DEMETRIOS I SOTER 162BC Seleukid Antioch Artemis Ancient Greek Coin i47142

Item: i47142

Authentic Ancient

Greek Coin of

Seleukid Kingdom
Demetrios I, Soter
– Seleucid King: 162-150 B.C.
Serrated Bronze 20mm (8.16
grams) Antioch on the Orontes mint
Reference: HGC 9, 826; SC 1645
Bust of Artemis right, wearing stephane, bow and quiver over shoulder.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ,
Bow and quiver.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Artemis
was one of the most widely
venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Some scholars believe that the
name, and indeed the goddess herself, was originally pre-Greek. Homer
refers to her as Artemis Agrotera,
Potnia Theron
< Artemis of the
wildland, Mistress of Animals”. In the classical period of
Greek mythology
, Artemis (Greek:
(nominative)
Ἄρτεμις, (genitive)
Ἀρτέμιδος) was often
described as the daughter of
Zeus
and
Leto
, and the twin sister of
Apollo
. She was the Hellenic goddess of
the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and young
girls, bringing and relieving disease in women; she often was depicted
as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. The
deer
and the
cypress
were sacred to her. In later
Hellenistic times, she even assumed the ancient role of
Eileithyia
in aiding childbirth.

Artemis later became identified with
Selene
, a
Titaness
who was a Greek moon goddess,
sometimes depicted with a crescent moon above her head. She was also identified
with the Roman goddess
Diana
, with the
Etruscan
goddess
Artume
, and with the Greek or
Carian
goddess
Hecate
.

Demetrius I (Greek:

Δημήτριος Α`, c. 187 BC – 150 BC), surnamed

Soter
(Greek:

Σωτήρ – “Savior”), was a ruler of the

Hellenistic

Seleucid Empire

. He had been sent to

Rome as a

hostage

during the reign of his father,

Seleucus IV Philopator

. After his father’s death in 175 BC,

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

took advantage of Demetrius’ captivity to seize the

throne. Demetrius escaped from confinement and established himself on the Syrian

throne (162 BC) after overthrowing and murdering King

Antiochus V Eupator

, his cousin.

Demetrius acquired his surname of Soter, or Saviour,

from the

Babylonians

, whom he delivered from the tyranny of the Median

satrap
,

Timarchus
.

Timarchus, who had distinguished himself by defending

Media
against the

emergent

Parthians

, seems to have treated Demetrius’ accession as an excuse to

declare himself an independent king and extend his realm into Babylonia. His

forces were however not enough for the legal Seleucid king: Demetrius defeated

and killed Timarchus in 160 BCE, and dethroned

Ariarathes

, king of

Cappadocia
.

The Seleucid empire was temporarily united again.

Demetrius is famous in

Jewish

history for his victory over the

Maccabees
.

Demetrius’ downfall is attributed to Heracleides, a surviving

brother of the defeated rebel Timarchus, who championed the cause of

Alexander Balas

, a boy he claimed was a natural son of

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

. Heracleides convinced the

Roman

Senate
to support the young pretender against Demetrius, who was defeated

and killed in 150 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
.