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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 3690601, member: 81887&quot;]Another summer auction win:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]989225[/ATTACH] </p><p>Parthian Kingdom.&nbsp; AR drachm (3.42 g, 20 mm).&nbsp; Orodes II (57-38 BC).&nbsp; Susa mint. Obverse: Diademed bust left, crescent behind.&nbsp; Reverse: Seated archer surrounded by slightly blundered standard 7-line Greek legend, mint symbols above and below bow.&nbsp; Sellwood 46.22, Shore 238.&nbsp; This coin: Pars Coins Auction 2, lot 263 (July 15, 2019).</p><p><br /></p><p>(Note: The write-up below contains text recycled from one of my previous posts.&nbsp; Reduce, reuse, recycle.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Orodes II was a son of the Parthian king Phraates III. Around 57 BC, he teamed up with his brother Mithradates III (or IV, by the latest reckoning) to murder their father and seize power. The brothers soon quarreled, and after a couple of years Orodes II was able to defeat and kill his brother and claim the throne uncontested. He fought several times against Rome, most importantly the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC where the Roman Triumvir Crassus was killed. Orodes himself left the actual fighting to his subordinates, the most important of whom was a nobleman with the family name of Surena who was responsible for the victories over both Mithradates III and Crassus.&nbsp; Surena was enormously wealthy and addicted to luxury; he reportedly needed 200 wagons to transport all his concubines while campaigning.&nbsp; Orodes became jealous of Surena and fearful that he might rebel, so he ordered him executed not long after Carrhae.&nbsp;&nbsp; In 38 BC Orodes&#039; favorite son and heir apparent Pakoros was killed fighting in Roman Syria, leaving a distraught Orodes to name one of his other sons, Phraates IV, his designated successor. This was a terrible choice. Phraates promptly killed his father, then killed all thirty of so of his brothers (and their families) to avoid potential rivals.</p><p><br /></p><p>I already had multiple coins of Orodes II; what attracted me to this coin (besides the nice portrait) was the scarcer mintmark. Orodes II issued drachms from many mints, probably due to his long reign during which he controlled the Iranian plateau, where most of the mints were located. In my experience, Ecbatana is the most common, followed (in rough order) by Rhagae and Mithradatkart, then Laodicea and Nisa, then Kangavar, Susa, Traxiane, Margiane and Aria.&nbsp; (The last three are especially rare.)&nbsp; Susa, in southwestern Iran, is a very ancient city, with evidence of habitation prior to 4200 BC. It is mentioned in the Bible and plays a key role in the Biblical story of Esther. It was used as the winter capital for the Parthian kings, but despite this its output of coinage was quite modest. The city was finally abandoned in 1218 after being destroyed by the Mongols.&nbsp; Please post your coins of Orodes II, or Susa, or whatever else is related.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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