Antiochos III the Great 223BC RARE Ancient Greek Coin Elephant i49558

Item: i49558

 Authentic Ancient 

Coin of:

Seleukid Empire

Antiochos III, Megas – King: 222-187 B.C.

Bronze 11mm (1.08 grams) Sardes mint: 223-187 B.C.
Reference: HGC 9, 560 (R1); SC 979; Newell, WSM 1114; SNG Spaer 615
Laureate head of Apollo right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ANTIOXOY above and below Elephant advancing left; upturned anchor 
before.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, 

Authenticity.

In
Greek
and
Roman mythology
,
Apollo, is one of the most 
important and diverse of the
Olympian deities
. The ideal of the
kouros
(a beardless youth), Apollo has been 
variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy;
archery
; medicine and healing; music, poetry, 
and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son of

Zeus and Leto
, and has a
twin
sister, the chaste huntress
Artemis
. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced
Etruscan mythology
as Apulu. Apollo was 
worshiped in both
ancient Greek
and
Roman religion
, as well as in the modern
Greco
–Roman
Neopaganism
.

As the patron of Delphi
(Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an
oracular
god — the prophetic deity of the
Delphic Oracle
. Medicine and healing were 
associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his 
son Asclepius
, yet Apollo was also seen as a god 
who could bring ill-health and deadly
plague
as well as one who had the ability to 
cure. Amongst the god’s custodial charges, Apollo became associated with 
dominion over
colonists
, and as the patron defender of herds 
and flocks. As the leader of the

Muses (Apollon Musagetes) and director of their choir, Apollo 
functioned as the patron god of music and
poetry
.
Hermes
created the

lyre for him, and the instrument became a common
attribute
of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were 
called paeans
.

In Hellenistic times, especially during the third century BCE, as Apollo 
Helios he became identified among Greeks with
Helios
,
god of the sun
, and his sister Artemis 
similarly equated with
Selene
,
goddess of the moon
. In Latin texts, on the 
other hand, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to find any conflation of 
Apollo with
Sol
among the
Augustan poets
of the first century, not even 
in the conjurations of
Aeneas
and
Latinus
in
Aeneid
XII (161–215). Apollo and Helios/Sol 
remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the third 
century CE.

Antiochus III the Great, (Greek

Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας; ca. 241–187 BC, 

ruled 222–187 BC), younger son of

Seleucus II Callinicus

, became the 6th ruler of the

Seleucid Empire

as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. Ascending the throne 

at young age, Antiochus was an ambitious ruler. Although his early attempts in 

war against the

Ptolemaic Kingdom

were unsuccessful, in the following years of conquest 

Antiochus proved himself as the most successful Seleucid King after

Seleucus I

himself. His traditional designation, the Great, reflects 

an epithet he briefly assumed after his Eastern Campaign (it appears in regnal 

formulas at Amyzon in 203 and 202 BC, but not later). Antiochos also assumed the 

title “Basileus Megas” (which is

Greek

for Great King), the

traditional title of 

the Persian kings, which he adopted after his conquest of Koile Seleukia.

//

 Early years

Antiochus III inherited a disorganized state. Not only had

Asia Minor
 

become detached, but the farther eastern provinces had broken away,

Bactria
under 

the Greek

Diodotus of Bactria

, and

Parthia
under 

the nomad chieftain

Arsaces

. Soon after Antiochus’s accession,

Media
and

Persis

revolted under their governors, the brothers

Molon
and

Alexander

.

The young king, under the baneful influence of the minister

Hermeias
, 

authorised an attack on

Judea
instead of 

going in person to face the rebels. The attack on Judea proved a fiasco, and the 

generals sent against Molon and Alexander met with disaster. Only in Asia Minor, 

where the king’s cousin, the able

Achaeus

represented the Seleucid cause, did its prestige recover, driving 

the Pergamene power back to its earlier limits.

In 221 BC Antiochus at last went east, and the rebellion of Molon and 

Alexander collapsed. The submission of Lesser Media, which had asserted its 

independence under

Artabazanes

, followed. Antiochus rid himself of Hermeias by assassination 

and returned to Seleukia
 

(220 BC). Meanwhile Achaeus himself had revolted and assumed the title of king 

in Asia Minor. Since, however, his power was not well enough grounded to allow 

of his attacking Seleukia, Antiochus considered that he might leave Achaeus for the 

present and renew his attempt on Judea.

The campaigns of 219 BC and 218 BC carried the Seleucid armies almost to the 

confines of

Ptolemaic Egypt

, but in 217 BC

Ptolemy IV

confronted Antiochus at the

battle of Raphia

and inflicted a defeat upon him which nullified all 

Antiochus’s successes and compelled him to withdraw north of the

Lebanon
. In 

216 BC Antiochus went north to deal with Achaeus, and had by 214 BC driven him 

from the field into Sardis

. Antiochus contrived to get possession of the person of

Achaeus

(see

Polybius
), 

but the citadel held out until 213 BC under Achaeus’ widow

Laodice

and then surrendered.

Having thus recovered the central part of Asia Minor – for the Seleucid 

government had perforce to tolerate the dynasties in

Pergamon
,

Bithynia
 

and Cappadocia

 – Antiochus turned to recover the outlying provinces of the north 

and east. He obliged

Xerxes of Armenia

to acknowledge his supremacy in 212 BC. In 209 BC 

Antiochus invaded Parthia

, occupied the capital

Hecatompylus

and pushed forward into

Hyrcania
. 

The Parthian king

Arsaces II

apparently successfully sued for peace.

 Bactrian 

campaign and Indian expedition

Year 209 BC saw Antiochus in

Bactria
, 

where the

Greco-Bactrian

king

Euthydemus I

had supplanted the original rebel. Antiochus again met with 

success.  

After sustaining a famous siege in his capital

Bactra

(Balkh), Euthydemus obtained an honourable peace by which 

Antiochus promised Euthydemus’ son

Demetrius

the hand of one of his daughters.

Antiochus next, following in the steps of Alexander, crossed into the

Kabul
valley, 

renewed his friendship with the

Indian
king

Sophagasenus

and returned west by way of

Seistan

and Kerman (206/5). According to

Polybius
:

“He crossed the Caucasus (Hindu 

Kush) and descended into India; renewed his friendship with

Sophagasenus

(Subhashsena in Prakrit) the king of the Indians; received 

more elephants, until he had a hundred and fifty altogether; and having once 

more provisioned his troops, set out again personally with his army: leaving 

Androsthenes of Cyzicus the duty of taking home the treasure which this king 

had agreed to hand over to him.”

Polybius 11.39

 Persia and Koile 

Seleukia campaigns

From

Seleucia on the Tigris

he led a short expedition down the

Persian 

Gulf
against the

Gerrhaeans
of 

the Arabian coast (205 BC/204 BC). Antiochus seemed to have restored the 

Seleucid empire in the east, and the achievement brought him the title of “the 

Great.” (Antiochos Megas). In 205 BC/204 BC the infant

Ptolemy V Epiphanes

succeeded to the Egyptian throne, and Antiochus is said 

(notably by Polybios) to have concluded a secret pact with

Philip V of Macedon

for the partition of the Ptolemaic possessions. Under 

the terms of this pact,

Macedon

were to receive Egypt’s around the Aegean Sea and

Cyrene

while Antiochus would take

Cyprus
and 

Egypt.

Once more Antiochus attacked the Ptolemaic province of Koile Seleukia and 

Phoenicia, and by 199 BC he seems to have had possession of it before the 

Aetolian,

Scopas

, recovered it for Ptolemy. But that recovery proved brief, for in 198 

BC Antiochus defeated Scopas at the

Battle of Panium

, near the sources of the

Jordan
, 

a battle which marks the end of Ptolemaic rule in Judea.

 War against Rome

Antiochus then moved to Asia Minor to secure the coast towns which had 

belonged to the Ptolemaic overseas dominions and the independent Greek cities. 

This enterprise brought him into antagonism with

Rome

, since Smyrna

and

Lampsacus
 

appealed to the republic of the west, and the tension became greater after 

Antiochus had in 196 BC established a footing in

Thrace
. The 

evacuation of Greece by the Romans gave Antiochus his opportunity, and he now 

had the fugitive

Hannibal
at 

his court to urge him on.

Aetolians. In 

191 BC, however, the Romans under

Manius Acilius Glabrio

routed him at

Thermopylae

and obliged him to withdraw to Asia. The Romans followed up 

their success by attacking Antiochus in

Anatolia
, 

and the decisive victory of

Scipio Asiaticus

at

Magnesia ad Sipylum

(190 BC), following the defeat of Hannibal at sea off

Side, delivered 

Asia Minor into their hands.

By the

Treaty of Apamea

(188 BC) the Seleucid king abandoned all the country north 

of the

Taurus

, which Rome distributed amongst its friends. As a consequence of this 

blow to the Seleucid power, the outlying provinces of the empire, recovered by 

Antiochus, reasserted their independence.

Antiochus mounted a fresh expedition to the east in

Luristan

, where he died in an attempt to rob a temple at Elymaïs, Persia, in 

187 BC. The Seleucid kingdom as Antiochus left it fell to his son,

Seleucus IV Philopator

, by his wife

Laodice

.

Seleucid  Empire Σελεύκεια Seleúkeia

312 BC–63 BC ↓

The Seleucid Empire in 301 BC.

The Seleucid Empire  
was a
Hellenistic
state ruled by the Seleucid dynasty 
founded by
Seleucus I Nicator
following the division of 
the empire created by
Alexander the Great
. Seleucus received
Babylonia
and, from there, expanded his 
dominions to include much of Alexander’s
near eastern
territories. At the height of its 
power, it included central
Anatolia
, the
Levant
,
Mesopotamia
,
Kuwait
,
Persia
,
Afghanistan
,
Turkmenistan
, and northwest parts of
India
.

The Seleucid Empire was a major center of
Hellenistic
culture that maintained the 
preeminence of
Greek
customs where a Greek-Macedonian 
political elite dominated, mostly in the urban areas. The Greek population of 
the cities who formed the dominant elite were reinforced by emigration from
Greece
. Seleucid expansion into
Anatolia
and Greece was abruptly halted after
decisive defeats
at the hands of the
Roman army
. Their attempts to defeat their old 
enemy
Ptolemaic Egypt
were frustrated by Roman 
demands. Much of the eastern part of the empire was conquered by the
Parthians
under
Mithridates I of Parthia
in the mid-2nd century 
BC, yet the Seleucid kings continued to rule a
rump state
from
the Seleukid Kingdom
until the invasion by
Armenian
king
Tigranes the Great
and their ultimate overthrow 
by the Roman
general
Pompey
.