I’ve been a buff of the era of Alexander the Great for a few years now, largely inspired by Arrian’s accounts of history’s most famous—and luxuriously maned—ruler. There are some remarkable books that cover the years of Alexander—I have reviewed a few of them on my blog.
By the time he was in his late twenties, Alexander the Great had conquered vast swaths of territory, eventually turning back only when his army refused to cross the Hyphasis River.
I recently aquired a 323-320BC Tetradrachm, minted in Amphipolis, Macedonia under the reign of Alexander’s half-brother: Philip III Arrhidaeus.
This month I finished “Ghost on the Throne” by James Romm (fantastic book in which the immediate days/weeks/months/years after the death of Alexander are covered extensively.) The infighting for his throne and status gives off a whiff of nostalgia (at least it does to hobbysit hisotirans like myself) because of how turbulent the empire became. Nothing gold can stay forever, anyone?
Insofar as we are concerned, Alexander named no successor to his vast and unprecedented empire. While the historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the first century BC, claims that Alexander’s final words on his deathbed were that he bequeathed his kingdom ‘to the strongest,’ this remains a subject of historical debate. Whatever we choose to believe is subservient to the fact that Alexander’s empire collapsed not so long after his last breath.
Obverse legend: ANEPIGRAPH.
Obverse description: Head of Herakles on the right, wearing leonté.
Reverse description: Zeus aetophore, legs parallel, seated on the left on a seat without a back, naked up to the waist, holding an eagle resting on his right hand and a long scepter in his left hand; in the field on the left, a Phrygian cap.
Reverse legend: BASI-LEWS/ALEXANDR.U
Reverse translation: (from King Alexander.
H. HAS. Troxell in his corpus (NS. 21) noted 181 specimens for this type in group H2 out of a total of 455 tetradrachms with 97 wedges out of a total estimate of 109 right wedges.HA Troxell in his corpus (NS. 21) noted 181 examples for this type in group H2 out of a total of 455 tetradrachms with 97 corners out of a total estimate of 109 obverse dies
I look forward to admiring my new coin for years to come—realizing that the span of my life is but a faint flash of time that this coin has gone through.
Raw Coin Data (from CGB)
Catalog references: M.146 – MP.115 – NS. 21/- – Gülnar 2/73 pl. 4 (4 ex.)
