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Greek Coin of
Macedonian Kingdom
Philip III, Arrhidaeus – King of
Macedonia
: 323-317
B.C.
Bronze Half Unit 13mm (2.86 grams) Struck circa
323-319 B.C.
Reference: Possibly Unlisted
Head of Alexander the Great as
Hercules
right, wearing the lion-skin headdress.
Youth on
h
orse prancing right, ΦIΛIΠΠΟΥ
above, H below horse.
* Numismatic Note: Very rare, possibly unpublished type. This
coin combines the obverse of Alexander the Great coins (336-323 B.C.) with the
reverse of Philip II (359-336 B.C.) coins to make a unique type. Perhaps used to
promote the idea of Philip III, the half brother of Alexander the Great, via
their father Philip II was truly the blood of the two honored kings.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
History Behind the Coin
Horse racing was an Olympic event of great prestige and intense competition. It
was a great honor for Philip II of Macedon to gain entry to the games, since
they were open only to Greeks. Prior to that time, the Macedonians were
considered by other Greeks as barbarians. It was an even greater honor for
Philip’s horses to win the prize. In 356 BC his entry won the single horse
event, and in 348 the two horse chariot event. Both of these victories were
proudly announced (should we say propagandized) by placing references to them on
the reverses of his coins struck in gold, silver and bronze. Plutarch tells us
that this was indeed his intention: “[Philip] …had victories of his chariots
at Olympia stamped on his coins.”
Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek
divine
hero Heracles
, who was the son of
Zeus (Roman equivalent
Jupiter
) and the mortal
Alcmene
. In
classical mythology
, Hercules is famous for his
strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Greek hero’s iconography and myths for their
literature and art under the name Hercules. In later
Western art
and literature and in
popular culture
, Hercules is more
commonly used than Heracles as the name of the hero. Hercules was a
multifaceted figure with contradictory characteristics, which enabled later
artists and writers to pick and choose how to represent him. This article
provides an introduction to representations of Hercules in the
later tradition
.
Labours
Hercules is known for his many adventures, which took him to the far reaches
of the
Greco-Roman world
. One cycle of these
adventures became
canonical
as the “Twelve Labours,” but the list
has variations. One traditional order of the labours is found in the
Bibliotheca
as follows:
- Slay the
Nemean Lion
.
- Slay the nine-headed
Lernaean Hydra
.
- Capture the
Golden Hind of Artemis
.
- Capture the
Erymanthian Boar
.
- Clean the Augean
stables in a single day.
- Slay the
Stymphalian Birds
.
- Capture the
Cretan Bull
.
- Steal the
Mares of Diomedes
.
- Obtain the girdle of
Hippolyta
, Queen of the
Amazons
.
- Obtain the cattle of the monster
Geryon
.
- Steal the apples of the
Hesperides
.
- Capture and bring back
Cerberus
.
The Latin
name Hercules was borrowed
through
Etruscan
, where it is represented variously
as Heracle
, Hercle, and other forms. Hercules
was a favorite subject for
Etruscan art
, and appears often on
bronze mirrors
. The Etruscan form Herceler derives from the Greek
Heracles via
syncope
. A mild oath invoking Hercules (Hercule!
or Mehercle!) was a common
interjection
in
Classical Latin
.
Baby Hercules strangling a
snake
sent to
kill him in his
cradle
(Roman marble, 2nd
century CE)
Hercules had a number of
myths
that were distinctly Roman. One of
these is Hercules’ defeat of
Cacus
, who was terrorizing the countryside
of Rome. The hero was associated with the
Aventine Hill
through his son
Aventinus
.
Mark Antony
considered him a personal
patron god, as did the emperor
Commodus
. Hercules received various forms
of
religious veneration
, including as a
deity concerned with children and childbirth
,
in part because of myths about his precocious infancy, and in part because
he fathered countless children. Roman brides wore a special belt tied with
the “knot
of Hercules“, which was supposed to be hard to untie.[4]
The comic playwright
Plautus
presents the myth of Hercules’
conception as a sex comedy in his play
Amphitryon
;
Seneca
wrote the tragedy Hercules Furens
about his bout with madness. During the
Roman Imperial era
, Hercules was worshipped
locally from
Hispania
through
Gaul
.
Medieval mythography
After the Roman Empire became
Christianized
, mythological narratives were
often reinterpreted as
allegory
, influenced by the philosophy of
late antiquity
. In the 4th century,
Servius
had described Hercules’ return from the
underworld as representing his ability to overcome earthly desires and vices, or
the earth itself as a consumer of bodies.
In medieval mythography, Hercules was one of the heroes seen as a strong role
model who demonstrated both valor and wisdom, with the monsters he battles as
moral obstacles. One
glossator
noted that when
Hercules became a constellation
, he showed that
strength was necessary to gain entrance to Heaven.
Medieval mythography was written almost entirely in Latin, and original Greek
texts were little used as sources for Hercules’ myths.
Renaissance
mythography
The Renaissance
and the invention of the
printing press
brought a renewed interest in
and publication of Greek literature. Renaissance mythography drew more
extensively on the Greek tradition of Heracles, typically under the Romanized
name Hercules, or the alternate name
Alcides
. In a chapter of his book
Mythologiae (1567), the influential mythographer
Natale Conti
collected and summarized an
extensive range of myths concerning the birth, adventures, and death of the hero
under his Roman name Hercules. Conti begins his lengthy chapter on Hercules with
an overview description that continues the moralizing impulse of the Middle
Ages:
Hercules, who subdued and destroyed monsters, bandits, and criminals, was
justly famous and renowned for his great courage. His great and glorious
reputation was worldwide, and so firmly entrenched that he’ll always be
remembered. In fact the ancients honored him with his own temples, altars,
ceremonies, and priests. But it was his wisdom and great soul that earned
those honors; noble blood, physical strength, and political power just
aren’t good enough.
Philip III Arrhidaeus (Greek; ca. 359
BC – December 25, 317 BC) was the king of
Macedon
from after June 11, 323 BC until his death. He was a son of King
Philip
II of Macedon
by Philinna of
Larissa
,
allegedly a Thessalian
dancer, and a half-brother of
Alexander
the Great
. Named Arrhidaeus at birth, he assumed the name Philip when
he ascended to the throne.
In Plutarch
‘s
report, he became both physically and mentally disabled following a poisoning
attempt by Philip II’s wife, Queen
Olympias
,
who wanted to eliminate a possible rival to her son Alexander. However, this may
just be malicious gossip, and there is no evidence that Olympias really caused
her stepson’s condition. Alexander was very fond of him, and took him on his
campaigns, both to protect his life and to ensure he would not be used as a pawn
in a challenge for the throne. After Alexander’s death in Babylon, Arrhidaeus
was proclaimed king by the Macedonian army in Asia. However, he was a mere
figurehead, and a pawn of the powerful generals, one after the other. His reign
and his life did not last long.
The crater
Ariadaeus
on the Moon
is named after him.
Biography
He appears to have never been a danger for Alexander’s succession to Philip
II, notwithstanding their being of about the same age; all the same, when the
satrap
of
Caria
Pixodarus
proposed his daughter in marriage to Philip, who offered Arrhidaeus as husband,
Alexander thought it prudent to block the operation, with considerable
irritation of his father (337 BC). Arrhidaeus’ whereabouts under the reign of
his brother Alexander are unclear; what is certain is that no civil or military
command was given him in those thirteen years (336 BC–323 BC).
He was at Babylon
at the time of Alexander’s death, the 11 June 323 BC. A succession
crisis erupted: Arrhidaeus was the most obvious candidate, but he was mentally
unfit to rule. A conflict exploded between
Perdiccas
,
leader of the
cavalry
, and
Meleager
, who commanded the
phalanx
:
the first wanted to wait to see if
Roxana
,
Alexander’s pregnant wife, would deliver a male baby, while the second objected
that Arrhidaeus was the closest relative living and so should be chosen king.
Meleager was killed, and a compromise was engineered: Arrhidaeus would become
king with the name of Philip, and he would be joined by Roxana’s son as
co-sovereign should he prove a male, as he did, and joined his uncle with the
name of
Alexander
. It was immediately decided that Philip Arrhidaeus would reign,
but not rule: this was to be the prerogative of the new
regent
,
Perdiccas.
When news arrived in Macedon that Arrhidaeus had been chosen as king,
Cynane
, a
daughter of Philip II, matured the design to travel to Asia and offer the new
king her daughter
Eurydice
for wife. This move was an obvious affront to the regent, whom
Cynane had completely bypassed: to prevent the move Perdiccas sent his brother
Alcetas
to
kill Cynane, but reactions among the troops generated by this murder was such
that the regent had to give up and accept the marriage. From that moment on
Philip Arrhidaeus was to be under the sway of his bride, a proud and determined
woman bent on substantiating her husband’s power.
Eurydice’s chance came when the first war of the
Diadochi
sealed the fate of Perdiccas, making a new settlement necessary; settlement that
was made at
Triparadisus
in Syria
in 320 BC. Eurydice moved deftly enough to obtain the removal of the
first two designed regents,
Peithon
and
Arrhidaeus
,
but was powerless to block the too powerful
Antipater
:
the latter was made new regent and Philip Arrhidaeus and his wife were forced to
follow him to Macedon.
The regent died of natural causes the following year, nominating as his
successor not his son
Cassander
,
but a friend of his,
Polyperchon
. Cassander’s refusal to accept his father’s decision sparked the
second war of the Diadochi, in which Eurydice saw once again a chance to free
Philip from the control of the regent. An opportunity presented itself in 317
BC, when Cassander expelled Polyperchon from Macedon: Eurydice immediately
allied herself with him and made her husband nominate him new regent, and
Cassander reciprocated by leaving her in full control of the country when he
left to campaign in
Greece
.
But all this was to prove exceedingly volatile: that same year (317)
Polyperchon and Olympias, allied with the king of
Epirus
Aeacides
,
invaded Macedon, while the Macedonian troops refused to fight the son of
Alexander, whom the invaders had brought with them. Philip and Eurydice had no
choice but to escape, only to be captured at
Amphipolis
and thrown into prison. It soon became clear that Philip was too dangerous to be
left alive, as many enemies of Olympias saw him as a useful tool against her,
and so on December 25 317 BC she had him executed, while his wife was forced to
commit suicide.
The following year, when Cassander reconquered Macedon and avenged Philip’s
death, he interred the bodies of Philip and Eurydice with royal pomp at
Aegae
, and
celebrated funeral games to their honour.
In 1977 important excavations were made near Vergina leading to the discovery
of a two-chambered royal tomb, with an almost perfectly conserved male skeleton.
Manolis
Andronikos
, the chief archaeologist on the ground and the majority of
archaeologists, decided it was the skeleton of Philip II, but many have disputed
this attribution and instead proposed it to be the remains of Philip Arrhidaeus.
Subsequent forensic reconstruction of the skull contained in the gold Larnax
(cremains container) clearly demonstrates damage to the right eye socket of the
skull in keeping with historical accounts that Philip II had been struck by an
arrow in the right eye and as a consequence, had been severely disfigured. See
Prag, John and Richard Neave: Making Faces: Using Forensic and Archaelogical
Evidence (British Museum Press: 1997).
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