ANTIOCHOS IX Kyzikenos 108BC Seleukid Athena RARE R2 Ancient Greek Coin i53685

Item: i53685

Authentic Ancient 

Greek Coin of:

Bronze 17mm (4.76 grams) Tarsus mint, circa 113-96 B.C.

Reference: HGC 9, 1247 
Rare 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
.