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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sulla80, post: 8197733, member: 99456&quot;][USER=42773]@John Anthony[/USER] and I discovered that we were researching related coins, so we decided a joint post might make an interesting read.....</p><p><br /></p><p>An event during Alexander the Great&#039;s conquest of the Achaemenid Empire is potentially depicted on the reverse of my coin. However, a very different option emerges from a more detailed look at the coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>In his biography of Alexander the Great, Quintus Curtius Rufus writes about Paeonians serving in the cavalry of Alexander. Ariston, the Paeonian commander of the cavalry, heroically brings victory, and the head of his opponent, to Alexander.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4">&quot;He [Mazaeus, the Persian satrap] had sent only 1,000 cavalry ahead, and so, Alexander, discovering and then scorning their small numbers, ordered Ariston, the commander of the Paeonian cavalry, to charge them at full gallop. The cavalry, and especially Ariston, distinguished themselves in that day’s engagement. Ariston aimed his spear straight at the throat of the Persian cavalry commander, Satropates, ran him through, and then followed him as he fled through the thick of the enemy, hurled him from his horse and decapitated him as he struggled. The head he brought back, and to loud applause, laid before the kings feet.&quot;</font></p><p><font size="4">-Curtius Rufus, Quintus, <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyofalexand00curt/page/72/mode/2up" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/historyofalexand00curt/page/72/mode/2up" rel="nofollow">Historia Alexandri Magni</a>, translated by John Yardley, Penguin Books, 1984, Book IX 24-25</font></p><p><br /></p><p>Plutarch finishes the story with an illustration of Alexander&#039;s good humor and generosity.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4">&quot;Ariston, the captain of the Paeonians, having slain an enemy, brought his head and showed it to Alexander, saying: ‘In my country, O King, such a gift as this is rewarded with a golden beaker.’ ‘Yes,’ said Alexander with a laugh, ‘an empty one; but I will pledge thy health with one which is full of pure wine.’&quot;</font></p><p><font size="4">-Plutarch, <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D39%3Asection%3D2" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D39%3Asection%3D2" rel="nofollow">Plutarch&#039;s Lives</a>, translated by Bernadotte Perrin, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1919. <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D39%3Asection%3D2" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D39%3Asection%3D2" rel="nofollow">Alexander 39.2</a></font></p><p><br /></p><p>Ariston was possibly the brother of King Patreos who minted this coin:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1435958[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Kings of Paeonia, Patraos</b>, circa 335-315 BC, AR Tetradrachm (22mm, 12.72g, 11h).</p><p><b>Obv: </b>Laureate head of Apollo to right</p><p><b>Rev:</b> ΠΑΤΡ[ΑΟΥ], Paeonian horseman, wearing crested helmet and full armor, galloping right and spearing fallen enemy; below to left, bucranium</p><p><b>Ref: </b>Paeonian Hoard 334, SNG ANS 1030</p><p><b>Note: </b>this particular coin with horse&#039;s head or bucranium behind the horse seems to be scare or rare (25 out of <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=paeonia+patraos+tetradrachm&amp;category=1-2&amp;lot=&amp;thesaurus=1&amp;images=1&amp;en=1&amp;de=1&amp;fr=1&amp;it=1&amp;es=1&amp;ot=1&amp;currency=usd&amp;order=0" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=paeonia+patraos+tetradrachm&amp;category=1-2&amp;lot=&amp;thesaurus=1&amp;images=1&amp;en=1&amp;de=1&amp;fr=1&amp;it=1&amp;es=1&amp;ot=1&amp;currency=usd&amp;order=0" rel="nofollow">750 coins on ACSearch</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;[ATTACH=full]1435955[/ATTACH]</p><p>A bucranium illustrated in &quot;Regola degli cinqve ordini d&#039;architettvra&quot; by Vignola, 1507-1573 published in 1602. Public Domain via <a href="https://archive.org/details/cinqveordinidarc00vign/page/n29/mode/2up" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/cinqveordinidarc00vign/page/n29/mode/2up" rel="nofollow">Archive.org</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>A reverse die match from <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8009871" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8009871" rel="nofollow">Gorny and Mosch, via ACSearch</a>, confirms a couple of details in the clothing of the rider and fallen soldier.[ATTACH=full]1435973[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Where is Paeonia?</b></p><p><br /></p><p>This map of Greece, before the Pellopenisian War (431 BC), shows the location of Paeonia to the North of Macedonia.</p><p>&nbsp;[ATTACH=full]1435957[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Philip II Subjugates Paeonia</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Circa 358 BC, Philip II of Macedonia, Alexander&#039;s father, captured Paeonia and made it a vassal state.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4">&quot;Now that he [Philip II] was relieved of the war with the Athenians and had information that the king of the Paeonians, Agis, was dead, he conceived that he had the opportunity to attack the Paeonians. Accordingly, having conducted an expedition into Paeonia and defeated the barbarians in a battle, he compelled the tribe to acknowledge allegiance to the Macedonians.&quot;</font></p><p><font size="4">-Diodorus Siculus, <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/16A*.html#4.1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/16A*.html#4.1" rel="nofollow">Library of History, 4.2</a></font></p><p><br /></p><p>Hugo Gaebler proposed in AMNG, in 1935, that this coin depicts Ariston&#039;s defeat of Satropates.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4">&quot;The depiction on the reverse celebrates the brilliant victory that Ariston, a relative (most likely brother) of King Patraos, won over the Persian cavalry prefect Satropates in a reconnaissance battle before the battle of Gaugamela (331 BC) (Curt. Ruf. IV, g, 25). The Paionian horseman wears a long chiton under the armor, and his head is protected by a helmet with a large plume; he sits on a saddlecloth held in place by a strap around the horse&#039;s chest. The sunken Persian usually wears trousers with a short, belted chiton and on his head a round, mostly bashlyk-like, extended cap.&quot;</font></p><p><font size="4">-Hugo Gaebler, <a href="https://archive.org/details/p2dieantikenmn03akad/page/202/mode/2up?q=ariston" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/p2dieantikenmn03akad/page/202/mode/2up?q=ariston" rel="nofollow">Die Antiken Münzen Nord-Griechenlands, vol 3.2 p302</a></font></p><p><br /></p><p>The idea was further popularized by I.L. Merker in ‘<a href="https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/issue/view/226" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/issue/view/226" rel="nofollow">The Ancient Kingdom of Paionia</a>,’ Balkan Studies 6 (1965), p. 44 (<a href="https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/view/578/585" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/view/578/585" rel="nofollow">download pdf</a>)</p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">&quot;In any case, I think that we can consider the Paionian coin type as a representation of the epic battle of Ariston and Satropates. The name Ariston appears later as the name of a member of the royal family, and probably our Ariston was likewise a member of the royal family — perhaps a younger brother of Patraos. Patraos himself issued two types of silver tetradrachms. The first issue, a very rare one,showed a horse’s head on the reverse; the second, much more common, is the one I described before.&quot;</font></p><p><font size="4">-Merker, p.44</font></p><p><br /></p><p>However, there are some problems with this connection. First of all, why would Petraos celebrate the accomplishments of his relative/brother, who would potentially be a rival for the throne. Nicholas Wright explores convincingly an alternate explanation for the reverse of this coin. His arguments:</p><ul> <li>This event would not necessarily have been important to the Paeonians - it is told to glorify Macedonia and Alexander the Great.<br /> </li> <li>There is no precedent for Greek coins to portray narratives in this way on coins.<br /> </li> <li>From a dynastic point of view it wouldn&#039;t make sense to put your brother on a coin and create competition for yourself and your heirs for the throne.<br /> </li> <li>On coins where the shield can be made out, held by the warrior on the ground, it looks Macedonian.<br /> </li> <li>The horseman&#039;s clothing illustrates a member of the Paeonian military elite.<br /> </li> <li>The warrior on the ground, if he were a Persian cavalryman, would not have carried a shield.</li> </ul><p>There are some variations of this coin that may reflect changing relationships over time between Paeonia and Macedonia or Paeonia and its other neighbors. My coin appears to have a laureate Apollo, a Paeonian horseman and a warrior on the ground with a Macedonian <i>kausia </i>and shield. To me it is a bit ambiguous whether he is naked or wearing trousers, so potentially a Macedonian warrior - a message of hostility toward their southern neighbors, or perhaps some other enemy of the Paeonians to the east or north.</p><p><br /></p><p>In AMNG, on the page 301, Gaebler describes the reverse of the coin in this way:</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4">&quot;Paeonian rider to right on a rearing horse, the reins in his left hand, pointing a spear downwards with his right at an enemy who is under the horse&#039;s front legs with left foot far forward, resting on the left foot, with the raised r. hand to throw a javelin while reaching out and covers himself with a round shield decorated in the manner of the Macedonian&quot;</font></p><p><font size="4">-Hugo Gaebler, <a href="https://archive.org/details/p2dieantikenmn03akad/page/202/mode/2up?q=ariston" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/p2dieantikenmn03akad/page/202/mode/2up?q=ariston" rel="nofollow">Die Antiken Münzen Nord-Griechenlands, vol 3.2 p301</a></font></p><p><br /></p><p>I have to admit, looking at the coins in AMNG, I can see how one might see the head covering as a bashlyk-like, add in non-Macedonian trousers, and conclude: &quot;Persian&quot;. Gaebler doesn&#039;t really give an argument, he simply declares the connection. Although he clearly recognized the shield as Macedonian.</p><p><br /></p><p>With the three coins in series, the changing position of the warrior seems almost cinematic:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1435959[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I find Wright&#039;s argument convincing enough to reject the view that this is specifically Ariston. Rather than reinforcing the view that Paeonia is a vassal state, it does seem credible that these coins declare a hostile posture against the Macedonians, and provide evidence that between 331 BC and the death of Alexander in 323, Patraos of Paeonia had broken free of Macedonia.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>This is where I will hand off to [USER=42773]@John Anthony[/USER], for another coin and the next chapter....</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>References</b></p><ul> <li><font size="3">WRIGHT, N. L. (2012). <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/42678926" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/42678926" rel="nofollow">The Horseman and the Warrior: Paionia and Macedonia in the Fourth Century BC</a>. <i>The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-)</i>, <i>172</i>, 1–26.</font></li> <li><font size="3">I.L. Merker in ‘<a href="https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/issue/view/226" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/issue/view/226" rel="nofollow">The Ancient Kingdom of Paionia</a>,’ Balkan Studies 6 (1965), p. 44 (<a href="https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/view/578/585" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/view/578/585" rel="nofollow">download pdf</a>)</font></li> <li><font size="3">Text of a talk presented by <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/490270056/578-1158-1-SM-The-ancient-kingdom-of-Paionia-Irwin-Merker" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.scribd.com/document/490270056/578-1158-1-SM-The-ancient-kingdom-of-Paionia-Irwin-Merker" rel="nofollow">I.L. Merker at the Institute for Balkan Studies on April 7, 1964</a>.</font></li> <li><font size="3">Hugo Gaebler, <a href="https://archive.org/details/p2dieantikenmn03akad/page/202/mode/2up?q=ariston" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/p2dieantikenmn03akad/page/202/mode/2up?q=ariston" rel="nofollow">Die Antiken Münzen Nord-Griechenlands, vol 3.2 p302</a>, 1935</font></li> <li><font size="3"><a href="https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/greece_pelop_war_431.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/greece_pelop_war_431.jpg" rel="nofollow">Greece at the Beginning of the Peloponnesian War (431 B.C.).</a> (307K) From The Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1923.</font></li> <li><font size="3">Diodorus Siculus, <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/16A*.html#4.1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/16A*.html#4.1" rel="nofollow">Library of History, 4.2</a></font></li> <li><font size="3">Clothing, a useful web page on Macedonian soldier&#039;s clothing can be found here: <a href="https://hetairoi.de/en/mens-military-clothing" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://hetairoi.de/en/mens-military-clothing" rel="nofollow">https://hetairoi.de/en/mens-military-clothing</a></font></li> <li><font size="3">Additional Paeonian Tetradrachms - seven coins published from the &quot;Shotheby&#039;s 1969 Paeonian Hoard&quot; in this catalog from <a href="https://archive.org/details/catalogueofancie00gle_ur8/page/76/mode/2up" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/catalogueofancie00gle_ur8/page/76/mode/2up" rel="nofollow">Glendining 12-JUL-1979</a></font></li> </ul><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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