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Image search results - "Babylon"
199521.jpg
UR III CUNEIFORM TABLET FRAGMENT, A NOTE ON A QUANTITY OF BARLEY
2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
1 1/2 in. (23 grams, 39 mm).

A clay tablet bearing cuneiform text to one face, roughly lentoid in cross-section, a note on a quantity of barley, possibly Paleo-Babylonian
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ALEXANDER_III_AR_Drachm.JPG
Philip III Arrhidaios, 323 - 317 BC. AR Drachm struck in the name and types of Alexander III at Lampsakos, Mysia.Obverse: No legend. Head of Herakles, wearing lion-skin knotted at base of neck, facing right.
Reverse: AΛEΞANΔPOY. Zeus Aëtophoros seated facing left, right leg drawn back, feet on stool, eagle in right hand, sceptre in left; buckle in left field; Λ above Ω below throne.
Diameter: 18mm | Weight: 4.16gms | Die Axis: 7 | Cut mark above eyebrow on obverse.
Price: 1376

Alexander the Great reigned from 336 to 323 BC but this coin was struck shortly after his death, in around 323 to 317 BC under Philip III Arrhidaios.

Philip III Arrhidaios was the king of Macedonia after the death of Alexander the Great, from 323 BC until his own death in 317 BC. He was a son of King Philip II of Macedonia and a half-brother of Alexander. Named Arrhidaios at birth, he assumed the name Philip when he ascended the throne.
As Arrhidaios grew older it became apparent that he had mild learning difficulties. Alexander was very fond of him, and took him on his campaigns, both to protect his life and to ensure he would not be used as a pawn in a challenge for the throne. After Alexander's death in Babylon, Arrhidaios was proclaimed king by the Macedonian army in Asia, but he was a mere figurehead, and a pawn of the powerful generals, one after the other.
2 comments*Alex
Decius_Babylon_103.jpg
3 Trajan DeciusTrajan Decius
AE20, Edessa, Mesopotamia

O: AVG DEKIC CEB. Radiate bust of Decius, R.

R: KOL EDICCA. Turreted bust of Cybele, l.

Babylon 103, BMC 168

Thanks to Helvetica for translating Babylon, without which I would not have been able to attribute this coin.
Sosius
317_-_297_BC_KASSANDER_AE18.JPG
Kassander, 317 - 297 BC. AE18. Struck 319 - 305 BC at an uncertain mint in MacedoniaObverse: No legend. Head of Herakles, wearing lion's skin, facing right.
Reverse: KAΣΣAN - ΔPOY, above and below crouching lion facing right, Λ in right field, before lion.
Diameter: 17.77mm | Weight: 3.76gms | Die Axis: 6
SNG Cop 1138 | Sear GCV 6753 | Forrer/Weber 2161

This type was issued before Kassander's assumption of the royal title in 305 BC

Kassander (Cassander) was one of the Diadochoi, a group of Macedonian generals, and the self proclaimed ruler of Macedonia during the political turmoil following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. He was the son of Antipater, who had been appointed as regent in Macedonia while Alexander was in the East.
In 319 BC and close to death, Antipater transferred the regency of Macedonia to Polyperchon. Kassander refused to acknowledge the new regent and, with the aid of Antigonus I Monopthalmus the ruler of Phrygia, he seized Macedonia and most of Greece, including Athens. In 317 BC, he declared himself regent and had Alexander's widow, Roxanna and son, Alexander IV confined in Amphipolis. Later, in 310 or 309 BC, he had them put to death by poisoning. But, even though he had murdered Alexander's heirs and had been the de facto ruler of Macedonia from 317 BC, Kassander did not take the royal titles and declare himself king until 305 BC.
Meanwhile, Antigonus was intent on reuniting Alexander's empire under his own sovereignty and so Kassander joined forces with Ptolemy I of Egypt, Seleucus in Babylon and Lysimachus ruler of Thrace to oppose him. The two sides fought several battles between 319 and 303 BC resulting in Kassander losing Athens in 307 BC and his possessions south of Thessaly between 303 and 302 BC. However, in 301 BC Antigonus was defeated and killed at the Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia which allowed Kassander to secure undisputed control over Macedonia.
During his rule Kassander restored peace and prosperity to the kingdom, founding or restoring numerous cities, including Thebes which had been levelled by Alexander as punishment for rebelling against him. He also founded Thessalonica, naming the city after his wife, and Cassandreia, founded upon the ruins of Potidaea, which was named after himself.
Kassander died of dropsy in 297 BC and may have been buried in a royal tomb recently discovered at Vergina, identified as Aigai, the first Macedonian capital.
*Alex
03-Alex-Babylon-P2619.jpg
03. Alexander the Great.Tetradrachm, ca 325 - 323 BC, "Babylon" mint.
Obverse: Head of Alexander as Herakles, wearing lion's skin headdress.
Reverse: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ / Zeus sitting, holding his attendant eagle and sceptre. M and a bee at left, monogram under throne.
17.12 gm., 26 mm.
P. #3619; M. #696.

Martin J. Price assigns this coin to the mint at "Babylon," but he says (p. 456 -57) it is possible that coins of "group two" may have been minted at Susa or Ecbatana.
3 commentsCallimachus
05-Philip-III.jpg
05. Philip III.Tetradrachm, 323 - 317 BC, "Babylon" mint.
Obverse: Head of Alexander as Herakles, wearing lion's skin headdress.
Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΟΣ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ / Zeus sitting, holding his attendant eagle and sceptre. M at left, ΛΥ between the rungs of the throne.
16.99 gm., 27 mm.
P. #P181; M. #99; S. #6749.

Martin J. Price assigns this coin to the mint at "Babylon," but he says (p. 455) that coins with the M-ΛΥ monograms may have to be assigned to Susa after further study.
Callimachus
wileycweights24_9mm_8_3g.jpg
1 shekel Hematite Babylonian/Syrian weightSphendonoid flat base
24mm/9mm
8.3 g
Hendin; 23
wileyc
IMG_9261.JPG
1. Seleukos I Nikator SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 BC. Æ Seleukeia II mint. Horned horse head right / Anchor; monogram to right. SC 145.

Seleukos fled from Antigonus the one-eyed in Babylonia on horseback. He credited this animal with saving his life. He then deified the animal on his coinage and in other cult shrines.

He eventually made it to Egypt where Ptolemy sheltered him for a while until he could regroup and begin to definitively establish what would become the Seleucid empire.
ecoli
wileycweights20_7mm4_22g.jpg
1/2 shekel Hematite sphendonoid 20mm by 7mm base
4.22g
Hematite weight
Babylonian style
Hendin 31-37
wileyc
12th_Century_Talmud_Rear.jpg
12th Century Handwritten Vellum Leaf of the TalmudThis page of the Talmud predates publication of the first complete edition of the Talmud in 1540 by Daniel Bomberg. Bomberg employed rabbis, scholars, and apostates at his Venetian publishing house, and was responsible for the first Rabbinic Bible, as well as the first complete Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. It was once customary for Jews to use old manuscripts as binding material for their newly printed and bound books. This piece is an example of that practice

Ex Living Torah Museum collection
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12th_Century_Talmud_Front.jpg
12th Century Handwritten Vellum Leaf of the TalmudThis page of the Talmud predates publication of the first complete edition of the Talmud in 1540 by Daniel Bomberg. Bomberg employed rabbis, scholars, and apostates at his Venetian publishing house, and was responsible for the first Rabbinic Bible, as well as the first complete Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. It was once customary for Jews to use old manuscripts as binding material for their newly printed and bound books. This piece is an example of that practice

Ex Living Torah Museum collection
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Julian2VotXConstantinople.jpg
1409a, Julian II "the Philosopher," February 360 - 26 June 363 A.D.Julian II, A.D. 360-363; RIC 167; VF; 2.7g, 20mm; Constantinople mint; Obverse: DN FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG, helmeted & cuirassed bust right, holding spear & shield; Reverse: VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath; CONSPB in exergue; Attractive green patina. Ex Nemesis.


De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors


Julian the Apostate (360-363 A.D.)


Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University

Introduction

The emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus reigned from 360 to 26 June 363, when he was killed fighting against the Persians. Despite his short rule, his emperorship was pivotal in the development of the history of the later Roman empire. This essay is not meant to be a comprehensive look at the various issues central to the reign of Julian and the history of the later empire. Rather, this short work is meant to be a brief history and introduction for the general reader. Julian was the last direct descendent of the Constantinian line to ascend to the purple, and it is one of history's great ironies that he was the last non-Christian emperor. As such, he has been vilified by most Christian sources, beginning with John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzus in the later fourth century. This tradition was picked up by the fifth century Eusebian continuators Sozomen, Socrates Scholasticus, and Theodoret and passed on to scholars down through the 20th century. Most contemporary sources, however, paint a much more balanced picture of Julian and his reign. The adoption of Christianity by emperors and society, while still a vital concern, was but one of several issues that concerned Julian.

It is fortunate that extensive writings from Julian himself exist, which help interpret his reign in the light of contemporary evidence. Still extant are some letters, several panegyrics, and a few satires. Other contemporary sources include the soldier Ammianus Marcellinus' history, correspondence between Julian and Libanius of Antioch, several panegyrics, laws from the Theodosian Code, inscriptions, and coinage. These sources show Julian's emphasis on restoration. He saw himself as the restorer of the traditional values of Roman society. Of course much of this was rhetoric, meant to defend Julian against charges that he was a usurper. At the same time this theme of restoration was central to all emperors of the fourth century. Julian thought that he was the one emperor who could regain what was viewed as the lost glory of the Roman empire. To achieve this goal he courted select groups of social elites to get across his message of restoration. This was the way that emperors functioned in the fourth century. By choosing whom to include in the sharing of power, they sought to shape society.

Early Life

Julian was born at Constantinople in 331. His father was Julius Constantius, half-brother of the emperor Constantine through Constantius Chlorus, and his mother was Basilina, Julius' second wife. Julian had two half-brothers via Julius' first marriage. One of these was Gallus, who played a major role in Julian's life. Julian appeared destined for a bright future via his father's connection to the Constantinian house. After many years of tense relations with his three half-brothers, Constantine seemed to have welcomed them into the fold of the imperial family. From 333 to 335, Constantine conferred a series of honors upon his three half-siblings, including appointing Julius Constantius as one of the consuls for 335. Julian's mother was equally distinguished. Ammianus related that she was from a noble family. This is supported by Libanius, who claimed that she was the daughter of Julius Julianus, a Praetorian Prefect under Licinius, who was such a model of administrative virtue that he was pardoned and honored by Constantine.

Despite the fact that his mother died shortly after giving birth to him, Julian experienced an idyllic early childhood. This ended when Constantius II conducted a purge of many of his relatives shortly after Constantine's death in 337, particularly targeting the families of Constantine's half-brothers. ulian and Gallus were spared, probably due to their young age. Julian was put under the care of Mardonius, a Scythian eunuch who had tutored his mother, in 339, and was raised in the Greek philosophical tradition, and probably lived in Nicomedia. Ammianus also supplied the fact that while in Nicomedia, Julian was cared for by the local bishop Eusebius, of whom the future emperor was a distant relation. Julian was educated by some of the most famous names in grammar and rhetoric in the Greek world at that time, including Nicocles and Hecebolius. In 344 Constantius II sent Julian and Gallus to Macellum in Cappadocia, where they remained for six years. In 351, Gallus was made Caesar by Constantius II and Julian was allowed to return to Nicomedia, where he studied under Aedesius, Eusebius, and Chrysanthius, all famed philosophers, and was exposed to the Neo-Platonism that would become such a prominent part of his life. But Julian was most proud of the time he spent studying under Maximus of Ephesus, a noted Neo-Platonic philospher and theurgist. It was Maximus who completed Julian's full-scale conversion to Neo-Platonism. Later, when he was Caesar, Julian told of how he put letters from this philosopher under his pillows so that he would continue to absorb wisdom while he slept, and while campaigning on the Rhine, he sent his speeches to Maximus for approval before letting others hear them. When Gallus was executed in 354 for treason by Constantius II, Julian was summoned to Italy and essentially kept under house arrest at Comum, near Milan, for seven months before Constantius' wife Eusebia convinced the emperor that Julian posed no threat. This allowed Julian to return to Greece and continue his life as a scholar where he studied under the Neo-Platonist Priscus. Julian's life of scholarly pursuit, however, ended abruptly when he was summoned to the imperial court and made Caesar by Constantius II on 6 November 355.

Julian as Caesar

Constantius II realized an essential truth of the empire that had been evident since the time of the Tetrarchy--the empire was too big to be ruled effectively by one man. Julian was pressed into service as Caesar, or subordinate emperor, because an imperial presence was needed in the west, in particular in the Gallic provinces. Julian, due to the emperor's earlier purges, was the only viable candidate of the imperial family left who could act as Caesar. Constantius enjoined Julian with the task of restoring order along the Rhine frontier. A few days after he was made Caesar, Julian was married to Constantius' sister Helena in order to cement the alliance between the two men. On 1 December 355, Julian journeyed north, and in Augusta Taurinorum he learned that Alamannic raiders had destroyed Colonia Agrippina. He then proceeded to Vienne where he spent the winter. At Vienne, he learned that Augustudunum was also under siege, but was being held by a veteran garrison. He made this his first priority, and arrived there on 24 June 356. When he had assured himself that the city was in no immediate danger, he journeyed to Augusta Treverorum via Autessioduram, and from there to Durocortorum where he rendezvoused with his army. Julian had the army stage a series of punitive strikes around the Dieuse region, and then he moved them towards the Argentoratum/Mongontiacum region when word of barbarian incursions reached him.

From there, Julian moved on to Colonia Agrippina, and negotiated a peace with the local barbarian leaders who had assaulted the city. He then wintered at Senonae. He spent the early part of the campaigning season of 357 fighting off besiegers at Senonae, and then conducting operations around Lugdunum and Tres Tabernae. Later that summer, he encountered his watershed moment as a military general. Ammianus went into great detail about Julian's victory over seven rogue Alamannic chieftains near Argentoratum, and Julian himself bragged about it in his later writing. After this battle, the soldiers acclaimed Julian Augustus, but he rejected this title. After mounting a series of follow-up raids into Alamannic territory, he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia, and on the way defeated some Frankish raiders in the Mosa region. Julian considered this campaign one of the major events of his time as Caesar.

Julian began his 358 military campaigns early, hoping to catch the barbarians by surprise. His first target was the Franks in the northern Rhine region. He then proceeded to restore some forts in the Mosa region, but his soldiers threatened to mutiny because they were on short rations and had not been paid their donative since Julian had become Caesar. After he soothed his soldiers, Julian spent the rest of the summer negotiating a peace with various Alamannic leaders in the mid and lower Rhine areas, and retired to winter quarters at Lutetia. In 359, he prepared once again to carry out a series of punitive expeditions against the Alamanni in the Rhine region who were still hostile to the Roman presence. In preparation, the Caesar repopulated seven previously destroyed cities and set them up as supply bases and staging areas. This was done with the help of the people with whom Julian had negotiated a peace the year before. Julian then had a detachment of lightly armed soldiers cross the Rhine near Mogontiacum and conduct a guerilla strike against several chieftains. As a result of these campaigns, Julian was able to negotiate a peace with all but a handful of the Alamannic leaders, and he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia.

Of course, Julian did more than act as a general during his time as Caesar. According to Ammianus, Julian was an able administrator who took steps to correct the injustices of Constantius' appointees. Ammianus related the story of how Julian prevented Florentius, the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, from raising taxes, and also how Julian actually took over as governor for the province of Belgica Secunda. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, supported Ammianus' basic assessment of Julian in this regard when he reported that Julian was an able representative of the emperor to the Gallic provincials. There is also epigraphic evidence to support Julian's popularity amongst the provincial elites. An inscription found near Beneventum in Apulia reads:
"To Flavius Claudius Julianus, most noble and sanctified Caesar, from the caring Tocius Maximus, vir clarissimus, for the care of the res publica from Beneventum".

Tocius Maximus, as a vir clarissimus, was at the highest point in the social spectrum and was a leader in his local community. This inscription shows that Julian was successful in establishing a positive image amongst provincial elites while he was Caesar.

Julian Augustus

In early 360, Constantius, driven by jealousy of Julian's success, stripped Julian of many troops and officers, ostensibly because the emperor needed them for his upcoming campaign against the Persians. One of the legions ordered east, the Petulantes, did not want to leave Gaul because the majority of the soldiers in the unit were from this region. As a result they mutinied and hailed Julian as Augustus at Lutetia. Julian refused this acclamation as he had done at Argentoratum earlier, but the soldiers would have none of his denial. They raised him on a shield and adorned him with a neck chain, which had formerly been the possession of the standard-bearer of the Petulantes and symbolized a royal diadem. Julian appeared reluctantly to acquiesce to their wishes, and promised a generous donative. The exact date of his acclamation is unknown, but most scholars put it in February or March. Julian himself supported Ammianus' picture of a jealous Constantius. In his Letter to the Athenians, a document constructed to answer charges that he was a usurper, Julian stated that from the start he, as Caesar, had been meant as a figurehead to the soldiers and provincials. The real power he claimed lay with the generals and officials already present in Gaul. In fact, according to Julian, the generals were charged with watching him as much as the enemy. His account of the actual acclamation closely followed what Ammianus told us, but he stressed even more his reluctance to take power. Julian claimed that he did so only after praying to Zeus for guidance.

Fearing the reaction of Constantius, Julian sent a letter to his fellow emperor justifying the events at Lutetia and trying to arrange a peaceful solution. This letter berated Constantius for forcing the troops in Gaul into an untenable situation. Ammianus stated that Julian's letter blamed Constantius' decision to transfer Gallic legions east as the reason for the soldiers' rebellion. Julian once again asserted that he was an unwilling participant who was only following the desire of the soldiers. In both of these basic accounts Ammianus and Julian are playing upon the theme of restoration. Implicit in their version of Julian's acclamation is the argument that Constantius was unfit to rule. The soldiers were the vehicle of the gods' will. The Letter to the Athenians is full of references to the fact that Julian was assuming the mantle of Augustus at the instigation of the gods. Ammianus summed up this position nicely when he related the story of how, when Julian was agonizing over whether to accept the soldiers' acclamation, he had a dream in which he was visited by the Genius (guardian spirit) of the Roman state. The Genius told Julian that it had often tried to bestow high honors upon Julian but had been rebuffed. Now, the Genius went on to say, was Julian's final chance to take the power that was rightfully his. If the Caesar refused this chance, the Genius would depart forever, and both Julian and the state would rue Julian's rejection. Julian himself wrote a letter to his friend Maximus of Ephesus in November of 361 detailing his thoughts on his proclamation. In this letter, Julian stated that the soldiers proclaimed him Augustus against his will. Julian, however, defended his accession, saying that the gods willed it and that he had treated his enemies with clemency and justice. He went on to say that he led the troops in propitiating the traditional deities, because the gods commanded him to return to the traditional rites, and would reward him if he fulfilled this duty.

During 360 an uneasy peace simmered between the two emperors. Julian spent the 360 campaigning season continuing his efforts to restore order along the Rhine, while Constantius continued operations against the Persians. Julian wintered in Vienne, and celebrated his Quinquennalia. It was at this time that his wife Helena died, and he sent her remains to Rome for a proper burial at his family villa on the Via Nomentana where the body of her sister was entombed. The uneasy peace held through the summer of 361, but Julian concentrated his military operations around harassing the Alamannic chieftain Vadomarius and his allies, who had concluded a peace treaty with Constantius some years earlier. By the end of the summer, Julian decided to put an end to the waiting and gathered his army to march east against Constantius. The empire teetered on the brink of another civil war. Constantius had spent the summer negotiating with the Persians and making preparations for possible military action against his cousin. When he was assured that the Persians would not attack, he summoned his army and sallied forth to meet Julian. As the armies drew inexorably closer to one another, the empire was saved from another bloody civil war when Constantius died unexpectedly of natural causes on 3 November near the town of Mopsucrenae in Cilicia, naming Julian -- the sources say-- as his legitimate successor.

Julian was in Dacia when he learned of his cousin's death. He made his way through Thrace and came to Constantinople on 11 December 361 where Julian honored the emperor with the funeral rites appropriate for a man of his station. Julian immediately set about putting his supporters in positions of power and trimming the imperial bureaucracy, which had become extremely overstaffed during Constantius' reign. Cooks and barbers had increased during the late emperor's reign and Julian expelled them from his court. Ammianus gave a mixed assessment of how the new emperor handled the followers of Constantius. Traditionally, emperors were supposed to show clemency to the supporters of a defeated enemy. Julian, however, gave some men over to death to appease the army. Ammianus used the case of Ursulus, Constantius' comes sacrum largitionum, to illustrate his point. Ursulus had actually tried to acquire money for the Gallic troops when Julian had first been appointed Caesar, but he had also made a disparaging remark about the ineffectiveness of the army after the battle of Amida. The soldiers remembered this, and when Julian became sole Augustus, they demanded Ursulus' head. Julian obliged, much to the disapproval of Ammianus. This seems to be a case of Julian courting the favor of the military leadership, and is indicative of a pattern in which Julian courted the goodwill of various societal elites to legitimize his position as emperor.

Another case in point is the officials who made up the imperial bureaucracy. Many of them were subjected to trial and punishment. To achieve this goal, during the last weeks of December 361 Julian assembled a military tribunal at Chalcedon, empanelling six judges to try the cases. The president of the tribunal was Salutius, just promoted to the rank of Praetorian Prefect; the five other members were Mamertinus, the orator, and four general officers: Jovinus, Agilo, Nevitta, and Arbetio. Relative to the proceedings of the tribunal, Ammianus noted that the judges, " . . . oversaw the cases more vehemently than was right or fair, with the exception of a few . . .." Ammianus' account of Julian's attempt at reform of the imperial bureaucracy is supported by legal evidence from the Theodosian Code. A series of laws sent to Mamertinus, Julian's appointee as Praetorian Prefect in Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, illustrate this point nicely. On 6 June 362, Mamertinus received a law that prohibited provincial governors from bypassing the Vicars when giving their reports to the Prefect. Traditionally, Vicars were given civil authority over a group of provinces, and were in theory meant to serve as a middle step between governors and Prefects. This law suggests that the Vicars were being left out, at least in Illyricum. Julian issued another edict to Mamertinus on 22 February 362 to stop abuse of the public post by governors. According to this law, only Mamertinus could issue post warrants, but the Vicars were given twelve blank warrants to be used as they saw fit, and each governor was given two. Continuing the trend of bureaucratic reform, Julian also imposed penalties on governors who purposefully delayed appeals in court cases they had heard. The emperor also established a new official to weigh solidi used in official government transactions to combat coin clipping.

For Julian, reigning in the abuses of imperial bureaucrats was one step in restoring the prestige of the office of emperor. Because he could not affect all elements of society personally, Julian, like other Neo-Flavian emperors, decided to concentrate on select groups of societal elites as intercessors between himself and the general populace. One of these groups was the imperial bureaucracy. Julian made it very clear that imperial officials were intercessors in a very real sense in a letter to Alypius, Vicar of Britain. In this letter, sent from Gaul sometime before 361, the emperor praises Alypius for his use of "mildness and moderation with courage and force" in his rule of the provincials. Such virtues were characteristic of the emperors, and it was good that Alypius is representing Julian in this way. Julian courted the army because it put him in power. Another group he sought to include in his rule was the traditional Senatorial aristocracy. One of his first appointments as consul was Claudius Mamertinus, a Gallic Senator and rhetorician. Mamertinus' speech in praise of Julian delivered at Constantinople in January of 362 is preserved. In this speech, Claudius presented his consular selection as inaugurating a new golden age and Julian as the restorer of the empire founded by Augustus. The image Mamertinus gave of his own consulate inaugurating a new golden age is not merely formulaic. The comparison of Julian to Augustus has very real, if implicit, relevance to Claudius' situation. Claudius emphasized the imperial period as the true age of renewal. Augustus ushered in a new era with his formation of a partnership between the emperor and the Senate based upon a series of honors and offices bestowed upon the Senate in return for their role as intercessor between emperor and populace. It was this system that Julian was restoring, and the consulate was one concrete example of this bond. To be chosen as a consul by the emperor, who himself had been divinely mandated, was a divine honor. In addition to being named consul, Mamertinus went on to hold several offices under Julian, including the Prefecture of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. Similarly, inscriptional evidence illustrates a link between municipal elites and Julian during his time as Caesar, something which continued after he became emperor. One concrete example comes from the municipal senate of Aceruntia in Apulia, which established a monument on which Julian is styled as "Repairer of the World."

Julian seems to have given up actual Christian belief before his acclamation as emperor and was a practitioner of more traditional Greco-Roman religious beliefs, in particular, a follower of certain late antique Platonist philosophers who were especially adept at theurgy as was noted earlier. In fact Julian himself spoke of his conversion to Neo-Platonism in a letter to the Alexandrians written in 363. He stated that he had abandoned Christianity when he was twenty years old and been an adherent of the traditional Greco-Roman deities for the twelve years prior to writing this letter.

(For the complete text of this article see: http://www.roman-emperors.org/julian.htm)

Julian’s Persian Campaign

The exact goals Julian had for his ill-fated Persian campaign were never clear. The Sassanid Persians, and before them the Parthians, had been a traditional enemy from the time of the Late Republic, and indeed Constantius had been conducting a war against them before Julian's accession forced the former to forge an uneasy peace. Julian, however, had no concrete reason to reopen hostilities in the east. Socrates Scholasticus attributed Julian's motives to imitation of Alexander the Great, but perhaps the real reason lay in his need to gather the support of the army. Despite his acclamation by the Gallic legions, relations between Julian and the top military officers was uneasy at best. A war against the Persians would have brought prestige and power both to Julian and the army.

Julian set out on his fateful campaign on 5 March 363. Using his trademark strategy of striking quickly and where least expected, he moved his army through Heirapolis and from there speedily across the Euphrates and into the province of Mesopotamia, where he stopped at the town of Batnae. His plan was to eventually return through Armenia and winter in Tarsus. Once in Mesopotamia, Julian was faced with the decision of whether to travel south through the province of Babylonia or cross the Tigris into Assyria, and he eventually decided to move south through Babylonia and turn west into Assyria at a later date. By 27 March, he had the bulk of his army across the Euphrates, and had also arranged a flotilla to guard his supply line along the mighty river. He then left his generals Procopius and Sebastianus to help Arsacius, the king of Armenia and a Roman client, to guard the northern Tigris line. It was also during this time that he received the surrender of many prominent local leaders who had nominally supported the Persians. These men supplied Julian with money and troops for further military action against their former masters. Julian decided to turn south into Babylonia and proceeded along the Euphrates, coming to the fortress of Cercusium at the junction of the Abora and Euphrates Rivers around the first of April, and from there he took his army west to a region called Zaitha near the abandoned town of Dura where they visited the tomb of the emperor Gordian which was in the area. On April 7 he set out from there into the heart of Babylonia and towards Assyria.

Ammianus then stated that Julian and his army crossed into Assyria, which on the face of things appears very confusing. Julian still seems to be operating within the province of Babylonia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The confusion is alleviated when one realizes that,for Ammianus, the region of Assyria encompassed the provinces of Babylonia and Assyria. On their march, Julian's forces took the fortress of Anatha, received the surrender and support of several more local princes, and ravaged the countryside of Assyria between the rivers. As the army continued south, they came across the fortresses Thilutha and Achaiachala, but these places were too well defended and Julian decided to leave them alone. Further south were the cities Diacira and Ozogardana, which the Roman forces sacked and burned. Soon, Julian came to Pirisabora and a brief siege ensued, but the city fell and was also looted and destroyed. It was also at this time that the Roman army met its first systematic resistance from the Persians. As the Romans penetrated further south and west, the local inhabitants began to flood their route. Nevertheless, the Roman forces pressed on and came to Maiozamalcha, a sizable city not far from Ctesiphon. After a short siege, this city too fell to Julian. Inexorably, Julian's forces zeroed in on Ctesiphon, but as they drew closer, the Persian resistance grew fiercer, with guerilla raids whittling at Julian's men and supplies. A sizable force of the army was lost and the emperor himself was almost killed taking a fort a few miles from the target city.
Finally, the army approached Ctesiphon following a canal that linked the Tigris and Euphrates. It soon became apparent after a few preliminary skirmishes that a protracted siege would be necessary to take this important city. Many of his generals, however, thought that pursuing this course of action would be foolish. Julian reluctantly agreed, but became enraged by this failure and ordered his fleet to be burned as he decided to march through the province of Assyria. Julian had planned for his army to live off the land, but the Persians employed a scorched-earth policy. When it became apparent that his army would perish (because his supplies were beginning to dwindle) from starvation and the heat if he continued his campaign, and also in the face of superior numbers of the enemy, Julian ordered a retreat on 16 June. As the Roman army retreated, they were constantly harassed by guerilla strikes. It was during one of these raids that Julian got caught up in the fighting and took a spear to his abdomen. Mortally wounded he was carried to his tent, where, after conferring with some of his officers, he died. The date was 26 June 363.

Conclusion

Thus an ignominious end for a man came about who had hoped to restore the glory of the Roman empire during his reign as emperor. Due to his intense hatred of Christianity, the opinion of posterity has not been kind to Julian. The contemporary opinion, however, was overall positive. The evidence shows that Julian was a complex ruler with a definite agenda to use traditional social institutions in order to revive what he saw as a collapsing empire. In the final assessment, he was not so different from any of the other emperors of the fourth century. He was a man grasping desperately to hang on to a Greco-Roman conception of leadership that was undergoing a subtle yet profound change.
Copyright (C) 2002, Walter E. Roberts and Michael DiMaio, Jr. Used by permission.

In reality, Julian worked to promote culture and philosophy in any manifestation. He tried to reduce taxes and the public debts of municipalities; he augmented administrative decentralisation; he promoted a campaign of austerity to reduce public expenditure (setting himself as the example). He reformed the postal service and eliminated the powerful secret police.
by Federico Morando; JULIAN II, The Apostate, See the Julian II Page on NumisWiki

Flavius Claudius Iulianus was born in 331 or maybe 332 A.D. in Constantinople. He ruled the Western Empire as Caesar from 355 to 360 and was hailed Augustus by his legions in Lutetia (Paris) in 360. Julian was a gifted administrator and military strategist. Famed as the last pagan emperor, his reinstatement of the pagan religion earned him the moniker "the Apostate." As evidenced by his brilliant writing, some of which has survived to the present day, the title "the Philosopher" may have been more appropriate. He died from wounds suffered during the Persian campaign of 363 A.D. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.




2 commentsCleisthenes
14th_Century_Torah_Front.jpg
14th Century Handwritten Vellum Leaf of the Torah This page of the Talmud predates publication of the first complete edition of the Talmud in 1540 by Daniel Bomberg. Bomberg employed rabbis, scholars, and apostates at his Venetian publishing house, and was responsible for the first Rabbinic Bible, as well as the first complete Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. It was once customary for Jews to use old manuscripts as binding material for their newly printed and bound books. This piece is an example of that practice.

Ex Living Torah Museum collection
Quant.Geek
TrajanSestCeres~0.jpg
1bc Trajan98-117

Sestertius
Laureate head, right, IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V PP
Roma and kneeling Dacian, SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI SC

RIC 485

Eutropius enthused: To [Nerva] succeeded ULPIUS CRINITUS TRAJANUS, born at Italica in Spain, of a family rather ancient than eminent for his father was the first consul in it. He was chosen emperor at Agrippina, a city of Gaul. He exercised the government in such a manner, that he is deservedly preferred to all the other emperors. He was a man of extraordinary skill in managing affairs of state, and of remarkable courage. The limits of the Roman empire, which, since the reign of Augustus, had been rather defended than honourably enlarged, he extended far and wide. He rebuilt some cities in Germany; he subdued Dacia by the overthrow of Decebalus, and formed a province beyond the Danube, in that territory which the Thaiphali, Victoali, and Theruingi now occupy. This province was a thousand miles in circumference.

He recovered Armenia, which the Parthians had seized, putting to death Parthamasires who held the government of it. He gave a king to the Albani. He received into alliance the king of the Iberians, Sarmatians, Bosporani, Arabians, Osdroeni, and Colchians. He obtained the mastery over the Cordueni and Marcomedi, as well as over Anthemusia, an extensive region of Persia. He conquered and kept possession of Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Babylon, and the country of the Messenii. He advanced as far as the boundaries of India, and the Red Sea, where he formed three provinces, Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, including the tribes which border on Madena. He afterwards, too, reduced Arabia into the form of a province. He also fitted out a fleet for the Red Sea, that he might use it to lay waste the coasts of India.

Yet he went beyond his glory in war, in ability and judgment as a ruler, conducting himself as an equal towards all, going often to his friends as a visitor, either when they were ill, or when they were celebrating feast days, and entertaining them in his turn at banquets where there was no distinction of rank, and sitting frequently with them in their chariots; doing nothing unjust towards any of the senators, nor being guilty of any dishonesty to fill his treasury; exercising liberality to all, enriching with offices of trust, publicly and privately, every body whom he had known even with the least familiarity; building towns throughout the world, granting many immunities to states, and doing every thing with gentleness and kindness; so that during his whole reign, there was but one senator condemned, and he was sentenced by the senate without Trajan's knowledge. Hence, being regarded throughout the world as next to a god, he deservedly obtained the highest veneration both living and dead. . . .

After having gained the greatest glory both in the field and at home, he was cut off, as he was returning from Persia, by a diarrhoea, at Seleucia in Isauria. He died in the sixty-third year, ninth month, and fourth day of his age, and in the nineteenth year, sixth month, and fifteenth day of his reign. He was enrolled among the gods, and was the only one of all the emperors that was buried within the city. His bones, contained in a golden urn, lie in the forum which he himself built, under a pillar whose height is a hundred and forty-four feet. So much respect has been paid to his memory, that, even to our own times, they shout in acclamations to the emperors, "More fortunate than Augustus, better than Trajan!"
Blindado
CaracallaDenMars.jpg
1bu Caracalla198-217

Denarius

Laureate head, right, ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT
Mars, MARTI PROPVGNATORI

RIC 223

The Historia Augusta, in the life of Severus, records: As he was advancing against Albinus, moreover, and had reached Viminacium 4 on his march, he gave his elder son Bassianus the name Aurelius Antoninus 5 and the title of Caesar, in order to destroy whatever hopes of succeeding to the throne his brother Geta had conceived. His reason for giving his son the name Antoninus was that he had dreamed that an Antoninus would succeed him. It was because of this dream, some believe, that Geta also was called Antoninus, in order that he too might succeed to the throne. . . . [After defeating Niger], he bestowed the. toga virilis on his younger son, Geta, and he united his elder son in marriage with Plautianus' daughter [Plautilla]. . . . Soon thereafter he appointed his sons to the consulship ; also he greatly honored his brother Geta. . . . Severus [in 198] invaded Parthia, defeated the king, and came to Ctesiphon; and about the beginning of the winter season he took the city. For this feat, likewise, the soldiers declared his son, Bassianus Antoninus, co-emperor; he had already been named Caesar and was now in his thirteenth year. And to Geta, his younger son, they gave the name Caesar. . . .

In the life of Caracalla, the history continues: He himself in his boyhood was winsome and clever, respectful to his parents and courteous to his parents' friends, beloved by the people, popular with the senate, and well able to further his own interests in winning affection. Never did he seem backward in letters or slow in deeds of kindness, never niggardly in largess or tardy in forgiving at least while under his parents. . . . All this, however, was in his boyhood. For when
he passed beyond the age of a boy, either by his father's advice or through a natural cunning, or because he thought that he must imitate Alexander of Macedonia,he became more reserved and stern and even somewhat savage in expression. . . .

After his father's death he went to the Praetorian Camp and complained there to the soldiers that his brother was forming a conspiracy against him. And so he had his brother slain in the Palace. . . . After this he committed many further murders in the city, causing many persons far and wide to be seized by soldier sand killed, as though he were punishing a rebellion. . . . After doing all this he set out for Gaul and immediately upon his arrival there killed the proconsul of Narbonensis. . . . Then he made ready for a journey to the Orient, but interrupted his march and stopped in Dacia. . . . Then he journeyed through Thrace accompanied by the prefect of the guard. . . . After this, turning to the war with the Armenians and Parthians, he appointed as military commander a man whose character resembled his own. . . . Then he betook himself to Alexandria. . . . [H]e issued an order to his soldiers to slay their hosts and thus caused great slaughter at Alexandria. . . . Next he advanced through the lands of the Cadusii and the Babylonians and waged a guerilla-warfare with the Parthian satraps, in which wild beasts were even let loose against the enemy. He then sent a letter to the senate as though he had won a real victory and thereupon was given the name Parthicus. . . .

After this he wintered at Edessa with the intention of renewing the war against the Parthians. During this time, on the eighth day before the Ides of April, the feast of the Megalensia and his own birthday, while on a journey to Carrhae to do honor to the god Lunus, he stepped aside to satisfy the needs of nature and was thereupon assassinated by the treachery of Macrinus the prefect of the guard, who after his death seized the imperial power.
1 commentsBlindado
BOTLAUREL_2011.JPG
2011THIS YEAR'S WINNERS
CLICK ON A COIN FOR ITS DETAILS


















*Alex
a_042.JPG
323-317 BC Philip III Philip III Arrhidaeus
Tetradrachm Babylon

Obverse:Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Reverse:FILIPPOY BASILEOS;Zeus on throne;M left throne, LY under throne

25.24mm 17.12gm

Price P181b
maik
g_082.JPG
323-317 BC Philip III Philip III Arrhidaeus
Tetradrachm Babylon

Obverse:Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Reverse:ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ;Zeus on throne;M left throne, LY under throne

25.93mm 17.00 g
PRICE P 181b
maik
siglos.jpg
Achaemenid Empire siglosSilver siglos (Carradice type IIIb A/B, Near Very Fine, 16.7mm, 5.54 g), Xerxes I - Darius II, 480–420 BCE

The word siglos is Greek for "shekel" (sigle in Persian/Babylonian), that is, this coin is an Achaemenid Empire (Persian) shekel. Its weight is approximately half of the shekel that was used during the first Bet HaMikdash (~11.3 g).

Therefore, Haman concluded: “If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed, and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries” (Esther 3:9). Reish Lakish said: It is revealed and known in advance to the One Who spoke and the world came into being, that in the future Haman was going to weigh out shekels against the Jewish people; therefore, He arranged that the Jewish people’s shekels that were given to the Temple preceded Haman’s shekels.
(Tractate Megillah, 13b)
Yoel S
Ae_Arrowhead_31.jpg
AE Arrowhead #31Old Babylonian – Neo-Elamite
1500–1000 BC
57mm (2 ¼”)

Cf. Malloy (Weapons: Ancient and Medieval Art and Antiquities), Fig. 86
Cf. Petrie (Tools and Weapons), Plate XLI, Fig. 2-3

Description:
Somewhat ovate head, medium-length tang (possibly broken), hammered flat from cut sheet.
Kamnaskires
artet1.JPG
Alexander IIIAlexander III AR Tetradrachm. ‘Amphipolis’ mint. Struck under Kassander, circa 316-314 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; shield in left field, pellet-in-Π below throne. 17.1 g.

Price 136; Troxell, Studies, issue L8.

Thanks for the atribution Lloyd!


Most lifetime issues of Alexander the Great were usualy bulky/thick, which did not alow for the entire design of the die to imprint on the coin. IMO looked better then the wide thin flan. (edit: though this one is Struck under Kassander)

The coin was hand stuck with a die/avil. Dies were usually made of Bronze because it was sofeter and easier to work with then iron, (though some were made of iron as well) then the was anealed to make it stronger and less brittle.

The planchets were made by pouring molten metal into a mold and saved until needed. When it was ready to be used, they heated it just below melting point and placed it between the dies and the punch die was struck with a hammer.


-----------------------------


"Building upon his father's success in Greece, Alexander III (Alexander the Great, reigned 336-323 BC) set about the conquest of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. By the time of his death at the age of 31, he ruled most of the known world from Greece to Afghanistan. Initially Alexander continued to mint Philip's gold and silver coins. Soon, however, the need for a silver coinage that could be widely used in Greece caused him to begin a new coinage on the Athenian weight-standard. His new silver coins, with the head of Herakles on one side and a seated figure of Zeus on the other, also became one of the staple coinages of the Greek world. They were widely imitated within the empire he had forged."

--------------------------------------

"......Alexander seems to have liked Amphipolis, because one of his last plans was to spend no less than 315 ton silver for a splendid new temple in the city that was to be dedicated to Artemis Tauropolus. It was never built, but after Alexander's death on 11 June 323 in Babylon, his wife queen Roxane settled in Amphipolis, which appears to have become one of the residences of the Macedonian royals. In 179, king Philip V died in the town."


------------------

Amphipolis , ancient city of Macedonia, on the Strymon (Struma) River near the sea and NE of later Thessaloníki. The place was known as Ennea Hodoi [nine ways] before it was settled and was of interest because of the gold and silver and timber of Mt. Pangaeus (Pangaion), to which it gave access. Athenian colonists were driven out (c.464 BC) by Thracians, but a colony was established in 437 BC Amphipolis became one of the major Greek cities on the N Aegean. This colony was captured by Sparta, and Brasidas and Cleon were both killed in a battle there in 422 BC After it was returned to Athens in 421 BC, it actually had virtual independence until captured (357 BC) by Philip II of Macedon. He had promised to restore it to Athens, and his retention of Amphipolis was a major cause of the war with Athens. In 148 BC it became the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia. Paul, Silas, and Timothy passed through Amphipolis (Acts 17.1). Nearby is the modern Greek village of Amfípolis."

--------------------------------

"A quick look at the WildWinds database( http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/macedonia/kings/alexander_III/t.html ) indicates that the style and monograms are consistent with an Amphipolis issue, with perhaps a little less care than usual in the engraving of the reverse. The closest I could locate with a quick look is Price 133 (variant), although yours appears to have a shield rather than dolphin in the left field reverse."
16 commentsRandygeki(h2)
2450079.jpg
Alexander IIIAR Obol (8mm, 0.48 g, 11h). ‘Babylon’ mint. Struck circa 325-323 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; uncertain letter in left field, monogram below throne. Cf. Price 3606.TLP
Alexander_III_the_Great_Lifetime_Issue_AR_Tetradrachm_Amphipolis_Mint.jpg
Alexander III "the Great" Lifetime Issue AR Tetradrachm Amphipolis MintThis Tetradrachm ( 4 Drachms ) was struck and circulated during the life of Alexander the third (born 356 BC), or as commonly known " Alexander The Great "
Ruled from 336 BC and died in Babylon year 323 BC.
AR Tetradrachm (22.5mm, 16.94 g, 10h). Amphipolis mint. Struck under Antipater, circa 332-326 BC.
Obverse : Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin.
Reverse : Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, horizontal club above Σ within Ω.
Lightly toned, tiny mark on obverse, minor flan flaw on reverse. Good VF.
Price 66; Troxell, Studies, Issue D7.

The Sam Mansourati Collection.
Sam
Alexander_III_the_Great_Lifetime_Issue_AR_Tetradrachm_Amphipolis_Mint~0.jpg
Alexander III "the Great" Lifetime Issue AR Tetradrachm Amphipolis MintThis Tetradrachm ( 4 Drachms ) was struck and circulated during the life of Alexander the third (born 356 BC), or as commonly known " Alexander The Great "
Ruled from 336 BC and died in Babylon year 323 BC.
AR Tetradrachm (22.5mm, 16.94 g, 10h). Amphipolis mint. Struck under Antipater, circa 332-326 BC.
Obverse : Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin.
Reverse : Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, horizontal club above Σ within Ω.
Lightly toned, tiny mark on obverse, minor flan flaw on reverse. Good VF.
Price 66; Troxell, Studies, Issue D7.

The Sam Mansourati Collection.
1 commentsSam
Alexander_III_Babylon~0.jpg
Alexander III - AR tetradrachmstruck by Peithon in the name of Alexander III
Babylon
315-311 BC
head of young Heracles in lionskin right
Zeus enthroned left, holding eagle and scepter
monogram in wreath: (HYP); monogram under throne: (XA)
AΛEΞANΔPOY
BAΣIΛEΩΣ
Price 3723
17,2g 24mm

ex Gitbud-Naumann
J. B.
1451_Alexander_III_Babylon.jpg
Alexander III - AR tetradrachmunder Stamenes or Archon
Babylon
324-323 BC
head of young Herakles right wearing lion's skin
Zeus seated left, leaning on scepter, holding eagle; kerykeion in left field
AΛEΞANΔPOY
(HΦΛ) / M
Price 3627¨
16,5g 25mm
ex Künker

After Mazaeus died in 328 B.C., Alexander appointed Stamenes as satrap of Babylon. Little is known about him, other than he probably died of natural causes around 323 B.C. when Archon of Pella replaced him. Perdiccas suspected Archon of colluding in the theft of Alexander's corpse and, in 321 B.C., sent Dokimos to replace him. Archon was defeated and died from battle wounds."
J. B.
albabylon.jpg
Alexander III of Macedon Babylon Mint, 315-311 BCTetradrachm minted in Babylon, probably under Peithon.
Head of Herakles in Lionskin Headdress/ Zeus Aetophoros on Reverse, MTP in wreath in left field, PiDT monogram in circle below throne. BASILEUW below, ALEXANDROY to right.

Price 3733 (ref.Wildwinds), 16.6 grms
1 commentsdaverino
1_(1).jpg
Alexander III the Great - BabylonAR tetradrachm (24mm, 16.86 gm, 1h)
posthumous issue of Babylon, ca. 323-317 BC
M in left field, ΛY above strut
Price 3692
1 commentstiago1480
25643q00.jpg
Alexander III The Great, Macedonian Kingdom, 336 - 323 B.C., Ancient CounterfeitFouree silver plated didrachm, cf. Price 3603 (official, Babylon mint, 325 -323 B.C., very rare), F, plating breaks, 4.936g, 17.2mm, 270o, obverse Herakles' head right, clad in Nemean lion scalp headdress tied at neck; reverse ALEXAND[POY], Zeus seated left, legs uncrossed, holding eagle and scepter; M in left field, monogram below throneCaffaro
Macedonian Kingdom 1a img.jpg
Alexander III The Great, Macedonian Kingdom, 336 - 323 B.C., Lifetime Issue, Silver tetradrachm, Price 3599 (same dies) Silver tetradrachm
Obv:- Head of (Alexander the Great as) Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress knotted at base of neck
Rev:- ALEXANDROU, Zeus seated left, holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left, monogram and M below throne;
Price 3599 (same dies), Müller 67, 17.206g, 25.9mm, 255o, Babylon mint, lifetime issue, c. 325 - 323 B.C.;
EF, obverse off-center;

Dies by 'The Alexander Dekadrachm Master'. From the same highly-skilled hand as the famous dekadrachms, including Price 3598, with which this shares all symbols and their arrangement. A massive issue of coinage was struck for the mass-weddings of the soldiers of Alexander the Great to Persian women, and their subsequent return to Macedonia. The best style of the lengthy issue of Alexander coinage
4 commentsmaridvnvm
Macedonian_Kingdom_1a_img.jpg
Alexander III The Great, Macedonian Kingdom, 336 - 323 B.C., Lifetime Issue, Silver tetradrachm, Price 3599 (same dies)Silver tetradrachm
Obv:- Head of (Alexander the Great as) Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress knotted at base of neck
Rev:- ALEXANDROU, Zeus seated left, holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left, monogram and M below throne;
Price 3599 (same dies), Müller 67, 17.206g, 25.9mm, 255o, Babylon mint, lifetime issue, c. 325 - 323 B.C.;
EF, obverse off-center;

Dies by 'The Alexander Dekadrachm Master'. From the same highly-skilled hand as the famous dekadrachms, including Price 3598, with which this shares all symbols and their arrangement. A massive issue of coinage was struck for the mass-weddings of the soldiers of Alexander the Great to Persian women, and their subsequent return to Macedonia. The best style of the lengthy issue of Alexander coinage

Ex-Forum

Old coin - new photo.

Click to zoom.
2 commentsmaridvnvm
Macedonian_Kingdom_1a_img~0.jpg
Alexander III The Great, Macedonian Kingdom, 336 - 323 B.C., Lifetime Issue, Silver tetradrachm, Price 3599 (same dies)Silver tetradrachm
Obv:- Head of (Alexander the Great as) Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress knotted at base of neck
Rev:- ALEXANDROU, Zeus seated left, holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left, monogram and M below throne;
Price 3599 (same dies), Müller 67, 17.206g, 25.9mm, 255o, Babylon mint, lifetime issue, c. 325 - 323 B.C.;
EF, obverse off-center;

Dies by 'The Alexander Dekadrachm Master'. From the same highly-skilled hand as the famous dekadrachms, including Price 3598, with which this shares all symbols and their arrangement. A massive issue of coinage was struck for the mass-weddings of the soldiers of Alexander the Great to Persian women, and their subsequent return to Macedonia. The best style of the lengthy issue of Alexander coinage

Ex-Forum

Updated image using new photography setup.
maridvnvm
Alexander_III,_King_of_Macedon_Silver.jpg
Alexander III, The Great, King of Macedon 336-323 BC. Silver TetradrachmPrice 3725a
struck betweem 317-311 DC. BABYLON mint,

Obverse: Head of Hercules right wearing lion skin headdress knotted at the base of neck
Reverse: ALEXANDROU behind Zeus enthroned left holding eagle & sceptre, XA monogram before on left field, monogram MYP in wreath beneath throne
17.1 gram _20800 Sold
2 commentsAntonivs Protti
Alexander_b2.jpg
Alexander III. "The Great" tetradrachmBabylon mint, ca. 325-323 B.C.
Price #3679: lifetime issue
17.00 gr., 28 mm
1 commentsTibsi
Alexander_obol_AR9_0_67g.jpg
Alexander obol, Babylon?9mm, 0.67g
obv: head of Herakles wering lion-skin headdress right
rev: Zeus on throne left, holding scepter and eagle
areich
download~8.jpg
Alexander TetradrachmAlexander the Great
Ar Tetradrachm, lifetime issue.
17.02g,
325 - 323 BC
Babylon mint, M below monogram under throne.
Price 3601?
1 comments
alex_tet.jpg
Alexander the GreatAlexander III "The Great". 336-323 BC. AR Tetradrachm, struck circa 325-323 BC.
Obverse: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress.
Reverse: Zeus seated left, holding eagle in right hand, sceptre in left; grapes and M before, monogram below throne.
Price 3641b (same obverse die); Müller 692. 26mm, 16.62 g. Babylon mint.
b70
IMG_4617.PNG
Alexander the GreatCNG description:

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25.5mm, 17.19 g, 11h). Babylon mint. Struck under Stamenes or Archon, circa 324/3 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, horizontal ear above M; monogram below throne. Price 3611 corr. (symbol). Good VF, lightly toned, slight die shift on obverse, reverse a little off center. Ex CNG.
4 commentsMolinari
normal_download~8.jpg
Alexander the GreatAlexander the Great
Ar Tetradrachm, lifetime issue.
17.02g,
325 - 323 BC
Babylon mint, M below monogram under throne.
Price 3601?
JayAg47
Alexander_the_Great.png
Alexander the Great ( or Alexander III ) Tetradrachm Lifetime Issue. Ancient Greek / Alexander the Great (336 - 323) BC Tetradrachm

Obverse : head of Alexander the Great as Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress knotted at base of neck.

Reverse :Zeus seated left, holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left, sickle and M before, AΛEΞAN∆POY ( means Alexander in Ancient Greek ) behind . ΦIΛH monogram under throne over BAΣIΛEΩΣ ( means King in Ancient Greek ) .

Babylon mint, struck 325 to 323 BC , lifetime issue, 17.01 gr . Very rare . Choice gVF.


**A Lifetime Issue , according to FORVM Classical Numismatics Discussion Board .

References : Müller 703, Price 3624*.

The Sam Mansourati Collection.


Sam
Alexander_the_Great__Tetradrachm_Lifetime_Issue_.png
Alexander the Great (336 - 323) BC ( or Alexander III ) Tetradrachm Lifetime Issue.Obverse : head of Alexander the Great as Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress knotted at base of neck.

Reverse :Zeus seated left, holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left, sickle and M before, AΛEΞAN∆POY ( means Alexander in Ancient Greek ) behind . ΦIΛH monogram under throne over BAΣIΛEΩΣ ( means King in Ancient Greek ) .

Babylon mint, struck 325 to 323 BC , lifetime issue, 17.01 gr . Very rare . Choice gVF.


**A Lifetime Issue , according to FORVM Classical Numismatics Discussion Board .

References : Müller 703, Price 3624*.

EX The Sam Mansourati Collection.

Jovan Lee Delavega Ancient Coins Collection.
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Alexander the Great . 325-323 BC . AR hemidrachm . Alexander the Great . 325-323 BC . AR hemidrachm 12mm, 1.92g . Babylon mint lifetime issue .
Obverse : Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin .
Reverse : Zeus seated left, holding an eagle and sceptre
M in left field, ALEXANDROY behind .
Price 3605.
Ex Baumheckel. Ex JHE.
Vladislav D
2__Cylindre-Sceau_1re_dynastie_de_Babylone_1900-1700_avant_J_-C__Statite_grise.jpg
ANTIQUITIES, Babylonia, Cylinder Seal, 1900 - 1700 B.C.Cylindre-Sceau, 1ère dynastie de Babylone, 1900-1700 avant J.-C (Stéatite grise)
Cylindre de 18 x 10 mn, gravé en creux de symboles, personnages (Dieux) et animaux (aigle et félin), patine verte.
021012JSB032.jpg
ANTIQUITIES, Persia, Bronze Arrowhead, c.1200-800 B.C.Near Eastern Bronze Age arrowhead, dating to the Late Bronze Age approximately 1200 - 800 B.C.
With long, four sided tang, cylindrical midsection and rounded blade with barbed shoulders.
Arrows such as this were used by the Early Cultures of Babylonia, Assyria and Anatolia.
Unrestored, in exceptional condition.
Length: 3 inches.
Siglos_king_dagger_bow.jpg
Artaxerxes II - Darius IIIPersian Empire, Lydia, Anatolia, Artaxerxes II - Darius III, c. 375 - 340 B.C., Silver siglos, 5.490 g, maximum diameter 15.1 mm, die axis 0, Carradice Type IV (late) C, 46 ff.; BMC Arabia 172 ff.; SNG Kayhan 1031; SGCV II 4683; Rosen 674; Klein 763; Carradice Price p. 77 and pl. 20, 387 ff.

Following Darius II came Artaxerxes II (called Mnemon), during whose reign Egypt revolted and relations with Greece deteriorated. His reign (dated as from 404 to 359 B.C.E.) was followed by that of his son Artaxerxes III (also called Ochus), who is credited with some 21 years of rule (358-338 B.C.E.) and is said to have been the most bloodthirsty of all the Persian rulers. His major feat was the reconquest of Egypt.
This was followed by a two-year rule for Arses and a five-year rule for Darius III (Codomannus), during whose reign Philip of Macedonia was murdered (336 B.C.E.) and was succeeded by his son Alexander. In 334 B.C.E. Alexander began his attack on the Persian Empire.

Siglos was the Greek transliteration of the Semitic denomination ""shekel"" which became a standard weight unit for silver in the Achaemenid Persian Empire after the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. Ironically, silver sigloi seem to have been struck primarily in the western part of the empire and the standard went on to influence several Greek civic and royal coinages in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. There is endless debate about whether the figure on the obverse represents the Persian Great King or an anonymous royal hero, but since the Greeks regularly referred to the parallel gold denomination as the ""daric"" it seems clear that at least some contemporaries considered it a depiction of the king. Of course, whether this is what the Persian authorities intended or an example of interpretatio Graeca must remain an open question.
4 commentsNemonater
mazaios~0.jpg
Baal or Zeus (Interpretatio Graecia) on Cilician Stater of Satrap MazaiosCirca 361-334 B.C. AR Stater (10.88g, 24mm, 5h). cf. SNG Levant-106; SNG Paris-. Obverse Baal of Tarsos enthroned left, head facing, holding club, bunch of grapes, wheat ear, and eagle in right hand, lotus-headed scepter in left hand, B’LTRZ (Baaltarz) in Aramaic behind, M below throne, all within a circle of dots. Reverse lion bringing down bull, attacking with teeth and claws, MZDI (Mazdai) in Aramaic above, unlisted ankh symbol, wheat ear below, all within a circle of dots. Sharply struck on an excellent metal with areas of flat strikes on high points. Choice superb EF/EF. Toned, lustrous.

Ex Ponterio and Associates Sale No. 84, November 1996, lot 141. Ex Stacks Bowers and Ponterio Sale No. 172, November 2012, lot 11680. Ex Pars Coins.

The depiction of Phoenician-Canaanite god Baal on Cilician coinage suggests the preeminence of his cult in Tarsos. He is shown enthroned, most probably on Mount Zaphon. The symbols corn-ear/barley and grapes suggest Baal’s capacity as a god involved in the seasonal cycles of life and death, or a more specific reference to Cilicia’s fertile plains. The iconography of this late coinage is also a syncretic mixture of other cultures, including Greek. The treatment of the god’s body gives us a hint of the extent of influence of Hellenic culture exerted in Eastern Asia Minor long before Alexander’s conquest, and it is said that Baal could be equated with Zeus in the Greek context. After the conquest of Alexander III of the East, Mazaios was appointed governor of Babylon. The new coinage of Alexander was strongly influenced by Mazaios’ pre-Alexandrine coinage (the Zeus Aetophoros commonly found on the reverses of his tetradrachmai is a direct descendant of this). The reverse depicts the City’s Emblem and clearly has an underlying meaning now lost to us. Some say it symbolizes the victory of Day over Night, while others suggest military conquest and subjugation of the enemies by the Persian Empire. Marvin Tameanko has persuasively argued (see Celator, Jan. 1995, pp. 6-11) that the kneeling bull (without the lion) is symbolic of Zeus, as attested on scores of later Greek and Roman coins; and the lion is symbolic of the supreme god Baal of the Cilicians. This concludes the lion-over-bull motif on this coin delivers a message that is blatantly direct and simple, if the argument put forward is to be believed.
5 commentsJason T
Walker-102.jpg
Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar II (ca. 6th Century BCE) Brick Tablet (Walker 102, 7-line Type)Brick impressed with seven lines of cuneiform text:

𒀭𒀝𒆪𒁺𒌫𒊑𒌶 (Nebuchadnezzar (II))
𒈗 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (King of Babylon)
𒍝𒉌𒅔 𒂍𒊕𒅍 (provider of Esagila)
𒅇 𒂍𒍣𒁕 (and Ezida)
𒌉𒍑 𒀀𒊭𒊑𒁺 (foremost seed)
𒊭 𒀭𒀝𒌉𒍑𒌶 (of Nabopolassar,)
𒈗 𒁀𒁉𒇻𒆠 𒀀𒈾𒆪 (King of Babylon, am I)



2 commentsQuant.Geek
seleukia_antiochosI_SC379_6a.jpg
Babylonia, Seleukeia ad Tigris, Antiochos I, SC 379, 6aAntiochos I. Soter, 281-261 BC
AR - tetradrachm, 16.92g, 29.04mm, 315°
struck 264-263 BC
obv. Head of Antiochos I., diademed, r.
rev. BASILEWS - ANTIOXOV
Apollo Delphios, nude, std. r. on omphalos, holding with l. hand bow set on ground behind and checking
arrow in extended r. hand; chlamys over omphalos covered with agrenon and r. thigh
in outer l. and r. field monogram
ref. Newell ESM 166, pl. XV, 2; SC 379, 6a
VF
1 commentsJochen
10_5mm_69g.jpg
Babylonian/Syrian weight; 1/16 shekel/qedet 1/16 shekel; (0.69g=1/16 of 8.28g shekel) Hematite sphendonoid flat base, 10 by 5mm at waist.
13-14th century B.C.E
Hendin 52
wileyc
20_4mm1_06g.jpg
Babylonian/Syrian weight; 1/8 shekel/qedet (1.06g=1/8 shekel of 8.48g) Hematite sphendonoid ellipsoid

20mm by 4mm wide at waist

1.06g
13th-14 century B.C.E
Hendin 51
wileyc
019~0.JPG
Bullion something to do with "The Richest man In Babylon"Randygeki(h2)
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Carrhae in Mesopotamia, Septimius Severus, AE 24, Lindgren 2557Carrhae in Mesopotamia, Septimius Severus, AE 24, 193-211 AD
Av.: CEΠTIMIOC [CE]OY.... , naked (laureate?) bust of Septimius Severus right
Rv.: ..Λ]OY KAPPH ΛKA... , front view of a tetrastyle temple, the temple of the moon god Sin, in the middle a sacred stone on tripod, on top of stone: crescent, standards (with crescents on top) on both sides inside the building; another crescent in the pediment.
Lindgren 2557 ; BMC p. 82, #4

The city and the region played an important role in roman history.

Carrhae / Harran, (Akkadian Harrânu, "intersecting roads"; Latin Carrhae), an ancient city of strategic importance, an important town in northern Mesopotamia, famous for its temple of the moon god Sin, is now nothing more than a village in southeastern Turkey with an archeological site.
In the Bible it is mentioned as one of the towns where Abraham stayed on his voyage from Ur to the promised land. Abraham's family settled there when they left Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:31-32).
Inscriptions indicate that Harran existed as early as 2000 B.C. In its prime, it controlled the point where the road from Damascus joins the highway between Nineveh and Carchemish. This location gave Harran strategic value from an early date. It is frequently mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions about 1100 BC, under the name Harranu, or "Road" (Akkadian harrānu, 'road, path, journey' ).
During the fall of the Assyrian Empire, Harran became the stronghold of its lasts king, Ashur-uballit II, being besiged and conquered by Nabopolassar of Babylon at 609 BC. Harran became part of Median Empire after the fall of Assyria, and subsequently passed to the Persian Achaemenid dynasty.
The city remained Persian untill in 331 BC when the soldiers of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great entered the city.
After the death of Alexander on 11 June 323 BC, the city was claimed by his successors: Perdiccas, Antigonus Monophthalmus and Eumenes. These visited the city, but eventually, it became part of the Asian kingdom of Seleucos I (Nicator), the Seleucid empire, and capital of a province called Osrhoene (the Greek term for the old name Urhai).
The Seleucids settled Macedonian veterans at Harran. For a century-and-a-half, the town flourished, and it became independent when the Parthian dynasty of Persia occupied Babylonia. The Parthian and Seleucid kings both needed the buffer state of Osrhoene which was part of the larger Parthian empire and had nearby Edessa as its capital. The dynasty of the Arabian Abgarides, technically a vassal of the Parthian "king of kings" ruled Osrhoene for centuries.

Carrhae was the scene of a disastrous defeat of the Roman general Crassus by the Parthians. In 53 BC. Crassus, leading an army of 50.000, conducted a campaign against Parthia. After he captured a few cities on the way, he hurried to cross the Euphrates River with hopes of receiving laurels and the title of “Emperor”. But as he drove his forces over Rakkan towards Harran, Parthian cavalry besieged his forces in a pincers movement. In the ensuing battle, the Roman army was defeated and decimated. The battle of Carrhae was the beginning of a series of border wars with Parthia for many centuries. Numismatic evidence for these wars or the corresponding peace are for instance the "Signis Receptis" issues of Augustus and the “Janum Clusit” issues of Nero.
Later Lucius Verus tried to conquer Osrhoene and initially was successful. But an epidemic made an annexation impossible. However, a victory monument was erected in Ephesus, and Carrhae/Harran is shown as one of the subject towns.
Septimius Severus finally added Osrhoene to his realms in 195. The typical conic domed houses of ancient Harran can be seen on the Arch of Septimius Severus on the Forum Romanum.
Harran was the chief home of the moon-god Sin, whose temple was rebuilt by several kings. Sin was one of the great gods of the Assurian-Babylonian pantheon.
Caracalla gave Harran the status of a colonia (214 AD) and visited the city and the temple of the moon god in April 217. Meanwhile the moon god (and sacred stones) had become a part of the Roman pantheon and the temple a place to deify the roman emperors (as the standards on both sides of the temple indicate).

Caracalla was murdered while he was on his way from Temple to the palace. If this had been arranged by Macrinus - the prefect of the Praetorian guard who was to be the new emperor – is not quite clear. On the eighth of April, the emperor and his courtiers made a brief trip to the world famous temple of the moon god. When Caracalla halted to perform natural functions, he was assassinated by one of his bodyguards, Julius Martialis, who had a private grudge against the ruler, because he had not been given the post of centurion.

In 296 AD Roman control was again interrupted when nearby Carrhae the emperor Galerius was defeated by the king Narses / the Sasanid dynasty of Persia. The Roman emperor Julianus Apostata sacrificed to the moon god in 363 AD, at the beginning of his ill-fated campaign against the Sassanid Persians. The region continued to be a battle zone between the Romans and Sassanids. It remained Roman (or Byzantine) until 639, when the city finally was captured by the Muslim armies.

At that time, the cult of Sin still existed. After the arrival of the Islam, the adherents of other religions probably went to live in the marshes of the lower Tigris and Euphrates, and are still known as Mandaeans.
The ancient city walls surrounding Harran, 4 kilometer long and 3 kilometer wide, have been repaired throughout the ages (a.o. by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in the sixth century), and large parts are still standing. The position of no less than 187 towers has been identified. Of the six gates (Aleppo gate, Anatolian, Arslanli, Mosul, Baghdad, and Rakka gate), only the first one has remained.

A citadel was built in the 14th century in place of the Temple of Sin. This lies in the south-west quarter of the ancient town. Its ruin can still be visited.

my ancient coin database
1 commentsArminius
mazaios.jpg
Cilicia, Tarsos. Satrap Mazaios. AR Stater.Circa 361-334 B.C. AR Stater (10.88gm, 24mm, 5h). cf. SNG Levant-106; SNG Paris-. Obverse Baal of Tarsos enthroned left, head facing, holding club, bunch of grapes, wheat ear, and eagle in right hand, lotus-headed scepter in left hand, B’LTRZ (Baaltarz) in Aramaic behind, M below throne, all within a circle of dots. Reverse lion bringing down bull, attacking with teeth and claws, MZDI (Mazdai) in Aramaic above, unlisted ankh symbol, wheat ear below, all within a circle of dots. Sharply struck on an excellent metal with areas of flat strike. Choice superb EF/EF. Toned, lustrous.

Ex Ponterio and Associates Sale No. 84, November 1996, lot 141
Ex Stacks Bowers and Ponterio Sale No. 172, November 2012, lot 11680
Ex Pars Coins

The depiction of Phoenician-Canaanite god Baal on Cilician coinage suggests the preeminence of his cult in Tarsos. He is shown enthroned, most probably on Mount Zaphon. The symbols corn-ear/barley and grapes suggest Baal’s capacity as a god involved in the seasonal cycles of life and death, or a more specific reference to Cilicia’s fertile plains. The iconography of this late coinage is also a syncretic mixture of other cultures, including Greek. The treatment of the god’s body gives us a hint of the extent of influence of Hellenic culture exerted in Eastern Asia Minor even before Alexander’s conquest, and it is said that Baal could be equated with Zeus in the Greek context. After the conquest of Alexander III of the East, Mazaios was appointed governor of Babylon. The new coinage of Alexander was strongly influenced by Mazaios’ pre-Alexandrine coinage (the Zeus Aetophoros commonly found on the reverses of his tetradrachmai is a direct descendant of this). The reverse depicts the City’s Emblem and clearly has an underlying meaning now lost to us. Some say it symbolizes the victory of Day over Night, while others suggest military conquest and subjugation of the enemies by the Persian Empire. Marvin Tameanko has persuasively argued (see Celator, Jan. 1995, pp. 6-11) that the kneeling bull (without the lion) is symbolic of Zeus, as attested on scores of later Greek and Roman coins; and the lion is symbolic of the supreme god Baal of the Cilicians. This concludes the lion-over-bull motif on this coin delivers a message that is both blatantly direct and simple, if the argument put forward is to be believed.
6 commentsJason T
FragComp.jpg
Cuneiform Students Exercise Tablet112mm x 100mm 583 grams

"The tablet is certainly a student’s exercise text that was part of his school work to teach him to read and write Sumerian around the year 1800BC, long after Sumerian had died out as a spoken language. In particular, this exercise was to teach all the Sumerian vocabulary dealing with food items. When complete, the list probably had over 500 entries. As part of their training, students had to memorize long lexical lists containing everything from plants and animals to metal objects, textiles, types of professions, body parts etc. These lists of vocabulary words were fairly standardized throughout Southern Babylonia at this time, so that you find many tablets containing the same entries, not always in the same order, but usually pretty close. Of course, some students were better than others, so some tablets contain more mistakes and some are written in messier script. Your tablet seems to have been written by a fairly good student, although there are a number of deviants from the standard version of the food items list.

The obverse of your tablet is the side with 3 columns and wide rows. The obverse represents a new part of the word list that the student is learning. In this case, each column repeats the same section of the list, so the student had a chance to practice it over and over. Unfortunately, not much is preserved on the obverse - just several different types of barley including “white barley” and “black barley.”

The reverse contains a much larger section of the list that the student had already memorized, and is just practicing here. This side is divided into 4 columns, the first column is almost entirely broken. The second column contains a list of different types of beer including “beer mixed with water,” “market beer,” “beer that foams like soap”, and “sweet beer.” Column three contains types of soup, most of which are not known from other versions of this list and will take more work to decipher, and types of fragrant plants, most of which are plants that we cannot identify."

Published in NABU 2017 List Ura 6 1
3 commentsNemonater
EB0084b_scaled.JPG
EB0084 Herakles / ZeusAlexander III, Babylon, MACEDONIA, AR Tetradrachm, 325-317 BC.
Obverse: Head of Herakles wearing lionskin headdress right.
Reverse: AΛEΞANΔΡOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ to right and beneath Zeus seated left, holding eagle and sceptre; M in left field, ΛY beneath chair above the strut.
References: Price 3692; Mueller 1272.
Diameter: 25.5mm Weight: 17.202g. Axis: 240°.
1 commentsEB
Babylon_in_Egypt.jpg
Egypt, BabylonThis elegant red and white banded brickwork is about all that remains on the surface to mark the Roman fortress of ‘Babylon in Egypt’. The Roman structure was started during the reign of Trajan on the site of an earlier Egyptian stronghold which marked the border between Lower and Middle Egypt. The fortress remained an important strategic outpost down through Byzantine times. In the fifth century the Legio XIII Gemina was stationed here. During the Arab conquest of Egypt in 640/1, Babylon endured a seven month siege before its capture.

These days most of the extensive Babylon complex lies buried under the streets of the Christian quarter of Old Cairo. The nearby medieval Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary is popularly known as the ‘Hanging Church’ because its nave was built suspended over two towers of the Roman fort.
1 commentsAbu Galyon
alex_drachm.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander III the Great, AR Drachm, Babylon, c.324 - 323 B.C., Price 3604KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Drachm (16mm, 4.02 g, 8h). Babylon mint. Struck under Stamenes or Archon, circa 324/3 BC.
Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; M in left field, monogram below throne.
Price 3604.
price_3605.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander III the Great, AR Hemidrachm, Babylon, Price 3605KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great' (336-323 BC). Hemidrachm. Babylon.
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin.
Rev: AΛΕΞΑΔΡΟΥ.
Zeus seated left, holding eagle and sceptre. Controls: monograms in left field and below throne.
Price 3605.Very fine 1.88 g.13 mm.
price_3620.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander III the Great, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3620Kings of Macedon. Alexander III (336-323 BC). AR Tetradrachm (25 mm, 16.92 g), Babylon, 324/3 BC.
Obv. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress.
Rev. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus seated left on high-backed throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and, in his right, eagle standing right with wings closed; below throne, monogram above M; in left field, bee.
Price 3620.
price_3623.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander III the Great, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3623 The Seleucid Kings, Alexander III, 336 – 323 Babylon Tetradrachm circa 325-323, AR 21mm., 17.05g.
Head of Herakles r., wearing lion skin. Rev. Zeus Aëtophoros seated l.; in left field, sickle(?) ; below throne, monogram and in exergue, M.
Price 3623.
Price_3626.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander III the Great, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3626MACEDONIA. Alexander the Great. Tetradracma . Therma ( Thessalonica ) . 334-300 B.C. Cab. Alexander with Leonte . Zeus enthroned with eagle.
17'01 g . Hairlines in rev.
Price 3626.
Lifetime issue struck in Babylon
1 comments
price_3640.JPG
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander III the Great, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3640Alexander III (the Great), 336-323 B.C
MACEDON. Kingdom of Macedon. Alexander III (the Great), 336-323 B.C. AR Tetradrachm (17.16 gms), Babylon Mint, ca. 325-323 B.C. Lifetime issue.
Head of Heracles right wearing lion's scalp; Reverse: Zeus enthroned left holding eagle and scepter, club in left field, "M" in lower left field, monogram below throne. Excellent strike with dies of fine style.
Price 3640
119-l.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander III the Great, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3641AR Tetradrachm Babylon, lifetime issue (325-323 BC), 17.02 g
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress
Rev: Zeus seated left, holding eagle and sceptre, grapes in left field (below throne, monogram and M)
Price 3641
price_3652.jpg
Babylon_ATG_Price_3665~0.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander III The Great, Babylon, 336-323 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Price 3664Head of young Herakles right in lion-skin headdress, paws tied at neck. / ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡ[OΥ] Zeus enthroned left, confronting eagle held in right hand and grasping scepter with left, sea monster in left field, ΦIΛI monogram above thin strut between legs of throne, M thereunder.
Price 3664.
Babylon Royal Mint ca. 325-323 BC.
(24 mm, 17.18 gm, 6h)
Freeman & Sear Manhattan 2 Sale (4 January 2011) Lot 133
8 comments
Greece,_Alexander_III___The_Great___of_Macedon,_Silver_Tetradrachm,_17_23g,_Babylon_mint,_struck_ca_317-311_BC.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander III the Great, TetradrachmGreece, Alexander III 'The Great' of Macedon, Silver Tetradrachm, 17.23g, Babylon mint, struck ca 317-311 BC
2 commentsmitresh
14006_2.jpg
amagnonk4.jpg
GREEK, MACEDONIAN KINGDOM, Alexander III, Postumous TetradrachmDate: 311-305 BC
Mint: Babylonia
Obverse: Head of Herakles with lion skin at right.
Reverse: BASILEWS [A]LEXANDROU. Zeus seated at left, with eagle on his right hand. Engraver's mark.
2 comments
54774q00.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV, 323 - 317 B.C., Gold staterSH54774. Gold stater, Price P203, Müller Alexander P116, aEF, weight 8.564 g, maximum diameter 18.0 mm, die axis 90o, Babylon mint, c. 323 - 317 B.C.; obverse head of Athena right in crested Corinthian helmet ornamented with Griffin; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΦIΛIΠΠOY, Nike standing left, wreath in right hand, facing head of Helios below left, [KY] below right; Struck under Archon, Dokimos, or Seleukos I, circa 323-318/7 BC.Joe Sermarini
Price_P155~1.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Philip III Arrhidaios, 323-317 BC, AR Tetradrachm struck at Babylon under Seleukos as satrap Head of Herakles right wearing lion-skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ФIΛIΠΠOY Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, ancient Greek Zeta beneath throne, circled ΣIEP monogram above grape bunch to left.
SC Ad 43.13; Price P155 (Arados).
Babylon II workshop 317/16 BC under Seleukos as Satrap 320- 315 BC.
(26 mm, 17.16 g, 8h)
8 comments
kuenker_p181.jpg
GREEK, Macedonian Kingdom, Philip III, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price P181AR Tetradrachm, 323/317 BC , Babylon ; 17.16 g .
Herakles head in lion's skin / Zeus Aetophoros sitting l .
Price P181. (N.B. Price 3692 has same control marks but says Alexander not Philip)
1 comments
SC_68~0.jpg
GREEK, SC 68, Price P167 - American Journal of Numismatics Second Series 27: 41-97 : Taylor L. W. H. Triparadeisos to Ipsos Series IV, 189 (this coin), Plate 12, 189 (this coin)Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylonia, Uncertain Mint 6A

Head of Herakles right wearing lion skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛEΩΣ ФIΛIΠΠOY Zeus Aëtophoros enthroned left, star symbol beneath throne, Π recut over an earlier mint control in left field.

Taylor, Triparadeisos to Ipsos, Series IV, 189 (this coin), Plate 12, 189 (this coin), dies A50/P1; HGC 9, 11a (same dies); SC 68 (same dies); WSM 1241 (same dies); Price P167 (same dies).

Uncertain Mint 6A in Babylonia, 303-302 BC.

Struck under Seleukos utilising a reverse die from an earlier lifetime Philip issue (Price P160) with the left field mint control recut. Obverse die linked to examples of SC 67 (Alexander), SC 69 (Seleukos) and SC 50.1 (Alexander Uncertain Mint 1).

One of four examples known and the only one outside the ANS (Newell) collection.

(26 mm, 17.0 g, 3h).

Reference: Taylor, L. W. H. 2015. From Triparadeisos to Ipsos: Seleukos I Nikator’s Uncertain Mint 6A in Babylonia.
AJN Second Series 27: 41-97.
2 commentsn.igma
Uncertain_MInt_6A_Hemidrachm_SC_70_1~0.jpg
GREEK, Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Hemidrachm - Babylonia, Uncertain Mint 6A Head of Herakles right wearing lion skin.
AΛΕΞANΔPOY Zeus Aetophoros seated left, inverted anchor to left, EP beneath throne.
SC 70.1; HGC 9, 42; Price 3442 (Marathus); Müller 1493; Houghton Group III, Series A, 127.
Issued by Seleukos in the name of Alexander from Babylonia Uncertain Mint 6A, 311-305 BC.
(13 mm, 2.15 g, 7h)

Judge this coin remembering it is a hemidrachm of 13 mm diameter. It does not possess the large palette of a tetradrachm!

This coin is the best of four known examples of this emission and the only one known outside of a museum. It is an obverse die match to an example from the Hersh Collection, now housed in in the British Museum (BM 2002,0101.796). The progression of the die break on Herakles neck indicates that this coin was struck after the Hersh coin.
4 comments
Price_3704.jpg
GREEK, Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos i Nikator, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3704Tetradrachme ( 16,64g ) , Babylon, posthumously , ca. 317-311 v . Chr .
Obv: Head of Herakles with lion hood.
Rev: Zeus Aëtophoros with gavel on the throne , in l . Field monogram in wreath , under the throne H.
Price 3704 , Müller 714.
HD Rauch e-auc 20 lot 11
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GREEK, Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos i Nikator, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3704The Seleucid Kings, Seleucus I Nicator, 312- 281 BC Babylon Tetradrachm circa 317-311, AR 26.5mm., 17.10g.
Obverse: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin.
Reverse: Zeus Aëtophoros seated l.; in l. field, monogram in wreath and below throne, H.
SC 82.6. Price 3704.
Naville 24 lot 169
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GREEK, Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3746The Seleucid Kings, Seleucus I Nicator, 312- 281 BC Babylon Tetradrachm circa 311-300, AR 26.5mm., 17.08g.
Obv: Head of Herakles r., wearing lion skin.
Rev. Zeus Aëtophoros seated l.; in l. field, monogram within wreath, below throne MI.
SC 82.5a. Price 3746.
Naville 24 lot 172
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GREEK, Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3747Macedonian Kingdom. Alexander III the Great. 336-323 B.C. AR tetradrachm (26.5 mm, 17.03 g, 3 h). Babylon mint, struck ca. 311-305 B.C. Struck by Seleukos I Nikator.
Obverse: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress
Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus seated left, holding eagle and scepter; monogram within wreath in left field, MI below throne.
Price 3746; SC 82.5a; Müller 734. Scratch on obverse.
In hand the dot inside the wreathed monogram, which is the difference between Price 3746 and Price 3747, can easily be seen.
Agora 56 lot 24
1 comments
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GREEK, Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I, AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Price 3759Seleukid Kings of Syria, Seleukos I Nikator AR Tetradrachm. In the name and types of Alexander. Babylon, circa 311-305 BC.
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress.
Rev: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; MI above lion's head left in left field, monogram in wreath below throne, BAΣIΛEΩΣ below, AΛEΞANΔPOY to right.
SC 82.3c; Price 3759; Müller 743. 17.09g, 26mm, 11h.
Roma auc XII lot 383
2 comments
SeleuKid_kingdom,_Seleukos_I,_AR_tetradrachm,_Babylon_II_Mint_-_unpublished_with_erased_anchor.jpg
Greek, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, Seleukid Kingdom, Babylon, AR Tetradrachm - urecorded with the anchor normally found in the left field erased from the dieHead of Herakles right wearing lion skin. / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛΕΞANΔPOY Zeus Aetophoros seated left, circled NE monogram in left field, large Π beneath throne; remnant die erased anchor symbol in outer left field.
Price 3347 var. (anchor in left field, attributed to Arados); Houghton Group II, Series H, 69-76 var. (anchor in left field); SC 94.3(c) var. (anchor in left field). Obverse die macth to SC 94.4; SNG Copenhage 670; HGC 9, 10g (C). Babylon II (Native or Satrapal Mint) 311-305 BC. A unique example of the type – undocumented with the erased anchor.
(27 mm, 17.29 g, 5h).

This is the only known example of SC 94.3c that bears a reverse struck from a die on which the anchor that is normally found in the outer left field has been erased. It is the one of two erased anchor issues in the name of Alexander outside of museum collections. The other example SC 94.5 is also to be found in the LT collection. The anchor erasure has not been documented on SC 94.3c, although it is known on three examples of SC 94.4 that bear a ΠAT monogram mint control in the place of the circled NE monogram found on this coin. The obverse of this coin is a die match to an example of SC 94.4, SNG Copenhagen 670, illustrated in Morkholm Plate V, 82. This previously unrecorded example of anchor erasure is further evidence that the erasure was a systematic and deliberate act in the Babylon II mint that appears to have occurred around the time that Seleukos adopted the royal title.
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Hacksilber Fragment, Earliest Coinage Period, Holy LandHacksilber Ingot, c. 8-6 centuries BC, Israel. 21 x 14 x 5 mm, 8.4 grams. Cut in antiquity from a larger piece. Possibly an overweight Pym or underweight Nezef?

Similar ingots were found at Ein Gedi, Israel in a terra cotta cooking pot, hidden in a building destroyed near the end of Iron Age II, early 6th century BC (Avi-Yonah Encylcopedia of the Holy Land, volume 2, p. 374.)

The basic weight in use was the shekel, weighing 11.4 g on average. Other weight groups include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Beqa, a half shekel (Ex. 38:26), 5.7 g. (2) Nezef, averaging 9.12 g. The Judaean equivalent to an Egyptian qedet. (3) Pym, 7.6 g. (1 Samuel 13:21) The Judaean equivalent to the Phoenician shekel.

The weight of this ingot is identical to the Mesopotamian shekel. During the 9th to 6th centuries BCE in the Assyrian and Babylonian empires, the common form of expressing prices was in quantities equivalent to one shekel (8.4 g) of silver.

In ancient times, livestock were often used in barter. Indicative of this is the fact that the Latin word for money (pecunia) is drawn from pecus, meaning “cattle.” However, livestock (Ge 47:17) and foodstuffs (1Ki 5:10, 11) were obviously not a convenient medium of exchange.

Instead, pieces of precious metals began to be used, the weight being checked at the time the transaction was made.

Ge 23:16 "Abraham weighed out to E′phron the amount of silver that he had spoken in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred silver shekels current with the merchants."; Jer 32:10 "Then I wrote in a deed and affixed the seal and took witnesses as I went weighing the money in the scales."

The usual Hebrew term translated as “money,” keseph, literally means “silver.” (Ge 17:12) There was no coined money in Israel during the First Temple Period (1006-586 BCE). Rather, it consisted of cut pieces of silver and gold, or molded for convenience into bars, rings, bracelets, having a specific weight. - Ge 24:22

At Judges 5:19, bâtsa‛ keseph, which is commonly rendered as, “No gain of silver did they take,” literally means to break off or cut off silver.
Nemonater
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Herakles plus Zeus Aetophoros accompanied by HeliosHerakles on the obverse with Zeus seated with his eagle (Zeus Aetophoros) on the reverse was the standard reverse typology of Alexander the Great and his immediate successors (the Diadochi). On this coin of Babylon the image of Zeus Aetophoros is accompanied by an image of Helios in the left field. Three gods for the price of one!

Further background http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-60892
3 comments
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Iran, Bisitun (Behistun), Kermanshah ProvinceOn the road from Hamadan (ancient Ekbatana) to the city of Kermanshah halfway up Mount Bisitun a number of unique bas reliefs from about 520 BC catch the eye. The Achaemenid king Dareios I (522 - 486 BC) had the largest one chiseled into the face of the mountain to tell the world of his triumph over his rival Gaumata and nine other rebels. The sensational part of the relief are the extensive cuneiform inscriptions above, below, and to the sides of the figures. They are in Elamite, Babylonian, and Old Persian, the latter a language which was created on the king’s order since up to then there was no written Persian language. The creation is a mixture of Elamite, Babylonian, and Aramaic. It was not deciphered until the middle of the 18th cent. AD by a British officer, adventurer, and amateur archeologist Sir Henry Rawlinson.
Schatz
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Judaea; Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), HardianAelia Capitolina (Jerusalem) in Judaea.

In 130, Hadrian visited the ruins of Jerusalem, in Judaea, left after the First Roman-Jewish War of 66–73. He rebuilt the city, renaming it Aelia Capitolina after himself and Jupiter Capitolinus, the chief Roman deity. A new temple dedicated to the worship of Jupiter was built on the ruins of the old Jewish Second Temple, which had been destroyed in 70. In addition, Hadrian abolished circumcision, which was considered by Romans and Greeks as a form of bodily mutilation and hence "barbaric". These anti-Jewish policies of Hadrian triggered in Judaea a massive Jewish uprising, led by Simon bar Kokhba and Akiba ben Joseph. Following the outbreak of the revolt, Hadrian called his general Sextus Julius Severus from Britain, and troops were brought from as far as the Danube. Roman losses were very heavy, and it is believed that an entire legion, the XXII Deiotariana was destroyed. Indeed, Roman losses were so heavy that Hadrian's report to the Roman Senate omitted the customary salutation "I and the legions are well". However, Hadrian's army eventually put down the rebellion in 135, after three years of fighting. According to Cassius Dio, during the war 580,000 Jews were killed, 50 fortified towns and 985 villages razed. The final battle took place in Beitar, a fortified city 10 km. southwest of Jerusalem. The city only fell after a lengthy siege, and Hadrian did not allow the Jews to bury their dead. According to the Babylonian Talmud, after the war Hadrian continued the persecution of Jews. He attempted to root out Judaism, which he saw as the cause of continuous rebellions, prohibited the Torah law, the Hebrew calendar and executed Judaic scholars (see Ten Martyrs). The sacred scroll was ceremonially burned on the Temple Mount. In an attempt to erase the memory of Judaea, he renamed the province Syria Palaestina (after the Philistines), and Jews were forbidden from entering its rededicated capital. When Jewish sources mention Hadrian it is always with the epitaph "may his bones be crushed" (שחיק עצמות), an expression never used even with respect to Vespasian or Titus who destroyed the Second Temple.

JUDAEA, Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem). Hadrian. 117-138 CE. Æ 22mm (11.03 gm, 11h). Struck 136 CE. IMP CAES TRAIANO HADRIANO AVG P P, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust / COL AEL KAPIT, COND in exergue, Hadrian, as priest-founder, plowing with team of oxen right; vexillum behind. Meshorer, Aelia 2; Hendin 810; SNG ANS -.
ecoli
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King 01. Seleucos I, 312-281. Silver tetradrachm, Price 3747, Houghton 82(5), gVF, 17.05g, 25.9mm, 45o, Babylon mint, posthumous, 311 - 300 B.C.; obverse head of Herakles right, clad in lion head headdress; reverse BASILEWS ALEXANDROU, Zeus enthroned left, holding eagle and scepter, monogram in wreath left, MI under throne; nice-style high-relief obverse, flat center on reverse

Seleucos I was a comrade of Alexander the great and founded the Seleucid Empire in 312B.C.
2 commentsLordBest
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Macedonian_Kingdom,_Alexander_III,_AR_Tetradrachm,_Babylon_-182109l.jpg
Kings of Macedon, Alexander III The Great, 326/5 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylon 326/5 BC under Mazaios as SatrapHead of Herakles right in lion-skin headdress, paws tied at neck.
ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡOΥ Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, Φ above M beneath throne.

Taylor, Babylon, Group 1.1.1, 1 (this coin), Pl. 1, 1 (this coin), dies A1/P1: Price 3579; Waggoner Issue I, 9b-d; Newell Reattribution 189 pl. 25, 11 (same obverse die).
Babylon Royal Mint 330-328 BC.

(25 mm, 16.68 g, 12h).
Hess-Divo Auction 320, 26 October 2011, 112.

Reference Taylor, L. W. H. "The Earliest Alexander III Tetradrachm Coinage of Babylon: Iconographic Development and Chronology." AJN Second Series 30 (2018): 1-44.

This is the only known Babylon mint Alexander on which Zeus is portrayed with an open facing palm, on which rests his eagle. All other examples exhibit the upward hand in profile style that displaced the open facing palm style on coinage in the east by 325 BC. This iconography of this coin served to date the start of the Imperial Mint at Babylon to 326/5 BC.
1 commentsn.igma
Macedonian_Kingdom,_Alexander_III,_AR_Tetradrachm,_Babylon_-_182108l.jpg
Kings of Macedon, Alexander III The Great, 336-323 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylon 330-328 BC under Mazaios as Satrap Head of Herakles right in lion-skin headdress, paws tied at neck.
ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡOΥ Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, Φ beneath throne above strut, M below strut.

Taylor, Babylon, Group 1.1.1, 7 (this coin), Pl. 1, 7 (this coin), dies A3/P5: Price 3579 (same obverse die as Price 3579b); Waggoner Issue I, 10a-c;; Newell Reattribution 190.
Babylon Royal Mint 330-328 BC.

(26 mm, 17.20 g, 12h).
Hess-Divo Auction 320, 26 October 2011, 111.

Reference Taylor, L. W. H. "The Earliest Alexander III Tetradrachm Coinage of Babylon: Iconographic Development and Chronology." AJN Second Series 30 (2018): 1-44.

The more realistic style of both obverse and reverse of this coin was the basis from which the characteristic Babylon style of the subsequent high-volume issues of the Babylon mint evolved.
2 commentsn.igma
Macedonian_Kingdom,_Alexander_III,_AR_Tetradrachm_-_Babylon_Price_3588.jpg
Kings of Macedon, Alexander III The Great, 336-323 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylon 330-328 BC under Mazaios as SatrapHead of Herakles right in lion skin headdress, paws tied at neck.
ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡOΥ Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, Φ to left, M above laurel sprig beneath throne.

Taylor, Babylon, Group 1.2.8, 101 (this coin), Pl. 3, 101 (this coin), dies A11/P3: Price 3588 (same obverse die as Price 3584); Waggoner Issue I, 7e-f.
Babylon Royal Mint 330-328 BC.

(24 mm, 17.24 g, 12h).

Reference Taylor, L. W. H. "The Earliest Alexander III Tetradrachm Coinage of Babylon: Iconographic Development and Chronology." AJN Second Series 30 (2018): 1-44.

TThe unique reverse style of this coin is to be found on some of the issues of Soli in Cyprus starting in 325/4 BC. It is likely that the engravers responsible transferred from Babylon to Cyprus to start Macedonian Imperial mint operation on the island.
1 commentsn.igma
Babylon_Price_3772.jpg
Kings of Macedon, Alexander III the Great, 336-323 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylon under Seleukos ca. 308-305 BCHead of Herakles right wearing lion skin headdress.
BΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛΕΞANΔPOY Zeus Aetophoros seated left, ligate ME above club in left field, HA monogram beneath throne.

Price 3772; Waggoner Issue IX, 456-460; SC Ad57F; Commerce ("Seleucus I") Hoard 2005 (CH 10.265), 1349-1350 (one of these coins).
Babylon I Mint (Imperial Mint) after the Babylonian War and the victory of Seleukos – this saw the removal of the victory wreath of Antigonos from the coinage of Babylon.

(26 mm, 17.16 g, 6h).
ex- CNG 72, 14 June 2006, 436; ex-"Seleucus I" Hoard (CH 10.265).

In 316 Antigonos, following his victory over Eumenes, placed a wreath symbolic of his victory on the coinage of the Babylon Imperial Mint. This symbol persisted on the coinage of Babylon until Seleukos defeated Antigonos and expelled him from Babylonia in 308 BC. This coin was amongst the first of the issues following the removal of the wreath from the Babylon series and thus dated to 308-305 BC.
n.igma
Macedonian_Kingdom,_AR_Tetradrachm,_Babylon_I_Mint,_311-308_BC.jpg
Kings of Macedon, Alexander III the Great, 336-323 BC, AR Tetradrachm – Babylon under Antigonos Monopthalmos during the Babylonian War 311-308 BC Head of Herakles right wearing lion skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛΕΞANΔPOY Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, MTPΘ monogram within wreath beneath throne, MI in left field, crescent moon beneath.

Price 3756; Waggoner Issue VIII, Series IV, 448; Newell Babylon Group 4; SC 82.2d; HGC 9, 10f. Babylon I (Royal Mint) dated to 311/10-309/08 BC by Waggoner.

(24 mm, 16.85 g, 6h).
CNG; ex- Ross Schraeder Collection

Waggoner dated this coin type to 311/10-309/08 at the peak of the Babylonian War waged between Antigonos and Seleukos. Price extended this to incude all the issues bearing the MI control accompanied by the victory wreath and accompanying monogram of Antigonos that was placed on the coinage of Babylon following his victory over Eumenes in 316. It was struck in the Royal Mint (Babylon I) at Babylon nominally after Seleukos reclaimed his Babylonian Satrapy in April 311 BC. The latter event marked the start of the Seleukid era, which is dated with Year 1 commencing in the Macedonian Year commencing October 312 BC. For this reason the coin was considered Seleukid by Houghton and Lorber. However, Seleukos was absent from Babylon for most of the period 311-308 during which time the city was essentially under Antigonid control as the Babylonian War was waged. Therefore, the coin is more correctly attributed as a Royal Macedonian issue under the authority of Antigonos Monopthalmos.

The Royal Mint was established by Alexander the Great and the output accorded to imperial standards of design and control throughout the two decades following the death of Alexander. Production from the mint declined rapidly after the conclusion of the War for Babylonia in 308 BC, the outcome of which convincingly placed the province and greater eastern region of the former Macedonian Empire firmly in the control of Seleukos. The mint may have continued to produce a low volume of coinage from four obverse tetradrachm dies until perhaps ca. 305 BC when it closed; its operations transferred to the mint at Seleukeia on the Tigris. True to its name Babylon Imperial Mint produced coinage only in the name of Alexander and briefly Philip (Arrhidaios), but never in the name of Seleukos.
n.igma
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