| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 149 | Auction date: 2 December 2024 |
| Lot number: 252 Price realized: 1,300 CHF (Approx. 1,464 USD / 1,399 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Demetrius II Nicator, first reign, 146 – 138 Tetradrachm, Antiochia on the Orontes 146-145 (year 167), AR 30 mm, 16.79 g. Diademed head of Demetrius II r. Fillet border. Rev. [B]AΣΙΛΕΩΣ – ΔHMHTPIOY – ΘEOY – ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY – NIKATOPOΣ Apollo seated l. on omphalos, testing arrow in r. hand and resting l. arm on grounded bow; in inner l. field, monogram and in exergue, ZΞP and monogram. DCA 146. SC 1906.2d. Wonderful old cabinet tone and good very fine Ex M&M sale 95, 2004, 67. In 147 BC, Demetrius II Nicator, the son of Demetrius I Soter, embarked upon a plan to reclaim the Seleucid kingdom from the usurper who had killed his father. Despite being only about 13 years old, Demetrius II hired an army of Cretan mercenaries and landed in Cilicia to challenge Alexander I Balas for the throne. At the same time, Ptolemy VI Philometor was marching northwards from Egypt, apparently to assist the beleaguered Alexander I, but once he reached Ake-Ptolemais thought better of it and instead threw his support behind Demetrius II. To seal the deal, Ptolemy VI even gave Demetrius II the hand of Cleopatra Thea, whom he had only married to Alexander I a few years earlier in 150 BC(!).While Ptolemy VI s2eems to have planned to use Demetrius II as a puppet to control the Seleucid kingdom in the interests of Egypt, he was ultimately thwarted by defeating Alexander I in battle in 145 BC. Despite achieving victory for Demetrius II, the Ptolemaic king died soon after from wounds sustained in the fighting, thereby leaving the youthful Demetrius II to reign withou2t oversight. He immediately set about making himself extremely unpopular with both the people of Antioch and with the army. Preferring to rely on his mercenaries, Demetrius II disbanded and failed to pay many elements of the regular Seleucid army in Syria, while reprisals against the Antiochenes for their previous support of Alexander I led to rioting in the city. Demetrius' solution to this outpouring of public anger was to use 3,000 Jewish archers provided by the high priest Simon Thassi to fire into the raging crowds. Unsurprisingly, calm was not restored in this manner, and popular resentment against Demetrius II soon began to be focused by the general Diodotus at Apamea, in support of the child king Antiochus VI Dionysus. In little more than a year, Diodotus, who came to be known as Tryphon, forced Demetrius II out of Antioch, although he still retained control of Seleucia in Pieria, Laodicea by the Sea, and much of Cilicia. While the power of Demetrius II was unravelling in Syria due to civil war, the eastern territories of the Seleucid empire were in a fight for survival against local dynasts and the expanding Parthian empire of Mithradates I. In 141 BC, the unthinkable happened and the Parthians, who had already swallowed up Seleucid Media and Susa, overran Babylonia and captured the capital at Seleucia on the Tigris. Deeming the new Parthian crisis to be more dangerous than the ongoing struggle against Tryphon and Antiochus VI, in 138 BC, Demetrius II left Cleopatra Thea to hold Seleucia in Pieria and began a campaign to push back the eastern invader. He enjoyed some initial success against the Parthians and managed to reclaim Seleucia on the Tigris, but in July/August of 138 BC Demetrius II was defeated in battle and captured by Mithradates I. He subsequently lived as an honored hostage at the Parthian court in Hyrcania until he was finally released eight years later. Estimate: 500 CHF |  |
