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Macedonian Kingdom. Philip III Arrhidaeus (323-317 B.C.)
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Sear 6750-6751 var.; Price P57; Müller P89.
AR drachm; struck circa 323-319 B.C. at the Ionia, Magnesia ad Maeandrum (Magneasia on the Meander) mint, 3.92 g., 17.04 mm. max, 0°.
Obv.: Head of Herakles right, wearing Nemean lion's skin headdress.
Rev.: ΦIΛIΠΠOY, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding eagle and sceptre, IAT monogram below throne.
Arrhidaeus was the illegitimate son of King Philip II of Macedonia by Philinna of Larissa, and thus an elder half-brother of Alexander III the Great. He had mild learning difficulties. Alexander was fond of Arrhidaeus and took him on his campaigns, both to protect his life and to prevent his use as a pawn in any prospective challenge for the throne. After Alexander's death in Babylon in 323 B.C., the Macedonian army in Asia proclaimed Arrhidaeus as king, and he was re-named Philip. He served merely as a figurehead and as the pawn of a series of powerful generals. He was murdered in October 317 by Olympias, Alexander's mother, to ensure the succession of her grandson.
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