Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 45 5 May 2018
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Parthia, Andragoras AR Tetradrachm. Hekatompylos, circa 246/5-239/8 BC. Turreted head of Tyche right, wearing pendant earring and necklace; monogram of Andragoras behind / Athena standing left, wearing helmet, long chiton and himation, holding owl on extended right hand and resting left hand on grounded shield, transverse spear in background; ANΔPAΓOPOY to right. Roma XIV, 326; Mitchiner 20; BMC 3-4, pl. xxviii, 2-3. 16.52g, 24mm, 6h.
Good Very Fine. One of exceedingly few known examples.
From the 1960s Andragoras-Sophytes Group, present in Germany in 1975, subsequently exported to the USA.
Coming from the same group of coins of the Oxus region, selections of which were presented in Roma XIV, it is now certain that the Andragoras for whom this type was struck is the same Andragoras attested as having been satrap of Parthia under Seleukos I. It is therefore clear that past scholarship often tended to date the coinage of Andragoras much too early, occasionally to the period immediately following the death of Alexander the Great, and that Justin (xii. 4) simply had his dating confused.
During what appeared to be the imminent collapse of the Seleukid Empire in the Third Syrian War, when Ptolemy III of Egypt seized control of the Seleukid capital at Antioch from Seleukos II in retaliation for the death of his sister Berenike, Andragoras seceded from the empire and made his satrapy of Parthia into an independent kingdom. However, Andragoras had difficulty in maintaining his borders without the military support provided by the Seleukid Empire, and in about 238 BC the Parni invaded under the command of Arsakes and his brother Tiridates and seized control of the northern region of the Parthian territory. Andragoras appears to have been killed either attempting to retake this territory, or while resisting the Parni conquest of the remainder of Parthia.
Good Very Fine. One of exceedingly few known examples.
From the 1960s Andragoras-Sophytes Group, present in Germany in 1975, subsequently exported to the USA.
Coming from the same group of coins of the Oxus region, selections of which were presented in Roma XIV, it is now certain that the Andragoras for whom this type was struck is the same Andragoras attested as having been satrap of Parthia under Seleukos I. It is therefore clear that past scholarship often tended to date the coinage of Andragoras much too early, occasionally to the period immediately following the death of Alexander the Great, and that Justin (xii. 4) simply had his dating confused.
During what appeared to be the imminent collapse of the Seleukid Empire in the Third Syrian War, when Ptolemy III of Egypt seized control of the Seleukid capital at Antioch from Seleukos II in retaliation for the death of his sister Berenike, Andragoras seceded from the empire and made his satrapy of Parthia into an independent kingdom. However, Andragoras had difficulty in maintaining his borders without the military support provided by the Seleukid Empire, and in about 238 BC the Parni invaded under the command of Arsakes and his brother Tiridates and seized control of the northern region of the Parthian territory. Andragoras appears to have been killed either attempting to retake this territory, or while resisting the Parni conquest of the remainder of Parthia.