Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
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Kingdom of Macedon, Philip II AR Tetradrachm. Pella, circa 342/1-337/6 BC. Laureate head of Zeus right / Youth on horseback right, holding reins and long palm branch; thunderbolt below, ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ around, N in exergue. Le Rider 238b (D133/R192); HGC 3, 864; SNG ANS 384-95; SNG Alpha Bank 272; SNG Fitzwilliam 2047; SNG Saroglos 49-50; Gulbenkian 816. 14.35g, 24mm, 2h.
Extremely Fine. Rare.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
The presence of Zeus's head on the obverse of Philip's coinage was a novelty in Macedonian coinage, and its sudden appearance is closely connected with both types of Philip's tetradrachms - both the more mature, cloaked rider, and the younger, nude rider holding a victor's palm - as well as his other denominations. While in his extensive work Le Rider identifies the mature horseman found on Philip's coinage as the king himself, he makes no attempt to explain the young rider holding the palm branch as seen on this example. Caltabiano however proposes that the use of the heads of Zeus and Apollo on Philip's coinage, as well as the older and younger horsemen, suggest an important father-son relationship: that of Philip and his heir Alexander. Isokrates proposed that Zeus here represents 'the conceit of a royal power' whose right to rule comes directly from Zeus, and whose continuity is assured by the hereditary principle. This interpretation is reinforced by the heroon that Philip built in the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia after his victory at Chaeroneia, in which were contained the statues of Philip and Olympias, his parents Amyntas and Eurydice, and his son Alexander. The latter, whose chryselephantine image stood in an eminent position, had played a glorious and distinguished role in the battle, breaking and routing the Greek right flank with his cavalry. Thus, if we are to see in the cloaked older rider the figure of Philip himself, we must see in the younger rider a representation of his son Alexander. For a more detailed treatment of this subject, see Caltabiano, Ancient Macedonia, Sixth International Symposium, vol. 1, pp 197-205.
Extremely Fine. Rare.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
The presence of Zeus's head on the obverse of Philip's coinage was a novelty in Macedonian coinage, and its sudden appearance is closely connected with both types of Philip's tetradrachms - both the more mature, cloaked rider, and the younger, nude rider holding a victor's palm - as well as his other denominations. While in his extensive work Le Rider identifies the mature horseman found on Philip's coinage as the king himself, he makes no attempt to explain the young rider holding the palm branch as seen on this example. Caltabiano however proposes that the use of the heads of Zeus and Apollo on Philip's coinage, as well as the older and younger horsemen, suggest an important father-son relationship: that of Philip and his heir Alexander. Isokrates proposed that Zeus here represents 'the conceit of a royal power' whose right to rule comes directly from Zeus, and whose continuity is assured by the hereditary principle. This interpretation is reinforced by the heroon that Philip built in the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia after his victory at Chaeroneia, in which were contained the statues of Philip and Olympias, his parents Amyntas and Eurydice, and his son Alexander. The latter, whose chryselephantine image stood in an eminent position, had played a glorious and distinguished role in the battle, breaking and routing the Greek right flank with his cavalry. Thus, if we are to see in the cloaked older rider the figure of Philip himself, we must see in the younger rider a representation of his son Alexander. For a more detailed treatment of this subject, see Caltabiano, Ancient Macedonia, Sixth International Symposium, vol. 1, pp 197-205.