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Is This What Alexander the Great Looked Like? A Diadochi Tetradrachm
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<p>[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 2706114, member: 83845"][ATTACH=full]609955[/ATTACH]</p><p>I acquired this coin recently from [USER=42773]@John Anthony[/USER] and I have to say that I am very pleased with it. It is my first coin of the so-called Diadochi, or successors, of Alexander the Great and it is very interesting for a great many reasons not the least of which is its’ depiction of Alexander III the Great. Warning: This post might run a bit long.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><b><u>Lysimachus the Diadochi</u></b></p> <p style="text-align: center"><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p>Lysimachus is one of the most fascinating and mysterious of the Diadochi largely because there is so little literary information on his life relative to the other companions of Alexander. Lysimachus was born sometime between 361 BC and 351 BC which makes him roughly the same age as Alexander. According to some sources Lysimachus’ family was from Thessaly and therefore not from the Macedonian nobility [1]. Regardless, Lysimachus’ father seems to have been a close adviser to Philip II and Lysimachus spent his youth being educated among the Macedonian elite at Pella.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]609956[/ATTACH]</p><p><i>Ruins at Pella, Greece – Birthplace of Alexander the Great and childhood home of Lysimachus (Wikipedia)</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Lysimachus first enters the historical record as one of the elite bodyguards of Alexander known as the Somatophylakes at the start of the invasion of Persia [1]. He seems to have been among the second rank of the companions behind Ptolemy, Perdiccas and Leonattus. There is some speculation that he was fortunate to have been present at Babylon during Alexander’s death and was thus able to secure for himself a satrapy when he might otherwise have been overlooked [1]. Another theory is that he rose to greater prominence during the Indian campaign (where he was crowned by Alexander for his services in 324 BC [2]) and so was a natural choice to subdue the difficult and unruly territory of Thrace.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]609957[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The satrapy allotted to Lysimachus lacked the resources for him to play a leading role in the wars of the Diadochi that followed the death of Alexander but the strategic significance of Thrace as the gateway between Europe and Asia meant that he still wielded significant influence over world events. Lysimachus was a capable military leader and was able to expand his kingdom into Asia Minor during the Fourth War of the Diadochi after the decisive Battle of Ipsus. However, his fortunes on the battlefield were marked with a few devastating losses. Around 292 BC Lysimachus was defeated by the Getae and taken prisoner for a short time [3]. In 281 BC at the Battle of Corupedium he was defeated by his old ally Seleucus I Nikator and killed in battle (at the age of about 74 to 80).</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><b><u>The Coins of Lysimachus</u></b></p><p><br /></p><p>When Lysimachus took control of Thrace in 323 BC he lacked access to a royal mint [4]. This seems to have been a non-issue up until 319 when the myth of a single empire was still intact and the satraps could still petition the royal treasury for the funds they required. From 315 to 301 Lysimachus seems to have been reliant on receiving coinage from his friend Cassander in Macedonia where the mints of Amphipolis and Pella were particularly important [4]. From 319 to 315 Lysimachus lost his access to coined money completely [4] After Lysimachus declared himself Basileus in 306 BC he issued some coins from Lysimacheia in the type of Philip II [4]. After the Battle of Ipsus he gained several mints in Asia Minor and from 301 to 297 BC issued coins in the type of Philip II and Alexander III. After Cassander’s death in 297 Lysimachus began minting tetradrachms and drachms with a deified Alexander on the obverse and Nike with seated Athena on the reverse as seen with my newest example [4]. The consistent style of the Alexander/Athena type coins and the evidence from die studies has led to some speculation that the dies used by Lysimachus were produced at a central location and then distributed to the royal mints. Below is a timeline of the coinage of Lysimachus.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]609967[/ATTACH]</p> <p style="text-align: center"><b><u><br /></u></b></p> <p style="text-align: center"><b><u>Reverse: Athena and Nike</u></b></p><p><br /></p><p>I don’t think it’s possible to overestimate the influence this reverse type of Lysimachus has had on the history of coin design. The seated female deity with shield and some variation of weapon or symbol of victory has lasted from antiquity right down to modern times. In fact, a quick search through my own collection turned up multiple coins spanning over 2,200 years that clearly illustrate this.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]609959[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><b><u>Obverse: Portrait of Alexander</u></b></p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse of this coin shows the deified Alexander III with the horn of Ammon. The horn is meant to commemorate an event alleged to have taken place during Alexander’s conquest of Egypt. Alexander is said to have made a difficult journey across the desert to consult the oracle at the Siwa Oasis where the priests there proclaimed him the son of Ammon (equated with Zues) and allowed him entry into the Adyton of the temple [6].</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]609960[/ATTACH]</p><p><i>The Siwa Oasis is a vast and isolated place surrounded by desert (Wikipedia)</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p style="text-align: left">The consistent style of the coins of Lysimachus naturally leads to some speculation of how accurately they depict their subject. In order to explore this interesting question I thought it would be useful to look at some of the other most famous depictions of Alexander for comparison.</p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><b><u>Hermes Azara</u></b></p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left">The Hermes Azara is a Roman copy of an original sculpture thought to have been made by the famous Sikyonian sculptor Lysippus. It is attested by Plutarch that Lysippus was the only sculptor that Alexander himself saw fit to model him on account of Lysippus’s famed ability to render an accurate portrait [6]. The sculpture is currently in the Louvre museum in Paris.</p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]609961[/ATTACH]</p><p><i>Hermes Azara, Louvre Museum, Paris – Image courtesy of Wikipedia</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p style="text-align: center"><b><u>Alexander Mosaic</u></b></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: left">The Alexander Mosiac is a famous mosaic that was discovered in the House of the Faun in Pompeii and is believed to have been copied from an original Greek painting commissioned by Cassander and painted by the famous Philoxenus of Eretria [7]. It is thought to show the Battle of Ipsus where Alexander III decisively defeated the forces of Darius III. It is currently in the Naples National Archaeological Museum.</p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left"><i>[ATTACH=full]609962[/ATTACH]</i></p><p><i>The Alexander Mosiac showing the Battle of Issus (Images courtesy of Wikipedia)</i></p><p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><b><u>Comparison with Coins of Lysimachus</u></b></p> <p style="text-align: center"><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p><i><b><u>[ATTACH=full]609963[/ATTACH] </u></b></i></p><p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left">To my eye the nose of Alexander in the coin portrait seems somewhat more slender and idealized than the other two depictions. However the facial features and jaw line seem pretty consistent, especial between the sculpture and coin.</p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p><p>In honor of this iconic coin the Greek mint issued the 100 Drachmes coin from 1990 to 2000 with a design that drew its inspiration from the coins of Lysimachus.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]609964[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>So what do you guys think? How does the coinage compare to the other depictions of Alexander III?</p><p><br /></p><p>…also <span style="color: #ff0000">please post your Diadochi and Alexander III coins!</span></p><p><br /></p><p>[1] Lund, Helen. <i>Lysimachus: A Study in Early Helenistic Kingship. </i>London: Routledge, 1992. Print</p><p><br /></p><p>[2] Heckel, Waldemar. <i>Who’s Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexanders Empire. </i>Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. Print. pp. 153-54</p><p><br /></p><p>[3] Hornblower, <i>Who’s Who in the Classical World</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. P. 238</p><p><br /></p><p>[4] Thompson, M. "The Mints of Lysimachus," in<i>Essays Robinson</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>[5] <a href="http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/Pages/siwa.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/Pages/siwa.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/Pages/siwa.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>[6] <a href="http://www.livius.org/articles/objects/azara-herm/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.livius.org/articles/objects/azara-herm/" rel="nofollow">http://www.livius.org/articles/objects/azara-herm/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>[7] <a href="https://www.astro.rug.nl/~weygaert/alexandermosaic.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.astro.rug.nl/~weygaert/alexandermosaic.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.astro.rug.nl/~weygaert/alexandermosaic.html</a></p><p style="text-align: left"><br /></p><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 2706114, member: 83845"][ATTACH=full]609955[/ATTACH] I acquired this coin recently from [USER=42773]@John Anthony[/USER] and I have to say that I am very pleased with it. It is my first coin of the so-called Diadochi, or successors, of Alexander the Great and it is very interesting for a great many reasons not the least of which is its’ depiction of Alexander III the Great. Warning: This post might run a bit long. [CENTER][B][U]Lysimachus the Diadochi [/U][/B][/CENTER] Lysimachus is one of the most fascinating and mysterious of the Diadochi largely because there is so little literary information on his life relative to the other companions of Alexander. Lysimachus was born sometime between 361 BC and 351 BC which makes him roughly the same age as Alexander. According to some sources Lysimachus’ family was from Thessaly and therefore not from the Macedonian nobility [1]. Regardless, Lysimachus’ father seems to have been a close adviser to Philip II and Lysimachus spent his youth being educated among the Macedonian elite at Pella. [ATTACH=full]609956[/ATTACH] [I]Ruins at Pella, Greece – Birthplace of Alexander the Great and childhood home of Lysimachus (Wikipedia)[/I] Lysimachus first enters the historical record as one of the elite bodyguards of Alexander known as the Somatophylakes at the start of the invasion of Persia [1]. He seems to have been among the second rank of the companions behind Ptolemy, Perdiccas and Leonattus. There is some speculation that he was fortunate to have been present at Babylon during Alexander’s death and was thus able to secure for himself a satrapy when he might otherwise have been overlooked [1]. Another theory is that he rose to greater prominence during the Indian campaign (where he was crowned by Alexander for his services in 324 BC [2]) and so was a natural choice to subdue the difficult and unruly territory of Thrace. [ATTACH=full]609957[/ATTACH] The satrapy allotted to Lysimachus lacked the resources for him to play a leading role in the wars of the Diadochi that followed the death of Alexander but the strategic significance of Thrace as the gateway between Europe and Asia meant that he still wielded significant influence over world events. Lysimachus was a capable military leader and was able to expand his kingdom into Asia Minor during the Fourth War of the Diadochi after the decisive Battle of Ipsus. However, his fortunes on the battlefield were marked with a few devastating losses. Around 292 BC Lysimachus was defeated by the Getae and taken prisoner for a short time [3]. In 281 BC at the Battle of Corupedium he was defeated by his old ally Seleucus I Nikator and killed in battle (at the age of about 74 to 80). [CENTER][B][U]The Coins of Lysimachus[/U][/B][/CENTER] When Lysimachus took control of Thrace in 323 BC he lacked access to a royal mint [4]. This seems to have been a non-issue up until 319 when the myth of a single empire was still intact and the satraps could still petition the royal treasury for the funds they required. From 315 to 301 Lysimachus seems to have been reliant on receiving coinage from his friend Cassander in Macedonia where the mints of Amphipolis and Pella were particularly important [4]. From 319 to 315 Lysimachus lost his access to coined money completely [4] After Lysimachus declared himself Basileus in 306 BC he issued some coins from Lysimacheia in the type of Philip II [4]. After the Battle of Ipsus he gained several mints in Asia Minor and from 301 to 297 BC issued coins in the type of Philip II and Alexander III. After Cassander’s death in 297 Lysimachus began minting tetradrachms and drachms with a deified Alexander on the obverse and Nike with seated Athena on the reverse as seen with my newest example [4]. The consistent style of the Alexander/Athena type coins and the evidence from die studies has led to some speculation that the dies used by Lysimachus were produced at a central location and then distributed to the royal mints. Below is a timeline of the coinage of Lysimachus. [CENTER][ATTACH=full]609967[/ATTACH] [B][U] Reverse: Athena and Nike[/U][/B][/CENTER] I don’t think it’s possible to overestimate the influence this reverse type of Lysimachus has had on the history of coin design. The seated female deity with shield and some variation of weapon or symbol of victory has lasted from antiquity right down to modern times. In fact, a quick search through my own collection turned up multiple coins spanning over 2,200 years that clearly illustrate this. [ATTACH=full]609959[/ATTACH] [CENTER][B][U]Obverse: Portrait of Alexander[/U][/B][/CENTER] The obverse of this coin shows the deified Alexander III with the horn of Ammon. The horn is meant to commemorate an event alleged to have taken place during Alexander’s conquest of Egypt. Alexander is said to have made a difficult journey across the desert to consult the oracle at the Siwa Oasis where the priests there proclaimed him the son of Ammon (equated with Zues) and allowed him entry into the Adyton of the temple [6]. [ATTACH=full]609960[/ATTACH] [I]The Siwa Oasis is a vast and isolated place surrounded by desert (Wikipedia) [/I] [LEFT]The consistent style of the coins of Lysimachus naturally leads to some speculation of how accurately they depict their subject. In order to explore this interesting question I thought it would be useful to look at some of the other most famous depictions of Alexander for comparison. [/LEFT] [CENTER][B][U]Hermes Azara[/U][/B][/CENTER] [LEFT] The Hermes Azara is a Roman copy of an original sculpture thought to have been made by the famous Sikyonian sculptor Lysippus. It is attested by Plutarch that Lysippus was the only sculptor that Alexander himself saw fit to model him on account of Lysippus’s famed ability to render an accurate portrait [6]. The sculpture is currently in the Louvre museum in Paris. [/LEFT] [CENTER][ATTACH=full]609961[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [I]Hermes Azara, Louvre Museum, Paris – Image courtesy of Wikipedia [/I] [CENTER][B][U]Alexander Mosaic[/U][/B][/CENTER] [LEFT]The Alexander Mosiac is a famous mosaic that was discovered in the House of the Faun in Pompeii and is believed to have been copied from an original Greek painting commissioned by Cassander and painted by the famous Philoxenus of Eretria [7]. It is thought to show the Battle of Ipsus where Alexander III decisively defeated the forces of Darius III. It is currently in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. [I][ATTACH=full]609962[/ATTACH][/I][/LEFT] [I]The Alexander Mosiac showing the Battle of Issus (Images courtesy of Wikipedia)[/I] [LEFT][/LEFT] [CENTER][B][U]Comparison with Coins of Lysimachus [/U][/B][/CENTER] [I][B][U][ATTACH=full]609963[/ATTACH] [/U][/B][/I] [LEFT] To my eye the nose of Alexander in the coin portrait seems somewhat more slender and idealized than the other two depictions. However the facial features and jaw line seem pretty consistent, especial between the sculpture and coin. [/LEFT] In honor of this iconic coin the Greek mint issued the 100 Drachmes coin from 1990 to 2000 with a design that drew its inspiration from the coins of Lysimachus. [ATTACH=full]609964[/ATTACH] So what do you guys think? How does the coinage compare to the other depictions of Alexander III? …also [COLOR=#ff0000]please post your Diadochi and Alexander III coins![/COLOR] [1] Lund, Helen. [I]Lysimachus: A Study in Early Helenistic Kingship. [/I]London: Routledge, 1992. Print [2] Heckel, Waldemar. [I]Who’s Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexanders Empire. [/I]Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. Print. pp. 153-54 [3] Hornblower, [I]Who’s Who in the Classical World[/I]. Oxford: Oxford University Press. P. 238 [4] Thompson, M. "The Mints of Lysimachus," in[I]Essays Robinson[/I]. [5] [url]http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/Pages/siwa.html[/url] [6] [url]http://www.livius.org/articles/objects/azara-herm/[/url] [7] [url]https://www.astro.rug.nl/~weygaert/alexandermosaic.html[/url] [LEFT][/LEFT][/QUOTE]
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