Seleucus I was arguably the most successful of the Diadochi in the years after Alexander III's death. Seleucus started his career out as a captain an elite infantry unit, the hypaspistai, and accompanied Alexander in his campaigns to Persia and India. Seleucus was a small fry in the power negotiations between Alexander's generals in wake of the great conquer's death in 323 BCE. In gratitude for helping eliminate Perdiccas in 321, Seleucus was granted lucrative satrapy of Babylon. Unlike most Macedonian satraps, Seleucus treated the local population with reverence and respect. Seleucus accomplished this by honoring the local priest class and gods. In addition, Seleucus's wife Apama, was Sogdian royalty (an Iranian ethic group), which no doubt helped his position with the locals. After a second round of civil war between the Diadochi, Seleucus was forced to flee to Egypt to the court of Ptolemy I Soter. After assisting Ptolemy in his war with Antigonus in Syria, Seleucus was given Ptolemy's blessing to retake his old Satrapy. Babylon offered no resistance and Seleucus entered the city as a liberator. Seleucus himself dates the foundation of his Kingdom to this event in 312 BCE. After subduing the eastern satrapies and making a deal with the Indian King Chandragupta Maurya to exchange Elephants for Indian territory; Seleucus turned his attention to the West. Seleucus allied himself with Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Cassander against Antigonus I in 301 BCE. The alliance won a spectacular victory, partially due to Seleucus's elephants, and Antigonus was killed. In 281 BCE, Seleucus and Lysimachus faced off in a final confrontation for control over Asia Minor and Greece. Seleucus won the subsequent Battle of Corupedium which saw Lysimachus perish and Seleucus become the most powerful man in the world. It should be noted that at the Battle of Corupedium both monarchs were in their late 70's and were the last officers alive who had served under Alexander the Great a whopping 42 years earlier. I suppose that with every other original Diadochi dead, Seleucus by definition "won" the Wars of the Diadochi in 281 BCE. Unfortunately for Seleucus, he was soon murdered by a disgruntled son of Ptolemy I Soter, who himself was beheaded by the Celts in an invasion of Greece in 279 BCE. Seleucus's son, Antiochus I Soter, would hold together most of his father's realm and assure the Seleucid dynasty lasted an additional 2 centuries. Seleucus himself dates his empire's founding in 312 BCE, and minted an array of coins to celebrate his reign. The minting of Alexander III tetradrachms continued, as did the issue of the local Stater issues of Babylon. Babylon would remain the capital of Seleucus until 305 when Seleucus founded Seleucia on the Tigris. One of my numismatic goals is to put together a complete set of Seleucid tetradrachms/staters of each King. It will not be easy nor cheap, but what's life without a little challenge! So, without further delay: SELEUKID EMPIRE. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 BC. AR Stater (22mm, 15.89 g, 11h). Ba’al seated left, holding scepter / Lion walking left; anchor above. SC 88.2a; HGC 9, 67a. Area of weak strike, some porosity. VF. Babylon mint. An artist's beautiful depiction of Babylon. A bust of Seleucus I Kingdom of Seleucus I before the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE. The Kingdom of Seleucus I after the battle of Ipsus I A very detailed video of Seleucus's life Fun fact: There is a moon crater and an asteroid named after Seleucus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3288_Seleucus Please post your Seleucid coins!!!!
Excellent work on this educational write up and very desirable coin. For my buck Ptolemy was the most successful as his dynasty slightly outlasted the seleukids. He was the one who put Seleucus in charge. As hard as Nikator had to work to make the East work for him, Ptolemy has it easy in Egypt. It’s very interesting that a B level general like him could do so much with what he had. Anyway, here’s some of the man’s coins.
Nice OP coin, and an excellent write-up. I have an Alexander-style tetradrachm struck by Seleukos I in Babylon:
While we are at it, here is a coin of Seleucus’s son Antiochus I Soter Antiochus I Soter Tetradrachm SC 379.3c; HGC 9 16.73 g I love the realism of the portrait, he really does look like someone you would see on the street.
Congrats on the awesome Babylon stater @Magnus Maximus that is a lovely coin. I have always wanted to pick one up for my Seleukos I Nikator collection. Your write-up was also a really enjoyable read. That Seleukos could set off from Egypt with 500 cavalry and eventually win an empire that almost matched Alexander's is a testament to how incredible he was. You're numismatic goal of a complete set of tetradrachms would be wonderful to pursue. There are several Seleucid collectors on here, including myself, that would love to see that. I'll add a few of my own coins.
Excellent write-up, @Magnus Maximus ! And, wiw, super DiShekel / Stater! Great definition and detail. SELEUKOS I How ‘bout a few of Chandragupta’s Elephants? Seleukid Seleukos I 312-280 BCE AR Tet 14.46g Seleucia on Tigris. Zeus - Athena driving a quadriga of 4 horned elephants SC 130 Seleukid Seleukos I 312-280 BCE AE 20 Athena-Elephant Spaer 129
@TheRed Thanks! WOW, those are some pretty tetradrachms! It's a shame that history books only mention Alexander then skip straight to Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BCE. The War's of the Diodochi are insane when it comes to the plotting, fratricide, patricide, matricide, etc etc.
Here's a recent purchase of a silver Tet representing Ptolemy I. It was struck under Ptolemy III at Ake-Ptolemais /Phoenicia, I believe.
Here is that issue struck before Seleukos struck his in Babylon. BABALONIA, Babylon AR Tetradrachm / Stater (or Dishekel) Minted ca. 323-328 B.C. 24 mm, 16.3g Obv: Ba’al seated left holding scepter Rev: Lion walking left, control mark Г above. (Control mark was minted during Alexander III Lifetime) Ref: Ref: BMC Arabia XXII no.1 Comment: "This type was discussed by Martin Price in his article "Circulation at Babylon in 323 BC," in the book "Mnemata: Papers in Memory of Nancy M. Waggoner." He asserts that a reengraved die clearly shows the "lion staters" with gamma followed the ones with delta. "They are probably shekels on the local standard." (page 67). He dates them to the lifetime of Alexander, because they were present in a hoard with deposition dated to 323/2. He doesn't give the earliest possible date explicitly, but mentions that Mazaeus was governor until 328 and issued coins, so I infer Price would put them at or after 328. So you can say "Struck 323 or before, under Alexander the Great."
@Alegandron So technically that coin is an Alexander III lifetime issue, and could have very well circulated in the city while he was there. Cool!
Yes, it is an Alexander III Lifetime issue of the local economy currency of Babylon. I had to snap it up. Was there when he died. Way cool for me when I found it.
Thanks for a great post, MM - I'll have to watch that video later, when I have time. And congratulations on the coin! I've always wanted one of the Seleukos I lion tets.
Good luck on your quest. Of 33 rulers I still need 5. If you eliminate usurpers it will be much easier to complete. Staters only appear early in the empire, so the rest will mainly be Tetradrachms. I mostly stick to bronze as they are less cost prohibitive but I do have 20% or so that are silver. Seleucus III Mint: Antioch AR Tetradrachm 226 to 223 BC Obvs: Diademed head of Seleucus III r., with long sideburn, dotted border. Revs: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ on r., ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ on l., Apollo, slight drapery on r. thigh, seated l. on omphalos, testing arrow and resting l. hand on grounded bow. Control marks in outer left and right fields 25mm, 16.82g Ref: SC 921.1 Antiochus Hierax Mint: Alexandria Troas AR Tetradrachm 242 to 227 BC Obvs: Diademed head of Antiochus Hierax with prominant cheekbone. Revs: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ on r., ANTIOXOY on l., partially nude, with slight drapery on thigh, Apollo seated l. on omphalos, testing arrow and resting l. hand on grounded bow that has pellets that symbolize the handle. Horse symbol in exergue and two control monograms in left field. 29x30mm, 16.35g Ref: Sear GCV 6919, SC 877.2 Antiochus X Antioch 94 BC AR Tetradrachm Obvs: Diademed head of Antiochus right with long side burn. Revs: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOV EVΣEBOYΣ ·I·IΛOΠATOPOΣ, Zeus Nikephoros seated left, holding lotus-tipped scepter; Σ monogram and A to outer left, Π below throne; all within wreath. 26x27mm, 14.91g Ref: SC 2428a Timarchus Ecbatana 164 to 161 BC Obvs: Diademed head of Timarchus right, dotted border. Revs: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ MEΓAΛOY TIMAPXΟΥ, Nike advancing left holding palm frond and crowning royal name. AE 33x34mm, 28.58g Ref: SC 1598; HGC 9, 769(R2)
That's a lovely Seleucus III tetradrachm. Stay tuned for next week, I may have an tetradrachm of his up my sleeve! Thanks for the Seleucid website links as well!
Thank you MM. Tetradrachms of Seleukos was one of my major focuses for a while, before kids came along. I was aiming for all of the mints that issued tetradrachms under Seleukos I. If you don't have the 4 volume set, I would highly recommend "Seleucid Coins" by Houghton & Lorber. While expensive it is very much worth it. I was able to find the first two volumes on eBay for just over $100. CNG also sells the two parts on their website and they go on sale from time to time. @David@PCC also has a great website on Seleucid coins that has a wonderful search by control mark function. http://allcoinage.com/seleucid_research.php
All these exemplars are just eye popping - all of them impressive real beauties. It is delightful to see them @Andres2 I have one very similar to your second Seleukos; the chair on mine is not the exact same and I attributed it as SC 117c. When I was attributing it I found here: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-103527 that Newell has this coin in Series 1, Group A. He suggests a date of 305 - 304 BC. Price suggests a date of ca. 295 BC for the coin, but admits the whole attribution is very tentative. I don't know if by "the whole attribution" he means the date or what. Do you have more information about what he means by tentative? I use Newell's date for mine: AR Tetradrachm, Seleukeia on the Tigris, 305 - 304 BC 26 x 27 mm, 16.816 g Ref.: Houghton-Lorber I, 52, 116; Price (Alexander) 3784; SC 117c; Newell, ESM 12, 4; BMC 4.1, 5; Houghton 941; HGC 9, 12i Ob.: Alexander the Great as Herakles facing r., wearing the Nemean lion skin headdress, horns curling around his ears. Rev.: Zeus Aëtophoros seated on throne to the left, holding eagle in outstretched right hand and scepter in left, a symbol of his authority. To left ΣΕΛΕΙKΟΥ, ΔI monogram beneath throne. In ex. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ
