Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction X 27 September 2015
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Seleukid Kings of Syria, Antiochos IV Epiphanes AR Tetradrachm. Antioch, circa 166/5 BC. Laureate head of Apollo right, his hair long, draping his shoulders / Apollo, wearing a long peplos, standing facing right, holding a patera and a kithara; BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY ΘEOY to right, EΠIΦANOYΣ NIKHΦOPOY to left. Houghton & Lorber, SC 1401; Newell, SMA 64; Houghton 110; Gulbenkian 1040. 16.79g, 33mm, 12h.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare.
Ex Roma Numismatics VII, 22 March 2014, lot 823.
Issued for the Panhellenic festival celebrated in the sanctuary of Apollo at Daphne, near Antioch, only around 15 examples of this exceptionally beautiful issue are known to have survived antiquity; of these, this specimen is certainly among the finest.
The Panhellenic festival had been celebrated before the reign of Antiochos IV, but it was he that caused the importance and size of the festival at Daphne to be greatly increased, such that after this time Daphne became a central cult location and oracle of the dynasty's patron deity Apollo. Antiochos had sent ambassadors and envoys to the Greek cities, and many were eager to send delegations. The festival was preceded by a grand military parade of forty thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry and sixty four war elephants. More than half of the infantry were elite Seleukid shock troops, including the bronze and silver shield battalions, and a ten-thousand strong formation of soldiers equipped in the Roman legionary fashion (for a full description of the parade, see Polybios 31.16.1). There followed a great number of sacrificial animals and offerings to the gods, and lastly came a great parade of gilded images of 'every god or demigod or hero known or worshipped by mankind'.
At least part of Antiochos' motivation in transforming the festival into such an imposing and lavish monarchical spectacle was to enhance his own reputation and the status of Daphne. Since Didyma had been lost to the Seleukids since the treaty of Apameia in 188, it is likely that he also sought to supplant Didyma with a cult centre within Seleukid territory.
More importantly, the Treaty of Apameia had explicitly forbidden Seleukid possession of war elephants, and therefore the primary purpose of the grand military parade was to announce his power to all the world and make a clear statement that he would not be cowed by Rome, nor abide by the treaty imposed upon his father.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare.
Ex Roma Numismatics VII, 22 March 2014, lot 823.
Issued for the Panhellenic festival celebrated in the sanctuary of Apollo at Daphne, near Antioch, only around 15 examples of this exceptionally beautiful issue are known to have survived antiquity; of these, this specimen is certainly among the finest.
The Panhellenic festival had been celebrated before the reign of Antiochos IV, but it was he that caused the importance and size of the festival at Daphne to be greatly increased, such that after this time Daphne became a central cult location and oracle of the dynasty's patron deity Apollo. Antiochos had sent ambassadors and envoys to the Greek cities, and many were eager to send delegations. The festival was preceded by a grand military parade of forty thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry and sixty four war elephants. More than half of the infantry were elite Seleukid shock troops, including the bronze and silver shield battalions, and a ten-thousand strong formation of soldiers equipped in the Roman legionary fashion (for a full description of the parade, see Polybios 31.16.1). There followed a great number of sacrificial animals and offerings to the gods, and lastly came a great parade of gilded images of 'every god or demigod or hero known or worshipped by mankind'.
At least part of Antiochos' motivation in transforming the festival into such an imposing and lavish monarchical spectacle was to enhance his own reputation and the status of Daphne. Since Didyma had been lost to the Seleukids since the treaty of Apameia in 188, it is likely that he also sought to supplant Didyma with a cult centre within Seleukid territory.
More importantly, the Treaty of Apameia had explicitly forbidden Seleukid possession of war elephants, and therefore the primary purpose of the grand military parade was to announce his power to all the world and make a clear statement that he would not be cowed by Rome, nor abide by the treaty imposed upon his father.