Satraps of Caria. Hidrieus (Circa 351-344 BC)

AR Tetradrachm

13.77 g

Obverse: Head of Apollo facing, turned slightly right, hair parted in center and swept to either side, drapery at neck

REverse: ΙΔΡΙΕΩΣ (IDRIEOS), Zeus Laubrandus advancing right, labrys in right hand over shoulder, spear in left; small E to right of feet.

SNG von Aulock 8046. SNG Lockett 2909.

As part of the Achaemenid Empire, Caria in the fourth century BC was under the rule of a family of semi-independent satraps known as the Hekatomnids after the dynasty's founder, Hekatomnos. Born in Mylasa, Hekatomnos was appointed satrap of Caria by the Persian king Artaxerxes II, ruler of the Achaemenid Empire . Interested in Hellenic culture (and possibly hedging his diplomatic bets), Hekatomnos sent his youngest son, Pixodaros, to Athens as part of a deputation; his older son, Maussolos, was bound by xenia, or guest friendship, with Agesilaus, king of Sparta. Hekatomnos died in 377/6 BC and was succeeded by Maussolos.

Hekatomnos second series of coinage has on the obverse the standing figure of the Carian Zeus of Labranda, carrying his distinctive double-ax, and on the reverse a lion with the name Hecatomnus above. Maussolos retained his father's type of the Carian Zeus but transferred it to the reverse of his coinage. For the obverse he chose a facing laureate head of Apollo. The immediate model for this type was the facing head of Helios on the Rhodian coinage; the choice was part of the policy of Hellenization in pursuit of which Maussolos built a new capital at Halicaranassus and commissioned for himself a monumental tomb created by leading Greek architects and sculptors. Known later as the Mausoleum, its size and elaborate decoration made it one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.The types of Maussolos' coinage were retained by his successors, who ruled in southwest Asia Minor until the arrival of Alexander - Hidrieus (351-344, the coin above), Pixodorus (340-334), and Rhoontopates (334-333).