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Area/Ruler: Syria (Seleucid Empire): Antiochos VIII (Grypos)
Reigned: sole ruler 121 - 96 BC
Denomination: AR Tetradrachm, issued 115-113 BC
Obverse: His diademed head right. Filleted border.
Reverse: Zeus Oranios standing left,crescent on head, holding star and sceptre. On right, "ΒΑΣΙΛΙΩΣ / ΑΜΤΙΟXΟϒ" On left, "ΕΠΙΦΑΜΟϒΣ" In left field, "M".
Reference: BMC 14
Weight: 16.3 gms
Diameter: 30.2 mm

ANTIOCHOS VIII (Grypos or hook-nosed)

Antiochos VIII was the second son of Demetrius Nicator and Cleopatra. He was placed on the throne in 125 BC by his mother Cleopatra, who put to death his eldest brother Seleucus, because she wished to have power in her own hands. He poisoned his mother in 120, and subsequently carried on war for some years with his half-brother Antiochos IX Cyzicenus. At length, in 112, the brothers agreed to share the kingdom between them, Cyzicenus having Coele-Syria and Phoenicia and Grypus the remainder of the provinces. Grypus was assassinated in 96. The period witnessed the final decline of the once-mighty Seleukid realm into a minor east Mediterranean state.

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