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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 2550998, member: 42773&quot;]I never get tired of an elephant thread. This one arrived last week, and here&#039;s a bit of an analysis...</p><p><br /></p><p>Seleucus IV, compelled by a heavy Roman war indemnity, sent his minister Heliodorus to Jerusalem to seize the Jewish temple treasury. The riches of the temple were renowned throughout the Levant by this time.</p><p><i><font size="4"><br /></font></i></p><p><i><font size="4">The Bible tells of a prophecy given by a messenger angel in Daniel 11:20 (NLT). The text states that Seleucus &quot;will be remembered as the king who sent a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor.&quot; The deuterocanonical lends more to this in 2 Maccabees 3:2-3... &quot;It came to pass that even the kings themselves, and the princes esteemed the place [the Temple in Jerusalem] worthy of the highest honour, and glorified the temple with very great gifts: So that Seleucus king of Asia allowed out of his revenues all the charges belonging to the ministry of the sacrifices.&quot; -</font></i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucus_IV_Philopator" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucus_IV_Philopator" rel="nofollow"><font size="4">wiki</font></a></p><p><br /></p><p>It’s by no means clear what Heliodorus accomplished in Jerusalem, but when he returned to Antioch he assassinated Seleucus and briefly held power as a usurper until ousted by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. (I’m guessing that one way or another, Heliodorus made off with a lot of loot in Judaea - you don’t attempt a coup without substantial monetary resources.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Elephants were an important part of the Seleucid war machine and are occasionally found on the coinage, sometimes in full, sometimes just the head, as on this type. The woman on the obverse is generally agreed to be Laodice IV, Seleucus’ sister and wife.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]548134[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3">Seleukos IV, 187-175 BC</font></p><p><font size="3">Æ serrate denomination C, 15mm, 3.2g, 12h; Antioch on Orontes.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv.: Veiled head of Laodice IV (?) right. </font></p><p><font size="3">Rev.: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY; Head of elephant left, AT monogram to right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Reference: SNG Spaer 914</font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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