 Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur Houghtona single ssue whichcirculatedwidely,the SeleucusI Susa Alexanderbronzes Kritt 1997:118-120).

There are of course mportant istorical onsequencesof these deas.First of all, the forces of Antiochus II appear to have captured AiKhanoum at sometime during he campaign.Or the city could havewelcomedhim, possibly due to its old affection for his Seleucidancestor AntiochusI (cf. Kritt 1996:34).Now we have a cogentreason for the cessation of the productionof the thick Euthydemusbronzes t this time.15

There is archaeologicalevidenceat Ai Khanoum of an attack,possiblythat of Antiochus III: Then, in ca. 225 B.C., a seriousattack did occur. Not only burning but sapping operationsas wellwere carriedout against the city's walls. The excavation teamfoundno reason to associate this warfare with the Seleucid invasionof Antio-chus III of 208-206 B.C. (Holt 1999:54).Holt thus associated thisattack with the rise of Euthydemus Holt 1999:125).The evidence ofthe new coins providesa clear background o redate this activity tothe time of Antiochus's apture of the city.

Another onsequenceof these deas is to reinforce he significancefAi Khanoum to the Seleucids.Probablybuilt by Antiochus duringhisco-regencywith SeleucusI, the city was of great importance as asource of preciousmetals and other mineralwealth,as well as becauseof its strategic position along eastern invasion routes (cf. Kritt

1996:33-34;Bernard 1982:148).It must also have been held inmemory s a shining ewel of early Seleucidenterprise. uch a prizewould have been a worthy ewardfor Antiochus'sxpedition o recoverthe lost Seleucidglory n CentralAsia.

15 ThewarwithAntiochusouldasily ave uspendedostmintingperationsexcept t Bactra,giving ise to a consolidationf coinagemanufacturehatpersistedfter he mmediateanger adpassed Holt1999:132).n other ords,Holtderiveshe essationf he hick uthydemusronzest this ime rom war-time olicyf the ocalizationfmintingo Bactra.ts true ause was the aptureofAi KhanoumyAntiochus.




Three Seleucid Notes 101Acknowledgments

Thanks to Arthur Houghton and Frank Holt for their criticalreviewsof the manuscript nd for constructive uggestions.

Abbreviations

ESM = Newell 1938

SCB=

Kritt 1996WSM= Newell 1941

References

Bernard,P. and 0. Guillaume. 1980. Monnaies néditesde la Bactrianegrecqueà Ai Khanoum(Afghanistan).RevueNumismatique6thser.)22:9-32.

Bernard, P. 1982.An ancient Greek city in Central Asia. ScientificAmerican 46(1):148-159.

Bevan,E. R. 1902. The houseof SeleucusLondon: E. Arnold.Bopearachchi,0. 1991. Monnaiesgréco-bactriennest indo-grecques.Paris:BibliothèqueNationale.

Bopearachchi,O. 1999. Lesmonnaiesseleucidesde l'Asiecentraleetl'atelier de Bactres. In M. Amandryand S. Hurter eds., Travauxde numismatique recque fferts Georges e Rider. London:Spink,pp. 77-93.

Holt, F. 1999. Thundering eus. Berkeley: Universityof CaliforniaPress.

Houghton,A. and A. Spaer. 1998.Syllogenummorum raecorumsraelI: the Arnold Spaer collection f Seleucidcoins. London: ItaloVecchi.

Kritt, B. 1996.Seleucidcoinsof Bactria. Classical NumismaticStudiesNo. 1.Lancaster,Pa: Classical NumismaticGroup.

Kritt, B. 1997. TheearlySeleucidmint of Susa. Classical NumismaticStudies No. 2.Lancaster,Pa: ClassicalNumismaticGroup.

Le Rider, G. 1965.SusesouslesSéleucidest les Parthes lestrouvaillesmonétairest Fhistoire e la ville. Paris: Paul Geuthner.

Le Rider, G. 1999.Antiochede Syrie sous les Séleucidescorpusdesmonnaies ďor et ďargent I, de SéleucosI d AntiochosV, c.300-161. Paris: Institutde France.




102 Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur HoughtonNewell,E. T. 1938. Thecoinage of the eastern Seleucidmints, from

SeleucusI to Antiochus II. ANS Numismatic Studies 1. NewYork: AmericanNumismatic ociety.

Newell,E. T. 1941. Thecoinage of the western eleucidmints, fromSeleucusI to Antiochus II. ANS Numismatic Studies 4. NewYork: AmericanNumismatic ociety.

II. A UNIQUETETRADRACHMOF DEMETRIUSII NIKATORATSELEUCIA-IN-PIERIA

Oliver D. Hoover

As is often he casein Seleucidnumismatics, new cointype previ-ouslyunknown n the literature as cometo light.At the beginning fthis year a silver tetradrachm 15.71 g)struck n the name of Deme-

trius I Nikator first eign 145-138BC)was donatedto the AmericanNumismatic ociety ANS 2000.14.2) throughhe kind offices f HerbKreindler. ts descriptions as followsPlate 19 no. 1).

Obv.:Diademed headof Demetrius I r.; filleted order.Rev.: On r., BAIIAEQZAHMHTPIOY;on 1., NIKATOPOZ;invertedanchor; aurel wreath border.This coin has no date, symbol, r control mark.

Upon inspection f the details of the anchor it becomesclear thatthe tetradrachm s closely related to a series of drachms (Obv.:Diademedhead of Demetrius I r.; dotted border. Rev.: On r., BAZI-AEQZAHMHTPIOY;on 1., NIKATOPOZ;inverted anchor (Plate 19nos. 2 to 4) and two seriesof bronze coins Plate 19nos. 5 to 6) attrib-uted by Houghton and Spaer to an uncertain North Syrian mint(Houghtonand Spaer 1998:1634-1636,1639-1640;Houghton 1983:567-570;BMC Seleucids61, 25). The first bronzeseries Plate 19 no.5) usesthe same types as the drachms but the second series Plate 19

no. 6) givesthe titles of Demetrius as BAZIAEQZAHMHTPIOYOEOYNIKATOPOZ.The style of the ANS tetradrachm nd its close associa-tion with a system f related silver nd bronzefractionsmakesit very




Three Seleucid Notes 103likely that the mint at which they all must have been struck waslocatedin one of the major citiesof Syria Seleucisunder the controlof Demetrius I.

The first reaction is to consider Antioch-on-the-Orontes,he mostimportant oyalSeleucidmint n the mid-second entury C. However,becausethe obverse of the tetradrachm s not known to have beenused for other emissions t Antioch t is unlikely hat it was struck t

this mint, lthough t is not entirely mpossible hat such a die mightbe discoveredn future.The reverse s entirely nique for the denomi-nation at any Seleucidmint n any period. Likewise,neitherdies norcontrol marks link the drachm or bronze series to Antioch. Indeedthese ssues can be found ither ntirelywithout ontrols,witha mono-gramto the right f the anchor Plate 19no. 2), or a lilysymbol o theleft Plate 19 no.3) in the case of the silver. At least one series of thedrachmswas alsodated, for an examplein the ANScollectionPlate19 no. 4) is marked PO (170 of the SeleucidEra = 142/1BC).The

bronzepieceswith the fuller itulature f Demetrius are entirely reeof controls,whilethe coins with his single epithet oftenhave an indis-tinct symbol o the left of the anchor,whichhas beeninterpreted s apentalpha.

For iconographicalreasons a more likely mint might be that ofSeleucia-in-Pieria.Here, wreathedreverseswere extremely opular inthe second century BC for both silver and bronze coinages.Laurelwreaths surround the reverse types of both the royal tetradrachms(Plate 19 no. 7) and quasi-municipalronzeissues(Plate 19 no. 8) of

the city under Antiochus V Epiphanes(175-164BC).They alsoreap-pear on the quasi-municipalpieces (Plate 19 no. 9) struck underAlexander I Balas (150-145 BC). A commemorativetetradrachmseries(Plate 19 no. 10) was also struck by Alexander at this mintbearinga reverse ype encircledby a wreath of grain ears (Houghton1982:153-158;Houghton1983:409). Duringthe second reignof Deme-trius II Nikator (129-126/5BC), followinghis return from captivityamongthe Parthians, the laurel wreath border can be found on thereverses f his Seleuciancoinage (Plate19 no. 11)as wellas on those

of his enemy,Alexander I Zabinas(128-123 BC).Admittedly, tepha-nophoric everseswere not uniqueto Seleucia-in-Pieria.y the time ofthe first eignof Demetrius I they had alreadybeen used at Antioch




104 Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur Houghtonand an uncertain North Syrian mint for the coins of Antiochus VIDionysos (145-142/1BC) (Houghton 1983:232,234-236, 579) andAlexanderI Balas (Plate 19 no. 12), although in these cases thewreaths were made of lotus (Plate 19 no. 13) and ivy respectively.Nevertheless, everses wreathed with laurel were extremelyrare atother mints prior to and during the first reign of Demetrius I. Theonly knownexampleis the bronze series issued by Alexander I from

an uncertain, robablyNorth Syrianmint Plate 19no. 14)(Houghton1983:560).6Based on this overviewt seemsreasonableto suggest hatup until the general ntroduction f laurel wreathed reverseson royaltetradrachms Plate 20 no. 15)by AntiochusVII Sidetes 138-129BC)such reverseswerethe specialtrademark f the Seleucianmint. Thus,the ANS tetradrachmmayreasonablybe supposedto have been struckhere,and by extension ts associated drachmand bronze ssues.

It is also possiblethat the anchor type may point to an origin tSeleucia-in-Pieria.n Seleucidideologythe anchor emblem was closely

associatedwith SeleucusI Nikator, the founder f the dynasty. Thelink between Seleucusand the anchorseemsto have taken place earlyon in his career.WhenAntigonusMonophthalmusrove Seleucusoutof his Babylonian satrapy n 315 BC andcompelledhim to seek aid atthe court of Ptolemy he was quickly placedin chargeof an Egyptianfleet and directed to attack Antigonidcoastal positions.Duringthisperiodthe Syrian sland-city f Aradus served as a base for the navaloperations f Seleucusand when the civic mint ssued ts seriesofAlex-andrine oinage Plate 20 no. 16)the symbolof an inverted nchor was

includedn the left field o representhe successfuldmiralof

Ptolemy.This is the first known occurrence f the Seleucid anchoron coinage(Houghton1998:145-146).

The surviving iterary ourcesfurther laborate on the connectionbetween Seleucusand the anchor. According o Justin, he originatorof the Seleucid dynasty was actually the product of a miraculouscoupling. upposedlyApollo,a godwhowasvery dear to the Seleucids,slept with Laodice,the future motherof Seleucus.The next morningApolloadvisedher that she wouldgive birth to a son who,when he

16It is temptingoassignhis eries oSeleucia-in-Pieria,ecausef both helaurel-wreathedeversendtheobverseype fZeus,hepatron eity f he ity.




Three Seleugid Notes 105was grown,should be given a token of his divine parentage.As itturned out, this token was a signet ring with the imageof an anchorcarved into its bezel(Justin 15.4).Appian saysthat Seleucuslater lostthis ring along the Euphrates River, fulfilling prophecy that hewouldrule wherever t was lost. He also offers nother explanationfor the anchor association. He says that Seleucus stumbled overaburiedanchor when he was setting ut to reclaimBabylonfromAnti-

gonusin 312 BC, portending afety n the comingcampaign.It wassupposedlybecause ofthis incident hat Seleucus chose an anchor forhis seal device(Appian Syr.56).

As wecan see,the links between Seleucus and the anchor wereverystrong oth through he historical ircumstances f his early years andthrough hepoliticalmythology hat he and his heirs developed.Thus,it might have been appropriatefor a city named after Seleucus tostrike coins with his anchor symbol.This would certainly apply toSeleucia-in-Pieriafor not only was this city named in honor of itsroyal founderbut it was also his final resting place. The murderedSeleucus wasultimately ntombed nd worshipedn the guiseof Zeusat the Nikatoreionwhich was erected n Seleucia-in-Pieria.Neverthe-less,whilethis suggestioneemsreasonableenoughon the surface t isnot entirely onvincing ince a wide variety of mints throughout heSeleucidempire had issued coins marked with an anchor from thetime of Antiochus Soter down to the period n which the ANStetra-drachmwas struck.

Instead we shouldprobablybest understand he use of the anchoronthe tetradrachm nd the related series as an attempt by Demetrius Ito promotehimself s the legitimateSeleucidking in the face of theusurpingAntiochusVI and his master Diodotus Tryphon. After all,there was a tradition hat Seleucus had an anchor-shapedbirthmarkon his thigh and that this same mark could be found on all trueSeleucidkingsas a sign of their egitimacy Justin 15.4). The anchoralso had a long history as the emblem of the legitimate Seleucidgovernment, ppearing not only on coins but also on sealsused bystate

officials nd on the shields of the military. n essenceit was ashorthand ymbol for the power and rightful uthority of the trueSeleucidking.




Three Seleucid Notes 107Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Ute Wartenberg nd Elena Stolyarik ortheirassistancein accessingthe ANS material. Thanks are due to ArthurHoughtonfor commenting n an earlier draft of this paper and forprovidingboth additional photographs nd die information rom hisforthcoming tudy of the silver coinagesof the Antioch mint. Allconclusions re the sole responsibilityf the author.

Abbreviations

BMC Seleucids= Gardner1878

References

Gardner,P. 1878.Catalogueof Greek oins the Seleucidkingsof SyriaLondon: BritishMuseum.

Grainger,J. D. 1990. The citiesof SeleukidSyria. Oxford:Clarendon

Press.Houghton,A. 1982. A tetradrachm f SeleuciaPieria at the GettyMuseum.J. Paul GettyMuseum Journal 10:153-158.

Houghton,A. 1983.Coinsof the Seleucidempirefrom he collectionfArthur oughton.New York: AmericanNumismatic ociety.

Houghton,A. 1992. The revoltof Tryphon nd the accessionof Antio-chus VI at Apamea.Revue SuissedeNumismatique1:119-141.

Houghton,A. 1998.Aradus,not Marathus. n R. Ashton, . Hurter, G.Le Rider, and R. Rland eds., Studies in Greek numismatics n

memory f Martin JessopPrice. London:Spink, pp. 145-146.Houghton,A. and A. Spaer.1998.Syllogenummorum raecorumsraelI: the Arnold Spaer collection f Seleucidcoins. London: ItaloVecchi.

III. AMINTOF ANTIOCHUSIX AT SAMARIA-SERASTE?

Arthur Houghton

Evidence nowpointsto a reasonable,f not absolutelycertain,mintlocation for a set of previouslyunassigned mall silver coins with theportrait nd reversetype of Antiochus X Cyzicenuswho, during he




108 Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur Houghtoncourseof his bitter fight with his half-brother ntiochus VIII Grypusfor the Seleucidthronebetween114 and 95 BC,ruled at various timesand locations in Cilicia,Syria Seleucis,Coele-Syria,and Phoenicia,including he area that the Romans later called Palestine.18The coinsin questionconsistof Attic-weightssues,as follows

Hemidrachms

Obv.: Diademed,bearded head of Antiochus X r.; dotted border.Rev.: BAZIAEon r.; ANTI<DIAor AN OIA on1.;Athena standing1.,holding Nikein her right hand, cradling spear withinher left armand restingher eft hand on a shield;dotted border.

ObolsObv.: As aboveRev.: BAZIon r.; ANOl on 1.;type as above.The coinshave no dates, symbolsor control marks of any kind (seePlate 20).19

An obol of the series was first publishedby G. Macdonald in1912;two more appeared at sales in 1925 and 1996(Macdonald1912:89;Naville 10, 15 Jun 1925:1480;Baldwin7, 1996:no.217). No hemi-drachmsof the series were publisheduntil the appearancein 1998 ofthe Arnold Spaer collection,which includedthree, along with twomore obols (Houghtonand Spaer 1998:nos.2760-2764).There areother oinsof the series: he author s personally wareof the existence

of six hemidrachms nd at least sixteen obols,most of which haveappeared in the past decade. Surprisingly, he series seemsto haveincludedno tetradrachms r drachms at least, none have yet cometo light. No bronzecoinagecan be associatedwith the silver.

Withoutmarksthat could associatethe coins with a particular oca-tion, t would normally e difficult o attribute hemto any of Cyzice-nus'sknownmintsor cities of occupation.However,virtually ll coins

18For discussionf heperiodsnd ocationsfCyzicenus'sule,eeHoughton(1993).19The illustratedoins re in the author's ollection,nv.AHNS541(hemi-drachm)nd842.2obol).




Three Seleucid Notes 109of the series whose provenancesare known were acquiredin Sebas-te ancient Samaria or are reported o have been found n or nearSamaria-Sebasteby highly reliablesourcesin the trade.20 With theexceptionof an oboi in the Spaercollection hat was acquiredin Jeru-salem,none are reported to have been originally oundelsewherenIsrael or Palestine,or to the knowledgeof this author, Lebanon orSyria.The area of diffusion ppears to have been quite limited. The

availableevidence the absence of links to knownmints, he disparatecharacterof the series,and now the relatively mall area of findspotdistribution points to the regionof Samaria as the locus of origin,and likelyto Samaria-Sebaste tself s the issuingmint.

As many readers will be aware,Samaria was a fortress ity with along history of settlement.21 ounded by Omri early in the ninthcentury s Israel'scapital,it fell to the Assyriansn 721BC.Occupiedby the Persians n the fifth entury, amaria was seized in 332BCbyAlexander the Great,who settled arge numbers f his veterans there.After Alexander'sdeath, the city fell under the control of the Ptole-mies,who in 200 BC weredriven out by the Seleucidruler AntiochusIII. The city remainedSeleucid until it was seized anddestroyedbyJohn HyrcanusI (ruled 135-104BC) in late 109 or early 108.22 Itwas annexed to the Roman provinceof Syria by Pompey in 63 BCand six years later, in 57, was rebuilt by AulusGabinius. In 25 BCHerodrefounded he city and named it Sebastein honor of Augustus.

The coinage,and its apparent origin, are surprising.Under theSeleucids,smallsilvercoinage drachms and fractions was struck tvarious times and places,but toward the end of the secondcentury heissuance ofsuchcurrency ad becomeincreasingly nusualand limitedto truly majormints uchas Damascus(drachms, arely) nd Antioch,whichissued,alongwith its tetradrachms, rachmsalong with somehemidrachms nd diobols.Other than those that are here attributed

20With hanks oShraga edar ndArnoldpaer or he ourcingnformation.21Fora recent istoryf Samaria,eeStern1993:1300-1318).heexcavationsourcesreG.A.Reisnert al. 1924)ndJ.W.Crowfoott al. 1942).orSamaria'scoinagef hePersianeriodee Y. MeshorerndS.Qedar1999).G.Finkielsztejn1998:49)evises hedates arried yReisner1924)nd D.Barag 1992-93:8).




110 Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur Houghtonto Samaria,no obols werebeing producedat any Seleucidmint and,in fact, noneare known to have been struck ince the reignof Deme-trius I (152-145 BC),when a singleissue appearedat an uncertainmint very probably ocatedin Persia (Houghton1983:no.1321,fromIran).23A mint that producedhemidrachmsnd obols underthe Seleu-cids in this period s exceptional, nd one that produced as seems tohavebeen the case)onlyfractional ilver, s exceptionaln the extreme.

With regard to the proposedlocation of issue, Samariais not anobviousplaceto have had a Seleucid silver mint. Early in the secondcentury, he production f Seleucidsilvercoinagehad become increas-ingly concentrated at provincial capitals or important regionaleconomiccenters Antioch n Syria Seleucis,Tyre and Ake-Ptolemaisin Phoenicia,Damascusin Coele-Syria,nd so forth. here were excep-tions,but these generally nvolvedcitiesthat struck ssues of prestigeor coinagefor exclusively political purpose.Even though Samaria-Sebaste was animportantmarketplace, ts currency eeds,major andminor,wouldnormallyhave beensupplied by one of the region'sprin-cipal mints likely Ake-Ptolemais,which lay not far away, orDamascus.Why would the Seleucid court then have conferred nSamariathe right o coin silver,particularly ilver of such an excep-tional nature?

The answer almost certainly ies within the politicalsituation inSyria at the time, includingthe struggle between CyzicenusandGrypus, nd the specific ituationof Samaria itself t the time of themint's establishment. With regard to the former, Cyzicenus'sdatedcoinage ndicates hat he occupiedAntioch nd parts of the Phoeniciancoast (Sidonin any event) in Seleucid Year200 (114/3BC),and tookDamascus, and perhaps all of Coele-Syria,the following year(Houghton 1993:96[table]).Samariamay have givenitself ver to himearly, earning royal favor n the process.

At the same time, the fortress-city as an important outpost ofresistance gainst Hyrcanus I, who controlledJerusalem nd threat-ened Seleucidrule from the south. Josephus'saccount and recentlypublished archaeologicalmaterial confirm that Hyrcanus besieged

23Anotherxamplef his oinages n Berlin.




Three Seleucid Notes 111Samaria latein 110 or early109(JosephusAnt.13.255,War 1.63-66).24Cyzicenuscame to the city's relief,but was defeated by Hyrcanus'ssons.Cyzicenuseturnedwith 6000 Ptolemaicsoldiers, avagingHyrca-nus'sterritory n an apparent attempt o relievethe pressure f Hyrca-nus's forcesrather than engagethem in a direct attack. After muchloss of life he eventuallywithdrew, eavingSamaria'sdefenseto twoof his generals,Callimandrus nd Epicrates, the first of whom waskilled n battle while the second was bribed to concede.

It is not clearfrom he known history f Samaria when a mint mayhave been establishedby Cyzicenus:one suspectsbefore Hyrcanus'ssiege,but the coins are not dated and there s no externalevidencetosupport his view conclusively.Why he issued such a distinctive, venunique, coinagethere s more of a question.As small-valuecurrency,the hemidrachmsnd obolsmayhave been intended ocirculate roadlyin the regionfor politicalreasons and for the purposeof smaller rans-actions rather than large-scalecommercial or military payments, swould have been the case with tetradrachms.Whatever the circum-stance,the mint did not remain open long.If it was established hortlyafter Cyzicenus'srrival n Coele-Syria,n or about 112BC,its produc-tionwould have ended whenHyrcanusovercameSeleucidresistance ndoverwhelmed nd destroyed amariain 109 or 108.

AcknowledgmentsA versionof this article appearedin TheCelatorvol. 14,no. 7 (July

2000).For help in its preparation, am grateful o ShragaQedarforinformation n the coins, to David Hendin and Haim Gitler forproviding mportant ackgroundmaterial and references ecessary othe reconstruction f events at Samaria,to Haim Gitlerfor magesofthe coins n the Israel Museum,nd to Oliver Hoover forreviewingndediting he text.

24Hyrcanus'sar gainstheSamarianssextensivelyiscussedy Finkielsztejn(1998:48-52).




112 Brian Kritt, Oliver D. Hoover, and Arthur HoughtonReferences

Barag, D. 1992-93. Newevidenceon the foreign policy of JohnHyrcanus . Israel NumismaticJournal 12:1

Crowfoot, . W., K. M.Kenyon,and E. L. Sukenik.1942. Thebuild-ingsat Samaria. London:PalestineExplorationFund.

Finkielsztejn,G. 1998. More evidence on JohnHyrcanus 's conquests:lead weights nd Rhodian amphora stamps.Bulletinof theAnglo-IsraelArchaeological ociety6:33-63.

Houghton,A. 1983.Coinsof the Seleucidempirefrom he collectionfArthur oughtonNew York: AmericanNumismatic ociety.

Houghton,A. 1993. Thereigns f AntiochusVIII and Antiochus X atAntioch nd Tarsus. RevueSuissedeNumismatique2:87-106.

Houghton,A. and A. Spaer. 1998.Syllogenummorum raecorumsraelI: the Arnold Spaer collection f Seleucidcoins. London: ItaloVecchi.

Macdonald,G. 1912. Seltene und unedirte eleukidenmünzen.eitschriftfür Numismatik 9:89-106.Meshorer, . and S. Qedar. 1999.Samaríancoinage.Jerusalem: srael

Numismatic ociety.Reisner,G.A., C.S. Fisher, nd D. G.Lyon. 1924. Harvard excavations

at Samaria, 1908-1910,vols. I- II. Cambridge,Mass: HarvardUniversity ress.

Stern,E., ed. 1993. The newencyclopediaf archaeologicalxcavationsnthe HolyLand, vol. 4: Petra-Ziqim.Jerusalem: srael Exploration

Society.




Plate 18

I.CoinagefAntiochusII nBactria

AI KHANOUMAntiochusI

Counterstamped

AntiochusII

Euthydemus

APAMEAAntiochusII

ThreeSeleucidNotes




Plate19

II.AUniqueetradrachmfDemetriusI Nikator

ThreeSeleucidNotes




Plate 20

Imitativeemisrom orthern truria

II.AMintfAntiochusX at amaria-Sebaste?

Three eleucid otes

three seleucid notes / brian kritt, oliver d. hoover and arthur houghton

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