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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2616209, member: 81887&quot;]Here&#039;s my first coin of the year.&nbsp; (I actually ordered it in December, but due to the holidays and international shipping it didn&#039;t arrive until today.)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]573275[/ATTACH] </p><p>Parthian Kingdom.&nbsp; AR drachm.&nbsp; Vologases VI (208- c.228 AD).&nbsp; Obverse: Bearded bust of king left, in tiara with diadem and earflaps; behind head, Aramaic letters WL for &quot;Walagash&quot; (Vologases).&nbsp; Reverse: Highly schematized seated archer, surrounded by degraded pseudo-Greek legend; top line of legend is replaced by Aramaic WLGShY MLK (Walagash Malik, &quot;Vologases King&quot;)&nbsp; Sellwood 88.18, Shore 455.</p><p><br /></p><p>Vologases VI ascended the Parthian throne in 208 AD.&nbsp; He was soon challenged by his brother Artabanus (Artabanos IV in older sources, though the most recent scholarship has renumbered him as Artabanos V).&nbsp; Artabanos was able to capture most of the Parthian territory, including Iran and farther east, while Vologases retained a foothold in the wealthy region of Babylonia.&nbsp; The vassal king Ardashir V of Persis rebelled against Artabanos, gained allies from other vassals, and was able to overthrow Artabanos and declare himself Ardashir I of the new Sasanian Kingdom in 224 AD.&nbsp; Unfortunately history does not record exactly when Vologases VI died- the usual date of 228 AD is based on a single tetradrachm, whose date may be a celator&#039;s mistake (the last dated tetradrachm before this is from 224).&nbsp;&nbsp; It is not even certain if Vologases died in battle, was captured, or abandoned the throne to slip away to quiet exile.&nbsp; Rather a sad end to a brilliant dynasty.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of note, both Vologases and his brother Artabanos actually spelled out their names on their drachms, being among very few Parthian kings to do so.&nbsp; The fact that they did so in Aramaic rather than Greek may tell us something of their attitudes towards Hellenistic culture.&nbsp;&nbsp; The coin was purchased from the Vcoins dealer Sphinx Numismatics (Youssef Mishriki) in December 2016.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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