| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 149 | Auction date: 2 December 2024 |
| Lot number: 59 Price realized: 900 CHF (Approx. 1,014 USD / 968 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Antiochus Hierax, 242 – 227 Tetradrachm, Parion circa 242-227, AR 30 mm, 16.74 g. Diademed head of Antiochus Hierax r. Rev. [B]AΣΙΛΕΩΣ – ANTIOXOY Apollo seated l. on omphalos, testing arrow in r. hand and resting l. arm on grounded bow; in exergue, mask of Pan and bull butting r. CSE 657. SNG Spaer –. SC 836.3. Rare. Light iridescent tone, minor marks, otherwise good very fine Ex Roma Numismatics e-sale 2, 2013, 318. While his elder brother Seleucus II was away fighting against Ptolemy III Euergetes in the Third Syrian War (246-241 BC), Antiochus Hierax ("the Hawk") remained to govern Asia Minor. However, when Seleucus II returned, Hierax was disinclined to give up his power and instead claimed to be king in the region, apparently on the advice of his mother. This development started the War of the Brothers (ca. 239-236 BC) in which Hierax was able to defeat his brother at Ancyra with an army of Galatian mercenaries, thereby permanently excluding him from Asia Minor. Unfortunately, sometime after this the Galatians seem to have turned on their paymaster and forced Hierax to seek safety at Magnesia.After forming an alliance with Prusias I of Bithynia in 230 BC and resuming a friendly relationship with the Galatians, Antiochus Hierax then went to work trying to reduce the power of Attalus I of Pergamon in northwestern Asia Minor. This did not go nearly as well as the earlier war against Seleucus II. Between 229 and 227, Attalus I inflicted a series of defeats of Hierax and at last forced him out of Asia Minor north of the Taurus Mountains. Having now become a king without a kingdom, Antiochus Hierax plotted with his aunt Stratonice to seize the territory still held by Seleucus II while he was away on campaign against the Parthians. He mounted an invasion of Mesopotamia and Babylonia, but Seleucus II returned in time to drive him out. With few other places to go, Antiochus Hierax then fled to Thrace where he surrendered to the forces of Ptolemy III in the hope of gaining support for a new venture against his brother. Hierax was disappointed in this regard and found himself arrested. In an ironic twist, he managed to escape from his Ptolemaic captors to be killed at the hands of a marauding band of Galatians. Estimate: 500 CHF |  |
