Almost Famous: Ariobarzanes I of Cappadocia

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Parthicus, Feb 15, 2020.

  1. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    Another coin from late 2019, and a little outside my usual collecting area:
    Cappadocia Ariobarzanes.jpg
    Cappadocia. AR drachm. Ariobarzanes I (96-63 BC), Year 5. Obverse: King's diademed head right. Reverse: Athena standing with shield and spear, holding Nike in right hand. Greek legend around "Basilews Ariobarzanou Philorwmaiou" (Of King Ariobarzanes, Friend of the Romans), T in field, E (date = 5) in exergue. This coin: Purchased from Wayne G. Sayles, December 2019 for $51.

    Ariobarzanes I of Cappadocia is not a very familiar name, even to many people with an interest in ancient history. Despite his relative obscurity today, he interacted with some of the most important military and political minds of his time: Mithridates VI of Pontus (120-63 BC) who was one of Rome's greatest enemies, Tigranes II of Armenia (95-55 BC) who led Armenia to its greatest territorial expansion ever, and two of Rome's greatest military leaders, Lucius Cornelius Sulla who became dictator in 82-81 BC, and Pompey the Great who was part of the Third Triumvirate before his unsuccessful fight against Julius Caesar. Ariobarzanes, from what I can tell, seems not to have been as ambitious as any of these men, but was content to maintain power over his own small kingdom (with maybe just a bit of additional land).

    I was inspired to buy this piece because of a post by @Sulla80 (https://www.cointalk.com/threads/sulla-in-cappadocia-first-meeting-with-parthia.350572/ ) outlining how Ariobarzanes came to the throne. I highly recommend you read that informative article first. Here's the outline:

    Mithridates VI of Pontus, always eager to expand his sphere of influence, had King Ariorathes VII assassinated in c. 101 BC and installed Mithridates' own young son on the throne under the name of Ariorathes IX. (How did we skip from Ariorathes VII to Ariorathes IX? Well, there was another claimant to the throne, who is known to modern historians as Ariorathes VIII, but I'm going to skip him or this story will be far too long.) The Cappadocian nobility appealed to Rome for help, and the Roman Senate granted them the right to choose their own king. In 96 BC they selected Ariobarzanes, who was a Cappadocian nobleman but not of the direct royal line, and who had Persian ancestry. Mithridates convinced his ally Tigranes of Armenia to invade Cappadocia, forcing Ariobarzanes to flee. Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who was serving as propraetor of Cilicia, was ordered to restore him to the throne, and in 94 BC he was able to expel Tigranes' troops from Cappadocia and return Ariobarzanes. Of course, with such powerful and ambitious neighbors, Ariobarzanes' throne was often under threat; he was forced out (and restored) a total of three times, the final restoration with the help of Pompey the Great in the Third Mithridatic War (73-63 BC) which saw the end of both the Kingdom of Pontus and the Seleucid Empire. In 63 BC Ariobarzanes voluntarily abdicated the throne in order to allow his son Ariobarzanes II to take over.

    I was attracted to this coin not only by the associated history, but also the fine quality of the portrait. Note also the use of "Philoromaiou" (Friend of Rome) in the legend- Ariobarzanes knew who the real power was. Coins of Ariobarzanes are common in the market today, and this one cost me $51. The obverse is quite a bit off center, but none of the face is off the flan (though his chin is getting a good close shave). Please share your coins of Ariobarzanes I, or any of the more famous allies and enemies from his life.
     
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  3. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Nice example and good information to go along with it. Here is my example of
    Ariobarzanes I:
    Desktop1051-removebg-preview.png
    ARIOBARZANES I PHILOROMAIOS; KINGS of CAPPADOCIA
    AR Drachm
    OBVERSE: Diademed head right
    REVERSE: Athena Nikephoros standing left; monogram to inner left
    Mint A (Eusebeia-Mazaka) 68-67 BC
    3.73 g, 16mm
    Simonetta, Coins 38s
    ex, Orielensis, CT
     
  4. Sulla80

    Sulla80 Well-Known Member

    A nice coin @Parthicus, and a surprisingly modest price for a >2000 year old coin with such rich links to historic events and figures. Here's one of mine:
    Ariobarzanes I.jpg
    Kings of Cappadocia, Ariobarzanes I, Philoromaios. 96-63 BC, AR Drachm, 83/82 BC
    Obv: Diademed head right.
    Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ APIOBAPZANOY ΦIΛOPΩMAIOY/ IΓ (date, regnal year 13), Athena standing left, holding shield, spear and Nike.
     
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2020
  5. Orielensis

    Orielensis Well-Known Member

    Nice drachm and interesting write-up!

    I once had three examples of this type, all of which were bought from the same European collection whose owner eventually decided to sell. The first one was sold in AMCC2 (maybe to one of you?), the second one, shown above in thi thread, went to @Bing for Secret Saturnalia, and the third one will stay with me:

    Cappadocia – Ariobarzanes drachm (neu).png
    Ariobarzanes I. Philorhomaios, Kingdom of Cappadocia, AR drachm, 66/65 BC, Eusebeia mint. Obv: Diademed head right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ APIOBAPZANOY ΦIΛOPΩMAIOY, Athena standing left, holding shield, spear and Nike; to left monogram, Λ in exergue (off flan). 17mm, 4.3g. Ref: Simonetta 1977, no. 43.
     
  6. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    For a reason I can not recall, I bought two of these on the same day. Later I sold the year 30 (was it through a JAZ sale?) but kept the year 29.
    g92352bb2640.jpg
    g92353cc2641.jpg
     
  7. Ed Snible

    Ed Snible Well-Known Member

    If you see one of these with a good strike you should pounce on it. The Roman senate may have been able to restore Ariobarzanes to the throne but it wasn't able to get his mint workers to stay focused on their task.

    ariobarzanes-both.jpg
    CAPPADOCIAN KINGDOM. Ariobarzanes I Philoromaios/Philoromaeus (96-66/3 BC). AR drachm, 18mm. Weight unknown (slabbed). Eusebeia mint under Mount Argaeus, dated Year 30 (66/5 BC).
    Obv: Diademed head of Ariobarzanes I right
    Rev: ΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ-ΑΡΙΟΒΑΡZΑΝΟΥ-ΦΙΛΟΡΩΜΑΙΟΥ, Athena standing left, Nike in right hand, left hand resting on grounded shield, spear behind; ΓA monogram in inner left field, Λ (date) below.
    Ex Heritage, 2019 September 5 Thursday World & Ancient Coins Weekly Online Auction #231936, lot 61090
     
  8. -monolith-

    -monolith- Supporter! Supporter

    Here is my Kingdom of Cappadocia - Ariobarzanes I Philoromaios
    photo.jpg
    and also Kingdom of Cappadocia - Ariarathes IV Eusebes
    lot 159 - sale.jpg

    and Kingdom of Cappadocia - Ariarathes IX Euserbes Philopator
    lot 160 - sale.jpg
     
  9. ACCLA-Mike

    ACCLA-Mike Member

    Such an interesting coin series. This is my Ariobarzanes I from the sale of Bono Simonetta's collection.



    851coin.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

  10. ACCLA-Mike

    ACCLA-Mike Member

    Here's the plate with the coin from Simonetta's book.

    Pl5Coin14.jpg
     
  11. Curtis

    Curtis Well-Known Member

    Nice one! I'm sure I either watch-listed or bid on that one too. Is that the 1977 book? I don't have the 2007 revised volume by the son yet, but just ordered it.

    Apparently this younger Ariobarzanes (Year 2 or 3) from the Alberto M. Simonetta collection is published there (AM Simonetta, Parthica 2007, Ab. I 6/3 (this coin), per Bertolami):
    Ariobarzanes I Yr 2 Cappadocia Drachm Ex AM Simonetta.jpg

    I bought a total of 7 from the Simonetta collections, 4 of which were owned by Bono Simonetta, 3 added later by his son Alberto M. Simonetta:

    Simonetta Collection Cappadocia x7 Coins Group.jpg

    For the B. Simonetta ones, I made of point of buying ones which were specifically subjects of his arguments with Otto Morkholm, and which had been published in the 1977 volume and in articles from 1958, 1961, 1970, and others.

    A few examples:
    Simonetta 1961-26 1977.jpg

    Simonetta 1977 1970 RIN Ariarathes V.jpg

    Simonetta 1977-15b 1974-10.jpg

    (It's worth checking his full bibliography, since "plate coins" in the articles weren't mentioned in the Bertolami sales; I have a full list with links and some PDFs for anyone who wants to message me, also have the publication histories for my four coins from Bono's collection listed on my website here).

    Re-reading this thread, I also noticed that Doug Smith posted the Year 30 Ariobarzanes Drachm from his collection that is now in mine. (Which I've now added to my provenance file.) He actually sold it through Ancient & Medieval Coins Canada, not JAZ:

    Ariobarzanes I Yr 30 Cappadocia Drachm Ex Doug Smith.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2023
  12. ACCLA-Mike

    ACCLA-Mike Member

    Nice series Curtis! I bought the Simonetta Ariobarzanes I because he was the ruler when Sulla met the Parthian ambassador Orobazus but I picked up a few others in that sale too. Hard to resist plate coins.
     
    Curtis likes this.
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