Nomos AG
obolos 23 12 Jun 2022
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SELEUKID KINGS OF SYRIA. Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC. (Bronze, 20 mm, 7.72 g, 12 h), Apameia on the Axios, circa 300-281. Elephant standing right. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ Horned and bridled horse's head to left; below, anchor to left. HGC 9, 79. SC 35. WSM 1128. Rare. Light porosity, otherwise, very fine.
Apameia, named for Seleukos' Baktrian wife Apama, replaced the existing military colony of Pella and became the military headquarters of the Seleukid Empire under Seleukos I. According to Strabo, 500 war elephants were kept there. These were the elephants Seleukos had received from Chandragupta Maurya of India after concluding a peace treaty with him. While we may presume that these elephants were the oldest and least desirable of the herds that Chandragupta possessed, they still represented a formidable force for the Macedonians: they certainly proved instrumental in defeating the forces of Antigonos Monopthalmos and his son, Demetrios Poliorketes, at Ipsos in 301 BC.
Apameia, named for Seleukos' Baktrian wife Apama, replaced the existing military colony of Pella and became the military headquarters of the Seleukid Empire under Seleukos I. According to Strabo, 500 war elephants were kept there. These were the elephants Seleukos had received from Chandragupta Maurya of India after concluding a peace treaty with him. While we may presume that these elephants were the oldest and least desirable of the herds that Chandragupta possessed, they still represented a formidable force for the Macedonians: they certainly proved instrumental in defeating the forces of Antigonos Monopthalmos and his son, Demetrios Poliorketes, at Ipsos in 301 BC.