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<p>[QUOTE="CoinDoctorYT, post: 4592955, member: 113262"]Poliorketes is an often forgotten historical figure. Most historians would regard him as a boring historical figure, but by the end of reading this you will start to love him a bit more. He was a historical badass and his coinage reflects those accomplishments. Poliorketes was the second ruler of the Antigonid dynasty. The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty full of Hellenistic kings who ruled an area of Macedon, after Alexander the Great, from 294-168 BC. The group that split up Alexander’s kingdom were called Diadochi (Διάδοχοι). The Antigonid was one of the four dynasties fought for by other Διάδοχοι that descended from Alexander’s conquered land.</p><p><br /></p><p> The whole dynasty originates from one of Alexander’s best generals, Antigonus I Monophthalmus. Antigonus attempted to re-claim parts of Asia Minor and Syria. He was defeated by Demitrios I in the battle of Ipsus. The first true ruler of this dynasty was Demitrios I Poliorketes. He won the war against Antigonus and became the leader of a new dynasty. The last ruler was Perseus of Macedon.</p><p><br /></p><p> In total, there were seven true rulers of the Antigonid: <i>Demitrios I Poliorketes (294–287 BC), Antigonus II Gonatas (276–239 BC), Demetrius the Fair (250 BC), Demetrius II Aetolicus (239–229 BC), Antigonus III Doson (229–221 BC), Philip V (221–179 BC), and Perseus of Macedon (179–168 BC). </i>I will focus on the two most important leaders for the sake of this novel.</p><p><br /></p><p> Demitrios I Poliorketes minted many unique and very rare Tetradrachms. There are four major Tetradrachm varieties that were issued. I love his coinage, but I thought to just mainly focus on his Tetradrachms in this post.</p><p><br /></p><p> Demitrios tended to have a fondness of the god Poseidon of the sea. Of his major Tetradrachm varieties, two show a similar representation of the sea god. The reason for this representation is, when sailing, he would decide which enemy ships would sail and which would sink. So placing the god on his coins demonstrated his reputation while sailing out to sea. He was The Godfather of the sea, the judgement before death.</p><p>His name, Poliorketes, directly translates to “the besieger of cities,” because he laid siege to Athens along with countless other powerful and rich cities. Because of his success in conquests, he regarded himself as a godly figure. After the battle of Ipsus, he tirelessly conquered small islands until he had rebuilt the kingdom of Macedonia. His demise came when he was captured by the Syrians. In 283 BC, he died in confinement.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Now for his coins, which is why I made this post.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>On his first variety there is a small bull horn on the obverse diademed head of the coin that shows Demitrios’ association with Poseidon. The bull is often considered the animal of Poseidon and is widely portrayed on many coins outside Macedon.</p><p><br /></p><p> On the reverse we see Poseidon Pelagaios, seated on a rock, holding an apulstre or an aphlaston in his right hand and a trident in his left. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1137238[/ATTACH]</p><p>Demitrios I Poliorketes </p><p>Diademed and horned head right </p><p>Poseidon Pelagaios seated left on rock, holding aphlaston and trident (306-283 BC)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i> </i>This next one is a very unique variety because it does not feature the portrait of Demitrios. The obverse shows Nike, the god of victory, blowing a trumpet. He is holding a stylis on the prow of a galley, or ship.</p><p><br /></p><p> On the reverse Poseidon is featured, once more, preparing to throw his trident. The legend appears as king Demitrios (BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTΡIOY).</p><p><br /></p><p> There are many monograms and control marks for this type. A few common marks include a star and a dolphin, Z above ME, Δ above O, ΦAT, and just a star. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1137239[/ATTACH]</p><p>Demitrios I Poliorketes </p><p>Nike, blowing trumpet and holding stylis, standing left on prow of galley left Poseidon Pelagaios standing left, preparing to throw trident; tripod to left; to inner right, Δ above O </p><p>(306-283 BC)</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><i> </i></p><p><i> </i>Jut like the first variety, the obverse head of Demitrios on this third coin is horned to represent the sea god. The head is diademed and faces right.</p><p><br /></p><p> On the reverse we see Poseidon Pelagaios once more, but this time standing on the rock with his right foot. He is holding his trident in his left hand with his right hand rested on his thigh. The legend reads BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTΡIOY. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1137240[/ATTACH]</p><p>Demitrios I Poliorketes </p><p>Diademed and horned head right </p><p>Poseidon Pelagaios standing left, foot on rock, holding trident (288 BC)</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p> Similar to the varieties struck under Alexander the Great, this last coin was struck under Demitrios featuring the same design. The way we can distinguish these varieties from those struck under Alexander is the greek letters DHMHTRIOU on the right side of the reverse. Some similar designs struck under Demitrios feature only ALEXANDROU, for Alexander, which we then look at the monograms to decide who it was struck under. Common control marks include: エ, エ and lightning bolt, MP (and bipennis), and vertical line Δ.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><i>[ATTACH=full]1137241[/ATTACH] </i></b></p><p><i>Demitrios I Poliorketes </i></p><p><i>Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress </i></p><p><i>Zeus Aëtophoros seated left </i></p><p><i>MP in circle monogram </i></p><p><i>(290-286 BC)</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>Thank you for reading if you made it this far. Post some of your Diadochin Empire Tetradrachms. </i></p><p><i> </i></p><p><i><b> </b></i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="CoinDoctorYT, post: 4592955, member: 113262"]Poliorketes is an often forgotten historical figure. Most historians would regard him as a boring historical figure, but by the end of reading this you will start to love him a bit more. He was a historical badass and his coinage reflects those accomplishments. Poliorketes was the second ruler of the Antigonid dynasty. The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty full of Hellenistic kings who ruled an area of Macedon, after Alexander the Great, from 294-168 BC. The group that split up Alexander’s kingdom were called Diadochi (Διάδοχοι). The Antigonid was one of the four dynasties fought for by other Διάδοχοι that descended from Alexander’s conquered land. The whole dynasty originates from one of Alexander’s best generals, Antigonus I Monophthalmus. Antigonus attempted to re-claim parts of Asia Minor and Syria. He was defeated by Demitrios I in the battle of Ipsus. The first true ruler of this dynasty was Demitrios I Poliorketes. He won the war against Antigonus and became the leader of a new dynasty. The last ruler was Perseus of Macedon. In total, there were seven true rulers of the Antigonid: [I]Demitrios I Poliorketes (294–287 BC), Antigonus II Gonatas (276–239 BC), Demetrius the Fair (250 BC), Demetrius II Aetolicus (239–229 BC), Antigonus III Doson (229–221 BC), Philip V (221–179 BC), and Perseus of Macedon (179–168 BC). [/I]I will focus on the two most important leaders for the sake of this novel. Demitrios I Poliorketes minted many unique and very rare Tetradrachms. There are four major Tetradrachm varieties that were issued. I love his coinage, but I thought to just mainly focus on his Tetradrachms in this post. Demitrios tended to have a fondness of the god Poseidon of the sea. Of his major Tetradrachm varieties, two show a similar representation of the sea god. The reason for this representation is, when sailing, he would decide which enemy ships would sail and which would sink. So placing the god on his coins demonstrated his reputation while sailing out to sea. He was The Godfather of the sea, the judgement before death. His name, Poliorketes, directly translates to “the besieger of cities,” because he laid siege to Athens along with countless other powerful and rich cities. Because of his success in conquests, he regarded himself as a godly figure. After the battle of Ipsus, he tirelessly conquered small islands until he had rebuilt the kingdom of Macedonia. His demise came when he was captured by the Syrians. In 283 BC, he died in confinement. Now for his coins, which is why I made this post. On his first variety there is a small bull horn on the obverse diademed head of the coin that shows Demitrios’ association with Poseidon. The bull is often considered the animal of Poseidon and is widely portrayed on many coins outside Macedon. On the reverse we see Poseidon Pelagaios, seated on a rock, holding an apulstre or an aphlaston in his right hand and a trident in his left. [ATTACH=full]1137238[/ATTACH] Demitrios I Poliorketes Diademed and horned head right Poseidon Pelagaios seated left on rock, holding aphlaston and trident (306-283 BC) [I] [/I]This next one is a very unique variety because it does not feature the portrait of Demitrios. The obverse shows Nike, the god of victory, blowing a trumpet. He is holding a stylis on the prow of a galley, or ship. On the reverse Poseidon is featured, once more, preparing to throw his trident. The legend appears as king Demitrios (BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTΡIOY). There are many monograms and control marks for this type. A few common marks include a star and a dolphin, Z above ME, Δ above O, ΦAT, and just a star. [ATTACH=full]1137239[/ATTACH] Demitrios I Poliorketes Nike, blowing trumpet and holding stylis, standing left on prow of galley left Poseidon Pelagaios standing left, preparing to throw trident; tripod to left; to inner right, Δ above O (306-283 BC) [I] [/I]Jut like the first variety, the obverse head of Demitrios on this third coin is horned to represent the sea god. The head is diademed and faces right. On the reverse we see Poseidon Pelagaios once more, but this time standing on the rock with his right foot. He is holding his trident in his left hand with his right hand rested on his thigh. The legend reads BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTΡIOY. [ATTACH=full]1137240[/ATTACH] Demitrios I Poliorketes Diademed and horned head right Poseidon Pelagaios standing left, foot on rock, holding trident (288 BC) Similar to the varieties struck under Alexander the Great, this last coin was struck under Demitrios featuring the same design. The way we can distinguish these varieties from those struck under Alexander is the greek letters DHMHTRIOU on the right side of the reverse. Some similar designs struck under Demitrios feature only ALEXANDROU, for Alexander, which we then look at the monograms to decide who it was struck under. Common control marks include: エ, エ and lightning bolt, MP (and bipennis), and vertical line Δ. [B][I][ATTACH=full]1137241[/ATTACH] [/I][/B] [I]Demitrios I Poliorketes Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress Zeus Aëtophoros seated left MP in circle monogram (290-286 BC) Thank you for reading if you made it this far. Post some of your Diadochin Empire Tetradrachms. [B] [/B][/I][/QUOTE]
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