Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 443 1 May 2019
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SELEUKID EMPIRE. Tryphon. Circa 142-138 BC. Æ (18mm, 5.36 g, 1h). Antioch on the Orontes mint. Diademed head right / Spiked Macedonian helmet adorned with a wild goat's horn; piloi of the Dioskouroi to low inner left. SC 2034.2d; HGC 9, 1061. VF, earthen dark green patina.
A military commander and leading supporter of the usurper Alexander I Balas, Diodotos placed Antiochos VI on the Seleukid throne following Balas' death. Two years later, upon the death of the young king, Diodotos took the throne himself, supposedly upon the acclamation of his troops. Unlike previous usurpers, Diodotos did not fabricate his lineage into the Seleukid house, but maintained that the Seleukid line had ended, and his was the beginning of a new era. He broke tradition by assuming the title autocrat rather than king, and took the name Tryphon ('the magnificent'). His reign proved very unpopular, and a new Seleukid claimant, Antiochos VII Sidetes, rose up against him. Within three years, Tryphon was defeated and killed.
A military commander and leading supporter of the usurper Alexander I Balas, Diodotos placed Antiochos VI on the Seleukid throne following Balas' death. Two years later, upon the death of the young king, Diodotos took the throne himself, supposedly upon the acclamation of his troops. Unlike previous usurpers, Diodotos did not fabricate his lineage into the Seleukid house, but maintained that the Seleukid line had ended, and his was the beginning of a new era. He broke tradition by assuming the title autocrat rather than king, and took the name Tryphon ('the magnificent'). His reign proved very unpopular, and a new Seleukid claimant, Antiochos VII Sidetes, rose up against him. Within three years, Tryphon was defeated and killed.