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Greek Coin of
Seleukid Kingdom
Demetrios I, Soter
– Seleucid King: 162-150 B.C.
Bronze 15mm (2.32 grams) Tyre mint, circa 162-150 B.C.
Reference: HGC 9, 855
Diademed head right
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ palm tree, date across fields.
Son of Seleukos IV, Demetrios was a hostage in Rome at the time of his father’s
death and thus unable to take up his inheritance. His uncle, Antiochos IV,
seized power in Syria, as related above, and Demetrios had to wait thirteen year
in Rome before his chance came to ascend the Seleukid throne. He became
something of a recluse in the latter part of his reign, and in 150 B.C. he lost
his life in a battle against Alexander Balas, who claimed to be the son of
Antiochos IV.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
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 |
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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. 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
.
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