ANTIOCHOS IX Kyzikenos 108BC Seleukid Athena Authentic Ancient Greek Coin i47323

Item: i47323

Authentic Ancient

Greek Coin of:

Bronze 20mm (5.72 grams) Tarsus mint, circa 113-96 B.C.

Reference: HGC 9, 1247 (R2); SC 2353; SNG Spaer 2726; BMC Seleucid p. 93, 23

Bearded and diademed head of Antiochos IX right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ
/ ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤOΡΟΣ, Athena
advancing right, holding shield and spear over shoulder; monograms to left.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Athena
or Athene (Latin:

Minerva
),
also referred to as Pallas Athena, is the goddess of war, civilization,
wisdom, strength, strategy, crafts, justice and skill in
Greek mythology
.
Minerva
,
Athena’s Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd
companion of heroes

and the goddess

of heroic

endeavour. She is the
virgin

patron of Athens
.
The Athenians built the
Parthenon

on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens, in her honour (Athena Parthenos).
Athena’s cult as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the earliest
times and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to
cultural changes. In her role as a protector of the city (polis),
many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias
(“Athena of the city”).
Athens

and Athena bear etymologically connected names.

Antiochos
IX Kyzikenos, ruler of the
Greek

Seleucid kingdom
, was the son of
Antiochus VII Sidetes
and
Cleopatra Thea
. Upon the death of his father in
Parthia
and his uncle
Demetrius II Nicator’s
return to power (129
BC), his mother sent him to
Cyzicus
on the
Bosporus
, thus giving him his nickname. He
returned to the Seleukid Kingdom in 116 BC to claim the
Seleucid
throne from half-brother/cousin
Antiochus VIII Grypus
, with whom he eventually
divided the kingdom. He was killed in battle by the son of Grypus,
Seleucus VI Epiphanes
in 96 BC.

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
.