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Greek coin of Seleukid Kingdom
Antiochos VI Dionysos – King: 144-141 B.C.
Bronze 17mm of Antioch on the Orontes
Reference: HGC 9, 1048.
Certification: NGC Ancients VF 6156464-021
Radiate and diademed head right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΥ, panther left, holding broken spear in jaws, to right, ΣTA, above star.
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_with_Female_Head_-_Walters_482763_-_View_A.jpg/260px-Greek_-_Red-Figure_Kantharos_(Drinking_Vessel)_with_Female_Head_-_Walters_482763_-_View_A.jpg) A kantharos or cantharus is a type of Greek pottery used for drinking. In its iconic “Type A” form, it is characterized by its deep bowl, tall pedestal foot, and pair of high-swung handles which extend above the lip of the pot. The Greek words kotylos (κότῦλος, masculine) and kotyle (κοτύλη, feminine) are other ancient names for this same shape.
The kantharos is a cup used to hold wine, possibly for drinking or for ritual use or offerings. The kantharos seems to be an attribute of Dionysos, the god of wine, who was associated with vegetation and fertility.
It may not be a banquet-cup, but rather a vessel used in pagan cult as a symbol of rebirth or resurrection, the immortality offered by wine, “removing in moments of ecstasy the burden of self-consciousness and elevating man to the rank of deity.”
Antiochus VI Dionysus (ca. 148–142/1 BC), king of the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom, was the son of Alexander Balas and Cleopatra Thea, daughter of Ptolemy VI of Egypt.
Antiochus VI did not actually rule. Either already in 145 or in early 144 BC he was nominated by the general Diodotus Tryphon as heir to the throne in opposition to Demetrius II, and remained the general’s tool. In c. 142/1 BC, the young king died. While some ancient authors make Diodotus Tryphon responsible for the death of the king, others write that he died during a surgery.
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Seleucid Empire
Σελεύκεια
Seleúkeia
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312 BC–63 BC
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The Seleucid Empire in 301 BC.
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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.
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.
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