Essays on the coinage of Alexander the Great / by Alfred R. Bellinger
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Transcript of Essays on the coinage of Alexander the Great / by Alfred R. Bellinger
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8/9/2019 Essays on the coinage of Alexander the Great / by Alfred R. Bellinger
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CO I N AG O F
TH E G R E A T
E L L I NG R
I E S
NNU M SMAT CSO C E T
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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E S R V E D
NNU M SMAT CSO C E T
G R M AN A T . . AU G U ST N G U C STAD T
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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cehelleni ue.
omanCoinsintheBritish Museum.
chisc heGesc hic hteIV . 1 B erlin 1925.
y.
carum.
ecarum.
onhistori uedesMonnaiesdeI Empireromain.
agesofDemetrius oliorc etes.
derHoardsII. Demanhur1905.
geoftheEasternSeleucidMintsfrom SeleucusIto
ikenMiin envonMakedoniaund aeonia.
Numorum.
Archeologienumismati ue.
erHoardsI.IntroductionandKyparissiaHoard.
NumismaticSociety.
osKat isson.
nographsAmericanNumismaticSociety.
ft.
aphyofGreekCoinHoardsEd. 2.
esSelectae.
derHoardsIV . O lympia.
ues.
butionofCertainTetradrachmsofAle anderTheGreat
corum.
anderCoinageofSic yonarrangedfromNotesofEdward
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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reinsc ribedA AEEA NA O YorA A EEA NA O Y
ney.Notinthe waythatthelawsarethe king slaws:
theresponsiblesourcewith thesamerelationstoall
hisswordandhorsearethe king s:bypersonal
eofbeingmodifiedonlybyhimselfthroughgiftor loan.
entirelyw ithouthisknow ledge amanmayac uire
ecanto anyotherpieceofproperty.Doubtlessthe
yfromhim ashecouldtakeawayhis cattleorhis
man smoneyisnomore vulnerablethananyofhis
mayhavebeenatimewhencoinswere theproperty
teandpersonalsense.Recentlytheinteresting
ethattheywerenot originallyintendedforcurrency
anking smercenariesandthatcirculationwasan
conse uence.2Itisinterestingtoguess attheprocess
nctionabsorbedtheprimaryone.3Itmusthave
rofthe Greekcitieswassurelyintendedascurrency
yc ase byA le ander stimeallthoughtofpersonal
ingandhismoneyhadlongsincebeen forgotten.
hegenitiveongoldand silvermusthavemeantthat
thorityofthe king fromhismetalandthat they
hhisgovernmentpaidhis obligationsandreceived
egaltenderwhereverhispowere tended forboth
iform.
posedtoe ualtheirnominalvalue:asilver
befourdrachmaeofsilver.Yet ifthathadbeen
he nameonlywithoutthetitle.Atsomemints e.g. SidonandAke
s adoptionisnotsimultaneousinthe citieswhereitoccursandit
onalsignificance forsometimesanissuewiththetitle willbesucceeded
E. T. Newell Myriandros-A le andriaKat isson NewYork 1920 p. 33
derandplacingof thewordsvary .
lationsontheOriginsofCurrenc y " Historia1958 pp. 257-262.
rrencywillrememberwithpleasurethedictumof Aristotlethat
iberalstudybuttheprac ticeisnot. olitic sI 4. 1. Hehadnodoubt
richif theywantedtobut thatisnotwhatthey areinterestedin.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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EOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
e penseofmanufacturewouldhavebeenbornebythe
avebeenso.Aman whowasaccustomedtoreceive
ght andbymetalcontentifthatwas determined
itha lessamountsimplybecauseitborea device
rkeddumpsincirculationof fullweight.Theremust
ointatwhichthe costofmanufacturewastransferred
tothe userandthereis nowayoftellingwhenthat
Ale ander.Histetradrachmswereincompetitionwith
ting asweknow wasanimportanteconomicasset
wouldnot consciouslylosebytheprocess andthe
nwasto reducetheweightofeachcoinalittle so
ouldbe metale ualtothecost ofmanufacture.
thensdidandwhat Ale anderdidalso.4Howmuch
otknow.Thetetradrachmwassupposedto weigh
maeofsilvermusthaveweighedsomewhatmore
lvesconformtostandardverywell suchother
renot nearlysouniform sothattheattemptto find
n-monetarydrachmisnotlikelyto besuccessful.
edbylawandthedifferenceamatterof record.We
erperiod whatprec autionstheA thenians took tokeep
strue weknowalsothattheywereperfectly
eightwhichwasdifferentfromthe commercial
ge isananachronism butwearedriventoemploy itbec ausewedonot
ksused.Theamountofseignioragein mediaevalandmodemtimes
o covercostsbuttoprovidearevenuefor thesovereign theBureauof
tesisreportedtohavemadeaprof itofover 45 000 000in1957 . B ut
erethecoinagedoesnot havetocompetewithotherswhosebullion
outofconsiderationallotherGreek coinages AthensandAle ander
hat theircoinsshouldbeacceptedwidelyandif theyweretoinvade
neconomyofbarteritmustbe becausetheirbullionvaluewasonly
evalue.Athenspresentsthe conditionswhereitwouldbeeasiestto
fstrik ing andwherethate pensewouldbeleast: invariabletypesand
waswornout. TheAle andercoinagewasalmostassimple:thetypes
yingsymbolsonthe reversemeantthatoccasionally attheendof an
mayhavebeenreversedieswhichwerenot wornoutbutwhichmustbe
use ofhissuccessor.
eWeight-standardsofA nc ientGreeceand ersia " Ira 1938 pp. 65-81
ofa numberofseriesandcalculatesstandardsofwhichthefollowing
ersiandaric 8.43grams siglos8. 52gramsor8. 26grams twostandards ;
rams tetradrachm14. 70grams A le anderstater8.66grams tetradrachm
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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nciti enswereawarethatthegovernmentwas
ullweighttheyprobablycaredverylittle.The
economywereworthmuchmorethantheamount
truckinthreemetalsand inavarietyofdenomin-
ngarethe mostimportant:
estedCorinthianhelmet
gleft holdingwreathinrighthand sty lisin
htin lion sskinheaddress
nthrone eagleonoutstretc hedrighthand w ith
scepter. L A TEI 1
htin lion sskinheaddress
b L A TEI 29
mbolsonthe reversewhichdistinguishthemints
eoccasionedmuchcomment.Theyarenewto the
areusually thoughnotuniversally regardedas
. Tobesure theirgeneralproprietytoA le anderis
ciente planationwithoutcloserinvestigationinto
representedthispointofv iew :7thetypesof hilip s
werebynomeanssuitedtotheambitiousandsoaring
whothereforeselected allas thepatronessof the
awarlikeNikew itha trophy-stand. Thec uriosity
ever hasnotbeensoeasilysatisf ied andac onsiderable
outthe identificationof allasandNike.In1847
DecreeonMeasuresandWeights endof2ndcentury— beginningof
oeckhhasanelaboratecommentaryonthisinStaatshaushaltungder
. 318-332 whichwasac ceptedbyallsubse uentwritersuntilL ouisRobert
uegrec ue aris 1951 pp. 105-135 provedthatlTE9avT 96pouSpa uc rf
arneddiscussionwerecoinsoftheAthenianNewStyle.It wasun-
ert splantodeal withthearithmeticalaspectsoftheinscriptionwhich
earsinIG. Indeed headdedasmallitemofc onfusionbyprintingSKO T& V
orr6v7revT^KovTa6po iJiA sinthelastlineof thete tonp. 116 . O . V iedebantt
sbesc hluB iiberMaB undGewic ht " Hermes1916 pp. 121-144 hastaken
se insertingtwolineswhichwemustassumetheAbbeFourmontmissed
snowouronlyw itnesstothete t.
ns Cambridge 1883 p. 188.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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allas desmonnaiesdeCorinthe 20inwhichhewas
hothoughtthattheadoptionof P allasCorinthien-
romadecisionofthe CouncilofCorinthandwhocould
etweenAthensandAle anderweresuchastomake
mherpossible.This isagoode ampleofanattempt
vidence.Iftherewereno documentsthismightbe
gpossibilitywhich f romfre uentrepetition would
act.Buthere thereisevidence andoneonlyhasto
enaonthec oinsofCorinth P L A TEII 1 andof
ythatit isimpossiblethatthelatter shouldbederived
ander sgoddesshadbeensupposedtobethesame
nthiansilvershewouldhavebeenmadetolook the
uldtherehavebeenfor mentorecogni eher
of thewholeproblemofA le ander simperialc urrenc y
ongroundsofhistoricalprobability thatthegoddess
titwasnotuntilafterhisv isittoIliumthatA le -
owntypesongold.23Kleiner sworkisa connected
disposedofpiecemeal itwillbetreatedmore
tmaybesaidhere that onpurelynumismatic
oisaweakone. A thenaIlias assheisknowntousf rom
I 2 3 , wasadeityofveryspecialappearance:sheworea
rsheheldaf illetedspear andinherotherhandwasa
wasanA natoliandeityw ithmoreorientalthanGreek
adhadherin mindhecouldhaveproducedahead
e asKleinersays thatonlaterc oinsof Iliumthe
orms oneofwhichislikethat onthestaters.But
reversethecultstatueof AthenaIlias onthe
awitharoundA ttic helmet P L A TEII 3 . Thesewere
theheadinCorinthianhelmetcomeslaterunder
thenaIliasasa reversetype.Toassumethatthere
heappearanceofAthena romachusispurely
woformsofAthenaknownearlieron thecoinsandone
AthenaIliasonthe2ndc enturysilver24 P L A TEII 2 .
t n av a l su r l es M o nn a ie s " M e la n ge s n um i sm a ti u e s 4 a r is 1 9 12 p . 2 13 .
hierae A phlasta Stoloi A k rostolia Embola roembolaetTotems
p p . 11 5 f .
n e n B e rl i n 1 9 49 p . 1 9.
beenadvancedbyEsprit MarieCousinery V oyagedanslaMace-
V o l . I p . 2 31 .
roy. SupplementaryMonographs2 TheCoins rinc eton 1961.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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EOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
ena romachusandAthenaIliasmustconclude
ereferredtotheformerandnottothelatter.25A nA thenian
e goldisthereforestillthe mostlikely.26
orthyofremark.Nikehas alongandinteresting
butnoneofherpreviousappearanceshasanyconnec-
initself raisesnodif f ic ulty andwhentheob ec tin
oughttobethef ramefortheerec tionofatrophy it
eauguryofthefuture towhichAle anderwas
s.But itwasearlynoticedthatthe ob ectassumed
d Babelonpresentlyshowedthatitwas infact
ktobe aninstrumentforproppingupthe aphlaston
p.ThenavalsignificancewasacceptedbyErnst
howeverthatwhatwasrepresentedwasactuallya
borneontheadmiral sship. Somepartofhisargument
samenumberof theZ eitschriftfurNumismatikw
aterpassage pp. 31f . seemstometoc ompromisehisposition
easurermusthavebeeninfluentialin thechoiceoftypes Harpalus
aintedwithAthensonhisfirst mysteriousflighttoMegarain333 andhe
cetowardAthensbythecelebratedAthenianhetairai ythionikeand
oreprobablyresponsiblefortheAtheniancharacterofthegoldtypes.
auchamehestenmoglich dieGoldstateremitAtheninZ usammenhang
whyintroducetheTro anepisodeatall
detailoftheobversetype.Thebowl ofthehelmetofAthena when
rryoneoffourdifferentkindsof ornamentwhichhavebeendiscussedby
dertheGreatandthe ersianL ion-Gryphon " JHS1923 pp. 156-161 . The
mmonest isaserpentinwhichL ederersawasymbolofA thena Z fN1922
aremarkableanimalw ithstraightw ings thebodyofalionandthehead
phonbelongstotheperiodaf terA le ander sdeathandtoA siaMinor
A rarervarianthastheheadofalion whichissometimeshorned w ith
-gryphon saysHill wasc onc eivedbytheGreekastheenemypar
sian. ItappearsatA c e- tolemaisandTarsus atSidon orperhapsDamasc us
anditsdatessuggestthatit mayhavebeenusedforashort timeasa
of the ersianpower. TherarestornamentisaGreeksphin usedat
whereintheEast.If itissymbolicits significanceisnowlost.
inkofBrynMawrwhoseattentionIcalledto thismaterialpoints
adedgriffinoccursbyitself inconte tswhereitis surelyapotropaic
ed theenemypare c ellenc eof the ersians. A tthesametimeitap-
sde ersianartsothatonA le ander sc oinsitshowsfamiliarityw ith
heotheranimals alltraditionalasdecorationsonA thena shelmet the
gallopingposeofthebird-headedgriffin.Butthereis nosuree planation
fthem.
ues I aris 1892 pp. 203-217.
ufgriec hisc henMiin en " Z fN1906 pp. 215-226.
k reu , " ibid. pp. 331-334.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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dhimina discussionmuche tendedfromhisfirst
ttheob ectwasnotpurely hoenician.Itsfunction
e uatelytreateduntil1914whenJeanSvoronos31
strationthat thestyliswasanimageof theprotect-
nof aship.Whateverinterpretationsmaybe
onethingisclear:whatNike holdsinherleft hand
hatdoesraisea difficulty foritis wellknownthat
A le anderhadnof leetandthereforenoreasontoselec tatype
chthis dilemmaismet:1 byassumingthat
entlyaheadtovic toryatsea 2 byassumingthathe
hebeginningof hiscareerbutata latertimewhen
opriate 3 byassumingthatthesty liswaspartof the
nder stypewasbasedandthathec opieditasitwas
elfaboutitsproprietyindetail.
apableofproof butc ertainlynotvery likelyunless
reerhee pectedtohavethehelpof someothernaval
ny plansofhislookingto controlofthesea.
orethanonce.Itsacceptancemeanseitherthat
dinthe firstyearsofhisreign orthathecontinuedto
er P L A TEI 1-3 . Thereis Ithink nodefenderof
foritisc learthatA le anderc annothavec on uered
andtheminesofMacedoniawerestillproviding
thesecondalternativeis theonlyonewhichneeds
yassumedthatthecaptureofTyre isthepointat
mentofnavalsupremacywouldbecomeappropriate.
ryinthe articlereferredto:in332Ale anderfound
he hoenicianadmiralandcouldadopthisinsignia.
Babelonmakestheinterestingobservationthatby
abattles forthecaptureofTyrecanhardly becon-
thearmyoftheGreatKing hadbeendefeatedatIssus
o e pectthattherealvictorywouldbe commemo-
edthenratherthan astrategicsituationwhichwas
alimportanc etohisgreatc on uests.
haveputforwardthetheorythatAle ander s
he beginningofhisreign.It appearsasearlyas
V oyagedanslaMac edoine P aris 1831 thereisa
d A le andre pp. 229-270 . Itisnaiveandc arelessin
ues 4 pp. 199-237.
52 esp. 115-118.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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EOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
gardtothecorrespondenceofte tandillustrations
ewhichhashad fullerandablertreatmentsince:
y Ale anderwerenotthosewithhis owntypesbut
onofthoseofhisfather. Nousnepouvons—nous
nentrantdans1 A sie ilnesoitborneamettreenemission
anslestroismetau " pp. 230f . . Thisisre ec tedby
vedin animpressivepresentation:Kleiner sAle -
tw illbewell however todealf irstw ithCousinery s
reatment thoughthiswill makeitnecessaryto
ofthesilver.
ndedon twoconvictions:first thattheheadon
sinvariablyaportraitofA le ander. Cettetetene
hesays p. 236 ; hef indsc ompleteuniformitynotonly
gAle ander slifetimebutalsowiththeheadin
ssuedby tolemy P L A TEII 4 andthatwiththe
yL ysimachus P L A TEII 5 , whichherightlyrec ogni-
thekingswhomintedthembutof theirdeifiedleader.
ings butnoneof theA le andertypestoletthereader
eof invariablesty le. Hedoes indeed remark that
acedoniaafteritsdivisionbythe Romansare
tthereisno indicationthatheusedthisor anyother
epochstowhichAle andercoinsbelong.Apparently
the earliestMacedoniansilverandonthespread-flan
eededthecollapseofthe Seleucidpower.Hissecond
onethatit wastheGreekcities gratefulfortheir
rsians whichselectedthetypesandmanufacturedthe
tistwouldhardlyfeelcalledonto refutethisbut of
wouldmeanthatthesilver typescouldnothavebegun
reed. Thegold asalreadyremarked hethinkswas
der sv isittoIlium. Theappearanc eofA thenaonthe
conse uenceofthedevotiontherepaidto herby
heNikeof thereverseappearstobenoproblemtotheauthor.
ndercoulduse ersiangoldandsilver buthe
er stypes soitparrespectpoursamemoire soita
smonnaiesavaientac uispartoutoulenomde hilippe
ousleprouvec estlagrande uantitedec espiec es
ec ouvrirdanstoute1 A sie p. 231 . Thislastremark isthe
anfairlybecalledevidenceina fabricofcon ecture
wecantesttosomee tent.Itisessentialto distinguish
ued A le andraleGrand Copenhagen 1855 p. X 4. n. 24.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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r.Thegold of hilipachievedagreatsuccessasan
itspopularitywassuchthatit certainlywasissued
ecurrencyofthestatersisshownbythe hoardsin
re19suchhoardslisted byNoe:34theycomefrom
Greece A siaMinor Cyprus Syria Egypt Italyand
er ontheotherhand hadamorerestrictedterritory.
henorthit waswellreceived sothatfromthemint
alsowereissuedposthumously.36Thegreatnumber
c hcommonerthanthosec opiedf romA le ander is
ftheoriginalsin thatdirection.Butifthecrossingto
gnsthereweref inancedw ith hilip ssilveraswellas
ntialtoCousinery stheory thehoardsc ontaininghis
usinAsiaMinor.Thereare 24suchhoards andthey
omania GreeceandSicily.37Itcannotbesaid thatthere
mthe territorywithwhichweareconcerned.From
c entislands andnorthSyriaNoe slisthas140hoards
essthan17 whichcontainsilverofAle ander.38And
ilip Thisissurelyenoughto ustifyusinask ing If
edinthef irstc ampaigns whereisit "
nder sc oinageasawhole whichnobodyhaddone
iliaritywiththeliterarysourceswhichnumismatists
ell tomatch.Hehassupportedhisthesis withgreat
assemblingmuchmaterialoniconographywithwhich
bebetterac uaintedthantheyare. Itis uiteim-
otheworkinany resumesinceitisa largebodyofrelated
elc alledupontodisagreew ithhim Ishouldliketodo
spossible.
heimperialcoinage—silveraswellasgold—was
latTyreinthespringof331af terA le ander sreturn
dA . R . B ellinger A HoardofA le anderDrac hms " YakC lassic al
5 pp. 3-45 thec onspectusof theA le andermintsofL ampsakos A bydos
nesiaandSardis pp.13 16 18 20 23 27 .
ibliographyofGreekCoinHoards 2nded. NNM78 , NewYork 1937.
numbers.
0 R o ma n ia 4 6 6 2 4 G r e e ce 2 6 7 3 3 9 4 5 5 A s i a M in o r 63 7 8 4 1 C y p r us
82 E gy pt 8 9 3 22 4 30 I ta ly 1 04 5 S ic il y 1 70 1 09 3 1 09 8.
butionofCertainTetradrac hmsofAle andertheGreat NewYork
4 46 4 47 4 81 5 26 8 66 9 80 R om an ia 2 86 G re ec e 4 9 6 9 3 39 4 61 4 66
7 83 8 34 8 44 S ic il y 2 1 1 70 1 16 4.
4 0 5 1 6 7 7 9 8 2 4 7 5 4 88 6 03 8 46 9 25 9 26 9 91 1 03 3.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
hattimethatHarpalus inducedbyA le anderto
egara wasreinstatedastreasurer. Itis ofc ourse an
eand importantasystemshouldhavebeenplanned
erationall atonce andthesecondvisitto Tyre
opriatemomentforsuchaninnovation.ButKleiner
opriatenessalone.Likeothers hemaintainstheim-
e susingNikeasadev icebeforethec aptureofTyre
h e d en i es t h at a l la s i s a pr o ba b le d e it y f or h i m to h a ve
earsofhisreign beforehisv isittoTroy pp. 18 19 ;
plicatedpsychologicalargument.In197B.C. to
eGreeks goldpieceswerestruckwiththeportrait
rse andonthereverse w iththeinsc riptionT. Q V INCTI
er sNikew ithapalmsubstitutedforthesty lis P L A TE
rregardsthistobeapresentationofF lamininustheL iberator
andertheL iberator. B uthebelievesthatif thistype
anderatthebeginningofhis reignitwouldhave
moneyofAle andertheDestroyerofThebesandso
hemodelofa typeinhonorofemancipation whereas
fterhisfreeingoftheGreek citiesofAsiaMinor
osuchob ec tion pp. 5 6 . 41
ymind arebasedonprobabilityonlyandare
onfrontedwithevidencetothecontrary.Andwe
nthreeplaces. Thef irstistheabsenc eof hilip s
inor alreadydiscussedinconnectionwithCou-
ike.In discussingtheAle andercoinageofTarsus42
showshowdirectlyitwasbasedon thecoinageofthe
uswhic hprec ededit. NowA le anderenteredTarsus
wonthebattleof IssusNovember12ofthesameyear.44
thosemintsassoonafterfallingintoAle ander s
t obviouslythetheorythatthefirst appearanceofhis
n Mi i n e n v on M a ke d on i a un d a i on i a I I I . X XX V I 1 7 1 8 .
mentaffectingtheuseofhissilver typesbyGreekcitiescelebrating
ciddominationafter189B.C.
der NewYork 1919. Thepointhadbeenmadelongbeforeby J. .
a a i o s " N C 1 8 84 p p . 97 - 15 9 . . 1 0 1 l e s pr e mi e re s m on n ai e s d A l e a n d r e
mmediatementsuiteac ellesdeMa aios " p. 102 L adoneouf inissentles
c ommenc entc ellesd A le andre. IIn yapasdelac uneapparente.
n NewYork 1920.
L aB atailled lssus analysec riti ued untravailmanusc ritduCom-
MemoiresdeI InstitutnationaldeF ranc e 1914 pp. 41-76.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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331mustbeabandoned.Newelldoesnot undertake
oinsfollowthe ersianonesimmediately thoughhe
tthereareonlytwoother possibilities:eitherthe
to331or c onformabletoKleiner sgeneraltheory
suesbearing hilip stypes. Inthef irstcase some
ed inthesecond theissuesoughttobeidentif ied.
ionsare met Newell shypothesisholdsthefield.46
kenofthearrangementofthe issuesofAmphipolis
DemanhurHoard. 47Theye tendfrom c irca336B . C.
elatterbeingthedateof thehoard sburial p. 135 ; they
is arrangementtheauthor ustifiesonpp.68f.:
dthevariousgroupsof theAmphipoliscoinageare
tentappro imate. B utevenso theyc annotbeinerror
eitherway. Hepointsoutthatimportantcon-
he earliergroupscomesfromahoardburiedat
48Kleiner stheory whichdoesnotaffec tthedateof
ard wouldforceusto compressthismaterialby
egroupsf romeleventosi . How isittobedone Itmay
elfhadrevised anearlierarrangement andsohe
espects.49Therehasbeenmuchnewinformationmade
nterestingto noteinhowmanyinstancesthecustomsandpeculiarities
pearon thesucceedingissuesofAle anderforthesamedistrict.This
sonnel appliancesandtraditionsofamintwereall retainedforthe
.ThecoinageofTarsosis noe ceptiontothisruleand theissuesbearing
andertheGreatareseen tobethedirectsuccessorsofthe localcoins
Myriandros p. 31 Thisfactimmediatelysuggeststhatthefollow ing
ns verysimilarinsty leandc haractertohisTarsianissues wasreally
mediatesuccessiontothe ersicissuesofMa aiosemanatingfromthe
nt.
7-30. TheproblemofSidonandAke Newell TheDatedA le ander
e NewHaven 1916 Kleinerhasmetbyrev isingNewell sdating pp.
discuss.If theprincipleisestablishedbyTarsusit issuperfluoustoargue
sKitionandSalamisin CypruswhosecoinageNewellwouldbegin circa
ot e A l e a n de r s " N C 1 91 5 p p . 29 4 -3 2 2 . B u t i n t he c as e o f Si d on K l ei n er s
ssiblebythe e istenceofa tolemaictetradrachmoftheyear22which
n311/10asKleiner sc alc ulationwouldmakeit. B ellinger A nA le -
B erytus1950-1 no. 140 G. K. Jenkins A nEarly tolemaic Hoard
9 60 p p . 27 f . .
De m an h ur 1 9 05 N N M 19 N e w Yo r k 1 9 23 .
a n de r H oa r ds I N N M 3 , N e w Yo r k 1 9 21 p p . 18 1 9 .
eattribution heidentif iedthec hiefmintas ellainsteadofA mphipolis
burialwas308 insteadof318 datedthefirstappearanceof Basileus
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
studyandthatneedsto beworkedthrough a
matictreatmentoftheissues of hilipII.Butit is
sarrangementisfallible.Itis foundedoncareful
abetterarrangementisproposed wearenot ustified
fthe coinagebyfiveyears.50
ethatKleinerhasdone usticetotheev idenc eofsty le.
eearliestHeraclesheadsfromthedifferentmintsis
e byGebaurtobediscussedbelow.
eaknessesofoursec ondpossibility weareleftw ithour
A le ander sNikeisc opiedf romonewithwhic hthesty lis
nwasanobviouspossibilityto thosewhobelieved
rsewasA thena romachus butB abelonmadethe
ypointingout51thatNikewitha stylisupona
romachuswaspaintedona anathenaicvaseof336/5
delos.Thisseemedtohimmorethanacoincidenceand
Nikaiwererelateddocumentsofa timeofcordiality
thecity.HilldefendedhimagainstAssmannon
snotc onv inc edbythesuggestionthatA le anderhad
NeitherwasSvoronoswho asalreadyremarked
s timeAle anderwouldhavehadanyreasonto
belonthought.Instead hesuggestedthatitwas
hat theNikeonthe anathenaicvasewascopied
rmaishistori uesdesstateres u A le andrevenaitde
Macedoine. 53Thiswasdismissedby Ledererasim-
snotenoughtimeforthe coinstohavebeenstruck
nasto inviteimitationintheyear336/5after Ale -
CongressofCorinth.54Ontheotherhand heproduced
tionwithAthensanewlydiscoveredgoldstateron
accompaniedbyNikealsoas asymbolbearingan
ob ectwhichhethoughtmightbea stylis.Thisun-
mefiguresasboth ma orandminordeviceheregarded
ylisticallythecoinbelongstoAle ander searliest
ebasedrather onthesilvercoinsthan onthegold.Thedateof the
otparticularlyinvestigated itisassumedto beginin333 Tarsos
butinthec aseofA mphipolisthereisgolddirectlyc onnec tedw iththesilverseries:e. g.
ur327-331 331B . C. andMiiller192f. w ithDemanhur254-265 333/2
u e s 4 p p . 21 0 -2 1 3 I . X IV , 3 .
L ondon 1906 p. 105 n. 2.
-205.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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l ievedthatitwastheveryf irstdiec utforthenewk ing s
nA thensitself . Moreover hemademorespec if ic an
advancedbyBabelon.GoldenNikaihadbeen
atter halfofthe5thcentury butinthecriticaldays
honee c eption beenmelteddownintomoney. O newas
5othersbyLycurgusinthe late4thcentury.Inthiscase
and inscriptionalevidenceaswell.Thepseudo-
TenO rators 841Dand852B and ausaniasI 29both
gus whowasnotableforthee tenttowhic hhe
stoAthens hadpresentedtothegoddesson the
rthings goldenNikai. Twoinscriptions IG2II 333and
owwhenthe giftwasdatedin336 asunderstoodby
betweenA thens andA le ander sNikeisanobv ious
r p. 202 def initelyholdsthec ointobeinspiredby
eitemthatmakesthisattractiveis thefactthat
tweshoulde pec tf romthe4thcentury whereasit
arestorationof a5thcenturyoriginal.56Unfortu-
sform thetwoinscriptionsarenowdated334/3.57
owever byadaringc on ec tureofHomerA . Thompson:58
ationof336/5wasanac tofmunif ic enc eofA le ander
onofthetypewouldthencommemorateanactof
rwhichhehad recurringmoodsofaffection.We
echesofthelaterAtticoratorstofind thatnotall
es doubtlesshehadmorefriendsthanweknow and
more friendsthanhedid.It isobviousthattheonly
utionis skepticismastosuchcordialrelationsbetween
336.59If thatcanbeaccepted alldifficultiesaremet.
ndorto admitthatthechoicewouldnothavebeen
ogeneralhistoricalprobability.
thesilver wearemetwitha differentkindof
ungHeracleswithalion sskincoveringhadample
n TheGoldenNikaiRec onsidered " Hesperia1944 pp. 173-209.
. c it. p. 189.
guson TheTreasurersofA thena Cambridge 1932 pp. 122f . n. 2.
theA thenianA gora A thenianStudiespresentedtoWilliamSc ott
1940 pp. 183-210.
relationslaterdeteriorated whywasnotthetypec hanged B utthis
t isobviousthatwhatAle anderwantedforhisnewcurrencywas
entimentwasallowedto affecthistypesoncetheyhadbeenchosen.
s inhislifetime varietyintheappearanceoftheminordenominations
coinsthatdidthe mainfiscalworkoftheempire.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
ncoins havingappearedunderArchelausI 413-399
381-369 erdicc asIII 364-359and hilipII 359-336. 60
ofthe MacedoniankingsfromHeracles whenever
enveryusefultotheir claimtoadmissionamongthe
worldand noreasonbeyondtraditionwasneeded
ro sportraitasadev ice. Kleiner whosetheoryre-
wellasthegoldshould havebeeninauguratedin331
sinterestinHeracleswasnot conspicuousuntilthe
hichhisheroicancestorassumesgreatimportancein
lusionisopentothesameob ec tionsthathavealready
othe gold.Thesimpleste planationisthatthenew
ut foranewdenomination.
estionshouldhavebeenrepeatedlyasked: isthe
fA le anderhimself Therearereally twoindepend-
waysdistinguishedbyinvestigators.Wasitthe intention
ducealikeness whichmightbetruewithoutany
c mostofwhomwouldnothaveseenthe kingat
udge Wasitthegeneralpersuasionthattheheadwas
whichmightbetruewithoutanysuchintent onthepart
Wehavesundrybitsofevidencethatthe secondwas
etradrachmwasissuedinthe 2ndcenturyB.C.by
ctria oneofanumberhonoringhispredecessors.The
eadin lion sskinwiththe inscriptionAAEEANA OY
ATEII y .62HereHeraclesisaltogetherignoredandthe
tthatofthedeified con uerorbutofAgathocles
r.
d- Issumbron ec oinswerestruck inthe1stc enturyA .D.
y leandfabric ontheobverseofwhic hthereisaHeracles
A r ch e la o s h e mi o bo l s p. 1 5 6 9 1 0 I . XX I X 1 8 1 9 A my n ta s h e mi -
I . XX X 1 b ro n e p . 16 0 7 -1 1 I . XX X 7 9 c f. t he c on te mp or ar y br on e
3 0 ; e rd ic ca s d i dr ac hm p . 16 1 r I . XX X 1 4 b ro n e p p. 1 61 f. 2 -5
hilip gold halfstater-eighthstaterpp. 163f . 9-16 I. X X X 28 didrac hm
XI 1 o ct ob ol p . 16 6 2 7 b r o n e p . 16 8 3 7 - 39 4 1 I . XX XI 1 0 1 4- 16 w it h
68 4 0 I . X XX I 1 7 .
12. Itshouldberemarkedthathisargumentreliesheav ilyonthenon-
therecordoftheearly years butsurely consideringthenatureofthe
gumentume silentioisveryrisky . Also someweightshouldbegiventothe
Isocrates Orationto hilip especiallysections104-115.
The ortraitsofA le andertheGreat " roc eedingsof theA meric an
949 p. 414 f ig. 63.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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h c onsideringthetown mustbeunderstoodasapic ture
on ec oinswereissuedinMac edoniainthe3rdc entury
anderontheobverseidentifiedbythe inscription
TEII 8 . MThemostfavoredportraitseemstobeonewith
obviouslymodelledonthecoinageofLysimachus
eheadinlion ssk inheaddress 65whichshowsthat
odoubtastowho wasrepresented.
aeumstruckabron ec oininthetimeofCarac allaon
tisidentifiedbyinscriptionas Ale andertheFounder
restingmediaevalitemintheDeThematibusofthe
rphyrogenetus 945-959A . D. . 67Speak ingof the
nsideredthemselvesdescendantsofHeracleswho
hereportsthatinsteadof taeniaorcrownorroyalpurple
w iththeskinofalion sheadwhic htheypri edmore
orthyproofof thisisthec oinofA le anderofMac edon
ortrait. SotherewereAle andertetradrachmsto
yandatso lateadatetheanswerto thesecond
headwascommonlysupposedtobethatof Ale ander
ringtoguessthat thesameanswerwouldberight
eventheperiodofA le ander sownlifetime. B utfor
otbe proven.
edebatedandhasbeen.It isunnecessarytorefer
ehadtheirsay sincesomehavenothingnewtooffer.
dis alwaysintendedtobeAle ander.Wehaveseen
ken fordifferentreasonsbyCousineryandby
dalsobysome oftheoldernumismatistswritingin
raandC ilic ia p. 29 nos. 2-4.
ErsteA bteiling. pp. 94-191. Theillustrationsof thispartof theworkare
ealmostunusable andthedatingisvery uestionable.
o . 17 5 I . I V , 1 4 .
h yl i a an d i s id i a p . 2 0 2 n o . 1 I . X XX I II 1 .
hepassageis uotedbytheoldernumismatists e. g. JosephEc khel
e ru m a r t I V o l . 2 V i e n n a 1 8 39 p . 9 9.
danarticlebyKurtLange Z urFragedesBildnisgehaltesbei
hilipsIIundA le andersIII desGroB en vonMakedonien " Wissensc haf t-
eutschenNumismatikertagesinGottingen 1951 Gottingen 1959 pp.27-33
stheoriesandsometimese aggeratedthem.Langebelievesthatthe
raitandwasrec ogni edassuc h atthetimeaswellaslater buthew ill
chmbearsatrue portrait andthenumismaticpartofhis articleis
l.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
ofabundantillustration sothattheirconclusions
oastoc onv inc etheeye nor indeed weretheirown
eandintimatevisualac uaintancewiththematerial.
eadwas neverintendedasaportrait.Suchis
pportedbyabookishargumentcharacteristicofhistime.
fHorac e EpistlesII. 1. 239-41 :
uissepraeterA pellem
sippoduc eretaera
simulantia.
passagefrom linytheElder H. N. V II. 37. 125 :
tne uisipsumalius uamA pellespingeret uam
uamL ysippuse ac reduc eret andthelaterpassage
retheauthori ationof yrgotelesseemstoapplyonlyto
nsofortifiedtheargumentdoesnot amounttomuch.
whateverformittook musthavebeenthattheking
portraitto anyartistse ceptthosethree.Hecannot
topreventthemakingofcopiesandcopiesofcopies
d.Indeedwehaveancientreferencestootherpor-
officialappointees.71Die-sinkerscouldcertainly
withoutbreakingthe law.
vebeen ofc ourse partsofmoregeneralin uiries
anderinallmedia butwhetherotherk indsareinc luded
vetakenoneof twopositions eitherdeny ingthatthere
raitsofAle anderduringhislifetime oradmittingthat
onsidered.Theformerviewhas theweightyauthor-
whichisheartilysupportedbyTheodorSchreiber.73
puleius F lorida I. 7. 2 whoc arelesslyrepeats linybutsubstitutes
.Theweaknessofthewholetraditioniswell e posedbyAlfredEmerson
Ae andertheGreat aTerrac ottaHeadinMunic h " A A 1886 pp. 408-413
vertheless J. J. B ernoulli DieerhaltenenDarstdlungenA le andersdes
05 p. 28 doesnothesitatetosubscribetothetheorythattheA le anderhead
oinsgoesback toanoriginalof yrgoteles. Ic anseenoreasonforthisbut
p. c it. pp. 375f .
ikenMiin enhellenischerundhettenisierterV olker L eip ig 1885 p. 14.
nasproof.I nthesameplaceheasserts thatthetitleBAIIAEQ Iis
onposthumous butthisisc ertainlyuntrue theinstanc ec itedinn. 1
nisA le andersdesGrofien L eip ig 1903 p. 166 A le anderhatnie
sowenigw ieseinV ater hilip. SoalsoHans orgB loesc h P ersonlic h-
antikenMiin en WinterthurerJahrbuc h1960 p. 62.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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turewasaninventionoftheHellenisticage andthe
le andertetradrac hmandthene tistobee plained
placeof strikinganddifferenceofdie-sinkers.
ssuesofL ysimac hus P L A TEII 5 and tolemy
rrealev idenc eastotheappearanc eof thek ingtheirmaster.
ble todismissthedifferencessolightlyand
orlessc onvic tion thathereandthereA le ander sown
elion sskin.Itis noticeablethatthenumismatists
ndshownodispositionto citespecifice amples.
e hadstudiedamuc hlargerbodyofmaterialthananyone
eralprinciplethatthe earliestHeraclesheadsofthe
essorsonthecoinsofpreviouskings butthatsome-
onlyaf ter323alikenessappears notasaresultofany
tthe choiceoftheseveralmagistratesorofthe
thereisnoindicationofwhere tolookforthese
cdonald75isveryreticent: Tradition indeed hasit
turesaretobedisc ernedintheheadofHeracles—evenif
theverycircumstancethatportraiturewasintroduced
gundertheshelterof religion ishighlysignific ant. A nd
itiveidentificationwouldcertainlybeappropriate 76
coinsinvariablybearthehead oftheyouthfulHeracles
in—thefeaturesf re uentlyresemblingthoseofA le -
ver whoarewillingtobe morespecific.E.Q .V is-
theking sfeaturesontetradrachmsofRhodesandof
aringthanhisfellownumismatists publishes ahead
ithfeaturesresemblingA le ander s. 78Thec oinisf rom
sabasis KurtGebauerhasafullandc arefulsty listic
thef irstpartofhis A le anderbildnisundAle ander-
A le andreleGrand pp. 12-15. ItisstrangetohaveMullerrepeatingthe
vedartistsas thereasonwhythemakingofhis portraitoncoins
lifetimeof Ale ander.
w 1905 p. 151.
Coins NewYork 1937 p. 13.
e a r is 1 8 11 V o l . I I C h a p. I I R o is d e M ac ed o in e " 1 A l e a n dr a l e
L ondon 1910 p. 103 no. 59 I. V II anenlargementof the
elec tGreekCoins . Themintisnotidentif iedbyHill Newellwasatf irst
bution p. 54 no. 258 I. 30. n butlaterassignedittoA mathus af ter
manhur p. 45 nos. 2703-2707 .
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
atthef irstpiec esf romthemintofA mphipolis P L A TEI
tent thef irstf romothermints showaheadwhichis
fthemid-fourthcentury.Withinthene thalfdecade
aditionandagreaterfreedomandindividuality
eningintoschemati ation.FromthistheMacedonian
oseofAsia fartherfromtheartisticdominanceof
eritingthetraditionsoflocalschoolsofart produce
FromSidonin327comesa diewhichherecogni es
ofA le anderonac oin P L A TEII g , theef fec tof the
sionofIndia upontheimaginationofagiftedengraver.
nto theimpersonalanduniversalHeracles though
osessomethingof itsoriginalfreshness.Another
sf romB abylonin316 P L A TEII 10 , thistime
ce.Gebauerregardsthedevelopmentoftheheadin
er sdeathasac ombinationof thec onceptionof
hthatofA le anderasanhistoric ruler thevarious
nginthefull tideofHellenisticart.Theportraits
ver of tolemyandonbothsilverand goldof
ablyidentifiableasthedeifiedAle ander.
t clearandwell-chosenillustrations.Itstoneis
thecaseit makesiscertainlyarespectableone.Of
aestheticcriticismishard.Thereis somuchthatthe
beputintoade uatewords.Andtherearesomany
willperceivedifferentthingsasto mattersofe -
edifficultiesareincreasedwhentheargumentisnot
eworksofartbut ashere aboutitemsselectedas
roupwhichhasits innerdifferencesaswellasits com-
hapsanotherscholar workingwiththesamematerial
fthisstudy anditsconclusions.Butitdoesseemto
robableasawholeandsupportedby itsdetails.It
therre ectstheideathatthebroadcastingofhis
ander soriginalplan or indeed thathehadany-
me.A prioriitwouldbe attractivetothinkthatit
ortheimperialcoinage— thatAle anderhadanti-
eucusandDemetrius oliorcetesinmakinguseofhis
It hasbeensuggestedthathehimselfhad been
ndthatthebeardedheadon hilip ssilverwas
chenarchaologischenInstitut AthenischeAbteilung63/64 1938/39 ,
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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usandforthe king.80Butinthiscasewehave noreliable
vedforcomparisonandtheunprovenpossibilitycan-
thecaseforAle ander.
MissBieber s The ortraitsofAle anderthe
arresult. Asnoneofherpredecessorshaddone she
thedifferentperiodsinwhichthebewilderingvarieties
eservedforushavebeencreated. Heronlyaddition
alinGebauer sartic leistheenlargement asf ig. 32
ofabout320B .C . P L A TEII 11 . 81Shewouldapparently
ythatthef irstc oinportraitc amein327 thoughshe
ne ofherpictureswhichmayderivefromoriginals
anyrelationtotheheadon thefirstcoinsfrom
Sidon andofthesetheseriesfrom Amphipolisissurely
nceofstyle.
me asdoMiillerandHill thattheappearanc e
evementofanindividualengraverorperhapsan
atrap. Ontheotherhand ErikS o v ist publishing
eum82illustrates asaparallel atetradrac hmof
2 83which showsA le ander slikenessinthetraditional
This hebelieves isnotmerelytheworkofasingle
umentofthegradualprocessof thedeificationof
p. 39f. notes12-14 nasamostinterestingc ollec tionofmaterialabout
hisassimilationtoZ eus. Lange op. c it. issurethatboththebearded
rseandtheZ eusheadonhisobversearepic turesof theking. B uthis
ngthanhisproof.
sherf ig. 33Gebauer s L 3. 17 thec oinf romB abylon. B utshe
e about324B . C . Ic annotunderstandwhy. Itisdated asGebauersays
A le anderHoardsIIIA ndritsaena NewYork 1923 p. 20 andthat
ght.
les:a reliminaryNote " B ulletinof theMuseumofFineA rts B oston
maccordingtoTheAle anderCoinageofSicyonarrangedfromNotes
CommentsandA dditionsbySydney . Noe NewYork 1950 p. 12 no.
anyonehavingtoworkfromprintedillustrationsto comparethelife-si e
oe s I. Iw iththeenlargementof thesamec oinwhichisS o v ist sf ig. 2
enceinlighting.S o vistdatesitwithoutargumentto 330B.C.This
tingof 330/25toc . 318B . C. andthat inturnisbasedonNewell s
Hoards: Introduc tionandKyparissiaHoard p. 14 about330B . C .—and
argeissueofstatersand tetradrachmsbearingAle ander stypeswas
ut indiscussinganotherpiec einGroupI Demanhur I. IV , 1= Noe13
7 says EshatmitdenMun envonA mphipolisund ellaeinegew isse
tverstandlichkeitdesAusdruckgemeinsam dersiegegeniiberasiatischen
ellt " anddatesit325-315.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
nlifetime. Itmarks " hesays thef irstdec isive
iconographythatwastotallynewtoGreekart:
of adeifiedruler. Heenumeratesconvincinglythe
thisseemtobe anactualindividualandnota mere
andhebelievesthatthe originalistheofficialportrait
probablybyL ysippus. Ifwearedealingw ithanof f icial
obe thatfromthistimeon thecoinsshowwith
dsuccessheadsthatarerecogni ablythoseofan
hatideali edtobesure butnotthoseofac onventional
parisonofthedifferentspecimensselectedaslikenesses
sesa certainuneasinessinthemindofthe beholder
dmuchmorematerialthanevenGebauerhaspro-
epatternin thesituation.Ontheonehandthere
Ale anderwithabeardlessheadof Heracles.These
Theyvaryconsiderablyinstyle butitis impossible
tsof thevariousrulerswhostruckthem.84They
ntheotherhand therearetheheadsgenerallyagreed
tsofA le ander issuedby tolemyandL ysimachus.
Ale anderhimselfwhichshouldberelatedto one
utitisnot uiteaseasyasthis fornoonehasyet
mityofthetestimonyof tolemyandLysimachus.
I . I X of H i ll s S e le c t Gr e ek C oi n s P a r is 1 9 27 w h ic h s ho w s
le anderandhistwosuccessorstemptsusto wonder
ni ethelaterheadsbecausetheybear theaccessories
ephant sheadandtheram shorns—andnotbec ause
Wemustneverforgetthatwe aredealingwiththe
e-sinkerswhovariedgreatlyinskillandalso— as
remindsme—insympathyw iththeideaofdiv ini ation.
everac hieved andprobablyneverattemptedthedegree
Athenaheadsof 5thcenturyAthens.Butwhatis
especimenswhichshowconformitywithanofficial
tionsofintentor e ecutionwhichwouldseemto
nenormoustaskawaitssomeheroicscholar:analysis
vebutinc lusiveof thedo ensofdiesofHeracles head
A myntasusestheunbeardedheadonhissmallsilverandbron e a
nhislargesilver foranother therewouldbenoe planationforthe
the MainlandThasiansandtheirsuccessorstheciti ensof hilippi
I. X X 1-9 . Therearetwoentirelydistinc tsty leshereneitherofwhichc ould
of hilipII.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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onscanbesafelymade.Itmust bedonewithoutpre-
twell endinfailure. erhapssomeguidancecanbe
opsisoftheelementswhichformstyle85 butitis awork
e impatientorthefaintof heart.
tentourselveswithconcludingthatatraditional
anderassuitableforan imperialcurrency which
anempirewiderthan hecouldhaveimaginedand
dinsomeplaces truelikenessesof thek ingandhis
nspiredthehandsofhisartisansso thatmencame
heandHeracleswereone.
blein itsmainfeatures.Z eusisalwaysseatedto
mtionoverhislegsbutisundrapedfromthewaistup on
dheholds aneagle withhisleftheleans uponalong
aredetails withwhichweshalldealpresently that
edZ eusOlympics.86Yetthereareimportantdiffer-
eusthatwasatO lympiainA le ander stime: the
atueby heidias.Theyhavedeterredmostscholars
ander sdeity. O neotheridentif ic ationwasput
eseriouslyconsidered.Eckhel87says Jupiterhie
for Aetophorus hauddubieestBottiaeusilleseu cultus
egionein uasita ella. Impressedby hauddubie
Mullerac c eptedthename 88and inhisearlywork89
oricalflourishwhichhismaturer udgmentallowed
ereverseweseeZ eusofB ottiaea whohadafamous
shonoredthroughoutMac edonia. B utB ottiaeanZ eus
eed.Thesingleancientmentionofhimis byLibanius
ationofAle anderatAntioch-on-the-Orontes or
atertobe founded 90.Anyconnectionwiththe
d ellaisc on ec tureandnothingmore.
mpianZ eusise cellentlystatedbyCookina
nfull. 91 WhenA le andertheGreatplac eduponhis
Analyseetinterpretationdustyle " CongresInternationaldeNumis-
a r is 1 9 57 p p . 37 - 42 .
HistoryofA ncientCoinage 700-300B .C . O ford 1918 p. 426 Seltman
Newell RoyalGreek ortraitCoins p. 13 adignifiedrepresentationof the
c ellenc e O lympianZ eus enthronedandholdingsc epterandeagle.
ol. II p. 100.
A l e a n d r e le G r an d p . 5 n . 1 2.
.
C am b ri d ge 1 9 14 - 19 4 0 V o l . I I p p . 11 8 7 f.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
ofaseatedZ eus itmighthavebeene pec tedthat
rposethe greatcult-statueatOlympia—andthe
swasa prominentfeatureofhisowndomain.In
hingofthe sort.Hesetasideall theimprovements
nddeliberatelyrevertedtotheold pre- heidiactype.
rachmsontheonehand withthefederalcoinsof
13 , ontheotherw iththeO lympianstatueisinstruc tive:
StatueA le ander sCoins
handhas NikeRighthandhaseagle
handhasscepterLeft handhasscepter
gh
nR ightlegisin
eofrightleg advanceofleftleg
tioncoversleftHimationiswrapped
mas wellaboutlowerlimbs
as highbackThronehasatfirst
ander ignoringtheideali edruleratOlympia
ncientandpopulartype ofZ eusLykaios.Afterall
ledOlympos.Yetsoimmensewasthefameofthe
adrachmsissuedlaterinthe nameandwiththe
ncreasinglyinfluencedbyit.Theleftleg isadvanced
dthethroneismanifestlyassimilatedtothat ofZ eus
anderfailedtoarrestthemoralevolutionofZ eus. To
Whatmotiveledhimtomaketheattempt Whydid
ecoinagetheold eagle-bearerofArkadiaratherthan
tionof heidias " —hehasnoanswertoof fer. 92
euswaslessimportantthanthe factthat like
ev ic es hewaseasyforinhabitantsof thevariousdistric ts
tohimthat themodelmightbetheBaal ofTarsosanditsselection
er sinternationalism. B ut asCookrec ogni es p. 762 n. 2 thisc onf licts
Macedonianissues a uestionthathasalreadybeendiscussed.It
hat whilestylisticallyBaaloncoinsofMa aeusatTarsus ustbefore
ikeA le ander sZ eusf romthesamemint Tarsos passim , thedesigns
es:ontheMa aeussilverthescepterisin frontsurmountedbyaneagle
cepterisbehindandthe eagleheldontheopenhand.Gardner hadrecog-
hic hCook lists. TheTypesofGreekCoins p. 186 TheZ eusofA le ander s
tationin anyclosesenseofthegreat Olympianstatueof heidias but
ucedinhonor ofthegodrepresentedbythat statue.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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theirown.Seltmanhasputthecase clearly:93 Though
setypesweredestinedto appeale uallytoGreeksand
Ale anderasyetunc on uered forthe hoenic ianwas
ehisowngodMel art theC ilic ianwastoregardthe
a alofTarsus andtheBaby lonian thoughhemight
reeknameofA le ander wastolookonpic turesthat
mesh thelion-slayer andthefigureofBel-Marduk
sreali edthat ne ttoMac edonia thegreatest
etobeestablishedprec isely in hoenic ia C ilicia and
oresightthatthekingshowedin theselectionofthese
ttheearliestpose withthelegsstifflyparallel
t givesplac etoaneasierposition morelikethatof
w iththerightlegdrawnbackandtherightfootappearingin
L A TEII 10 11 . Thisc hangedoesnottakeplac eevery-
butitis generalandisanindicationof dateratherthan
lldifferenceswhichareuseful foramoree act
eirrespectivemints.Notonlydoesthethrone some-
mentionedbyCook butthebackmaybedec oratedw ith
ndtheshapeofthe legsandtheplacingofthe cross-
metimeslaureate sometimestherearelonglockson
ometimesshortones sometimesnone. Theremaybea
neathhisfeet orastraightone orafootstool or
eseitemsalsogoesa constantmodificationofstyle
ssufficienttoprove therelationbetweenreversedies
evariants.
notherminutiaefor thereversesofbothsilver
llaryfigures—thesymbols— orthelettersor mono-
fewe c eptions oc c urinthef ieldof thereversetype.
partsofthe maindesign asisevidentfromthe fact
efigureandthesymbolare uiteunrelated.Scholars
symbols monogramsandlettersalikewereindica-
ng andgreatingenuitywasdisplayedinrecogni ing
ringcities names.Someofthesuggestionsweregood
bylaterworkwithgreaterresources thoughthe
etimesforgotten.Somewere uitefantasticand
gnoranceofancienthistoryandgeography.Itwould
ossibleguessesthathavebeenmade butnoserious
Thesuggestionmentionedintheforegoingnotedoes notappearin
edition.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
oaredisposedto investigatethischapterinthe
ghtstartwithEc khel slistofhispredec essors 94
dconservativesuggestionsastomints based
postinfelic esaliorumc onatus. 95
eonecommonweakness:theydonotdistinguish
the laterones someofthemverymuchlater.Such
egreatmeritsofwhat isstillthe basicworkinthe
smati ued A le andreleGrand. Toavolumewhic h
ec oinageofA le ander w iththatof hilipIIand
wasaddedanA tlaswhereinisdisplayedinc leartabularform
ohim 1735forA le ander 313fortheelder hilip 142
awingsofthesymbolsandmonograms indicationof
d ofitsfabric.96Thefabricwasarrangedin seven
breadthandflatnessofwhoseflanswasthe signofa
t andtheyareillustratedbyengravingson thefirst
of them onpp. 5-9 97-104 allowsforborder- line
nowbeac c eptedinallitsdetails butitaddedanimpor-
eanalysisof thehugenumberofcoinswithwhich
andmonogramsmorethanonc e pp. 35-49 90-93
hthe convictionthattheyrepresentedtownsordistricts
eadingsareplacenames withlistsofIncertifor the
gthofwhichmighthavegivenhim somecausefor
niahelists15towns followedby61varietiesfrom
ontheleastrec koning wouldamountto11more. Hedoes
mbolsmightbethoseofmagistrates 97butheis sure
ythoseof towns.98Ofcourse additionstohislists
nk therewasnopublished uestioningofhisprinciple
tury later.
eV eterumsiveJosephiEckhelii rolegomenaDoctrinaeNumorum
1-172. Iwouldnot ofc ourse suggestthatthebadguessesstoppedw ith
ol. II pp. 100-103.
obeworthwhileto issueaphotographiccopyoftheAtlasin 1957
e n A. G . B a se l .
in RemarksontheClassificationofSomeCoinsofLysimachus "
nNumismati ued A le andreIonlysay p. 37 thatthesesymbolsarein
ity symbols—Itis possiblethatsomeofthemhavebeenthe escutcheons
rmint masters—butI havenowherefoundsufficientreasonfore plain-
y.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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ypublished twotetradrachmsofLysimachus
A enos w ithc aduc eusandbee theother Miillerno. 445a
thtorc handbee theywerebothstruc kw iththesame
stome therefore " hesaid asc ertainasanyc on-
b ec twherewearenec essarily lefttoinferenc e thatthe
elongtothesamepartof thecountry andc anonlybe
es. Thisisasfar ashisdisagreementwithMiiller
iousdoubtas tothevalidityofMuller smethodwas
efoundthree statersof hilipIIwiththe same
mwereMiillerno. 88 P hilippi w ithKandtripod the
partofMiillerno. 237 Inc erti w ithKandabroadhat
oncludedthatthesemust allhavecomefromthe
hemintwasnot hilippi. Thesymbols then maybe
issionsandnot ofplaces.Inreviewingthisessaywith
ked Itisbecomingeveryyearmoreand moreap-
cerestson afoundationofsand.Thesymbols
esemblemunicipaldevicesorcoin-types are asDr.
merelythesignetsofthemonetarymagistrates and
tobeacceptedasmint-marks. Thiswassomuchmore
essaysinrevisionthat itdrewacryof distressfrom
ested wasdestroyingthewholefoundationforareason-
e andercoinageandleavingmerechaos.Tothis
te. 104HegrantedthatMuller sC lassesV , V I andV II
citiesafterthe deathofAle ander boresymbols
yinitialletters thedevicesof thecitieswhichstruck
erc oins hee pressedhisc onv ic tionthatthreefourths
magistratesandnotofcities.Head sdoctrinecon-
whoappealedtoitin supportofhisidentificationofthe
ly in1912 Newell inhisReattributionofCertain
hedCoinsofLysimac hus " JV C1869 pp. 1-18 esp. 5f.
endesThrac ischenKonigsL ysimachus Copenhagen 1858 apendant
er.
eitrage urantikenMiin -undA lterthumskunde " Z fN1882 pp. 138
c henaufdenMiin en hilippsIIvonMac edonien " pp. 152-154.
f .
ac hmsofA le andertheGreat " NC1883 pp. 1-17 esp. 14-17.
andertheGreat. A nE planation " NC1883 pp. 18f .
TheMintatB aby lon:aRe oinder. SirHenryHoworth SomeCoins
r. Imhoof -Blumer NC1904 pp. 1-38 hadmadeanall- inc lusiveattac k
tionwhichmusthaveseriouslydisturbedtheSwissscholar forhis
German NZ 1905 pp. 1-8andtranslatedintoEnglishintheartic le uoted.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
dertheGreat producedsuchawealthofevidenceon
manhurHoardthatthe hypothesisofalargenumber
andonedpermanently.
casesinwhichtruemintmarksdo appear andthey
eposthumousissues fore ample KorKforKitionin
p ho s A f o r Ar a do s I I f or S i do n b u t th e g re a t ma o r it y a s
placesbut forpersons.Whothesepersonswerewedo
ervisionoverparticularissues holdingofficeforaterm
earafter theregularGreekcustom seeingthatthe
intainedandbeingallowedtoputtheir privatemarks
heir chargeasasubordinateguaranteetothegreat
name.
mmonandis muchlesswellknown.Thetypesrefer
rseandreverse thoughnoonehasraisedany uestion
tionsofthe bowandclubvary andthereareletters
atelyhelpin achievinganarrangement butcorre-
bolsongoldandsilver arespasmodicanditislikely
erethecareof separateofficials.Theywerecertainly
uencyandregularityofthegoldand silver.Theserious
egun.
ectsofthe ma orcoinswhichformedtheinter-
ander sempire.
esupplementedatonetimeoranotherbythe
ctions:
er LATEI 4
umberofthesewhichwereevidentlyan important
er LATEI 6
er LATEI 7
TEI 8
TEI 9
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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ddo notseemtohaveplayedanimportantrole.
adrachm LATEI 10
robablyconfinedtoasingle issuefromBabylon.106
kwithaspearattac king orusonanelephant.
nlef tina ersianc ap holdingathunderbolt
inguponaspearw ithhislef t. Hewearsa
af lyingNike. L A TEI 13
tone traordinary butthetypes c ommemorating
s makeitobv iousthatthesearerathermedallionsthan
heirweightsareproperfor tendrachmae butthey
ndedtobe putincirculation.107
adrachm LATEI 14
perhapsconfinedtothefirstyears ofthereign.108
adrachm LATEI 15
ers.Theycertainlyprovidedanimportantsup-
ms thoughtheirissueseemstohavebeenconcentrated
adrachms LATEI 16
adrachms LATEI 17
adrachms LATEI 18
thesesilverdenominationsarerare.
hoenic ianweight 14. 70gr.
ate
glef t onthunderbolt L A TEI 12
ins p. 213 n. 3.
rterly 1926 pp. 36f . NC1927 pp. 204-206 SNGB erryCollec tion
2 95 .
on p p . I2 f . X V , I . 7 1 .
ger A HoardofAle anderDrac hms " YaleC lassicalStudiesX IV ,
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
hatthiswasAle ander sfirstissuefrom Mace-
troductionofhisowntypes.110Headwouldattribute
erhapsIndia af terAle ander sdeath111andthiswas
Kleiner however 113returnstoImhoof-Blumer stheory
ointbyG.K. Jenkinsinareview 114andbyDaniel
heargumentofR. B.Whitehead116foraBactrianorigin
hepointisnotofmuchimportanceforus sincethe
ycannothaveplayedanysignificantpartinthe
sofarasI knowtherearenonebesidesthethreein the
erbolt L A TEI 21
glef t onthunderbolt L A TEI 19 20
erbolt L A TEI 22
us L A TEI 23
ebolt L A TEI 24
tofac e onthunderbolt L A TEI 25
s 1 8 8 3 p p . 11 8 f. I . D 8 .
c o-B ac trianandGraeco- IndianCoins " NC1906 pp. 1-16 esp. 1-3
3 n. 6.
M o nn a ya g e d E t a l on p r 6s u me I n di e n o u R ho d ie n ' " R ao u l Cu r ie l a nd
mondtairesd A fghanistan aris 1953 pp. 58-62.
pSophytes " NC1943 pp. 60-72.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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I 26
gto theearlyissuesofAmphipolis.117Twoother
ybefromSyriaor Cilicia.
e L A TEI 27
directions L A TEI 28
glef t onthunderbolt
o right
I 30
eunitis
b L A TEI 29
enominationsofrealimperialimportanceare:
radrac hmanddrachm.
fmoneywithanythoroughnessinto termsof
needfarmoreinformationthanwepossess butwe
ulindicationsofvalue.The firstpointtobe re-
nder abandoninghisfather sc hoiceofstandardfor
Athensaccordingtowhichthedrachmweighed
into6 obols.Therehasbeenagood dealofdiscussion
hange andtalkofbimetallismwhic his Ithink suf -
odoreReinachwhopointsoutthatthe necessary
llismnevere istedinanti uity .118WhatA le ander
ampleofAthensandstrikea silverdrachmaofthe
2-14.
p or t io n el l e de 1 O r et d e 1 A r ge n t da n s l A nt i u i t6 g r ec u e R N 1 89 3
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
achmaofwhichtwo madethestater.Oftherelation
speakpresently theissuanceofsilvermoneyonthe
ascertainlynotsurprisingconsideringtheassured
cceptabilityoftheAthenianowls.Schlumberger
schoicewasinfluencednotonlyby theirimportancein
mitationswhichhadbecomesonotableanelement
a. WhatA le anderwantedtodo hesays wastogive
oinagetoanempirewhichdid nothaveoneandto
eto thewholeterritory.119Thislargenessofview
vebeenpossibleata timewhenhecouldforeseethe
sempire. Itthereforef itsSc hlumberger sideathatthe
tbeginwiththebeginningof thereign.Butwiththe
heorywehavealreadydealt.In anycase Ale ander
hichweree ualtoonegold staterinvalue.
totheir possessors Anyattempttoanswerthis
facedbya reminderthatwehavenoevidencefrom
rksoftheorators andthecomediansthereisa con-
omicinformationabout4thcenturyAthens andthis
edbyAugustBockhinhis bookDieStaatshaushaltung
atdealcanbe foundoutabouttherangeof revenues
dowries wages f ines loans andsuchmatters. B utthese
ngandilluminatinginthemselves mustbeusedwith
fMacedoniaorAsia.Nevertheless thereisonefigure
etouseit. Inthelatterpart ofAristotle sConstitution
withtheconstitutionofhisowntime section49records
nsideredthecaseof paupers andanywhowere
minaecapitalandtobephysicallyincapacitated
foodatthepublice pense.In4thcenturyAthens
elevelof baresubsistence.Thisisborneoutby Demos-
e peditionagainstMacedon121inwhichthefootsoldiers
whichwouldkeepthemaliveeven iftheywerenot
.Weknownothingofthecostof livinginthecountry
beenmoree pensivethananytowninMacedonia
mind itissafetoc alc ulatethatasilverdiobolwasabout
ouldget alongonfora day.Thenadrachmawould
atetradrachmfor12.
L A rgentgrec dans1 Empireac hemenide op. c it. p. 27.
1886. TranslatedbyGeorgeCornewallL ewisasThe ublic Ec onomyof
nd o n 1 8 42 .
tions28f .
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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uesforsilver weneedtoconvertitinto goldand
stater of twogolddrachmae weighed usttw ic ethe
tiobetweengolddrachmaandsilverdrachmawillbe
enthebullionvaluesof themetals.Nowthevalueof
ccordingtosupplyanddemandandwillvary
seinstancesinmoderntimeswheregovernmentcontrol
allism.SinceinGreecethe standardwassilverthe
tuationinthe valueofgoldonly thoughsometimes
edtheinteractionofthemetals.122Thereis evidence
iretherewasaf i edof f ic ialratioof i^la:1 123an
34/3 IGII2. 352 givesaratioofabout14: I two
enturyshowthat bythentheproportionhadsunk
middleofthe4thcenturythe openingoftheminesof
easedtheavailablegoldsupplywhichappearstohave
125andthisseemsto havebeenmaintainedfora
angerousto supposethatitnevervariedduring the
hissuccessors 127butwhattestimonywehaveencour-
0:1wastheusualratio. O negoldstater then e ualling
radrachms wouldbesubsistenceforonemanfor
fortw ic easlong.
andMeans IV . 10 Whengoldbec omesplentifulitbec omesc heaper
o p .c i t. n . 1 18 p p . 7- 9 b u t cf . S ch l um b er g er o p . ci t . n . 1 13 p . 1 6.
5thc entury E. S. G. Robinson Some roblemsintheL ateF if th
s " MN1960 p. 9.
istophanis39-40 P lato Hipparc hus231D.
pp. 146-149 believesthatitwas hilip sminingac tivityandnot
estof theEastthatwastheimportantmomentintherelationofgoldto
. 741 IGII. 22. 1. 1496c ol. Ill of331/0 C IA II. 237 anerrorfor
U. 99-103 Menander 320-292 arakatatheke P ollu IX . 76 ; Herondas
1 1 . 79 9 9 . In R N 1 90 2 L e Ra p po r t de 1 O r a 1 A r ge n t da n s le s C om p te s d e
8 hec allsattentiontothesameratiointheac c ountsof theNaopoioiinthe
importantforhisthesisasto angaeangold foritwasthendated
andercouldhavehadanyeffectonthe goldsupply.ButGeorgesDau
oselythan336/5-332/1 FouillesdeDelphesIII Fasc. horsS^rie n. d. ,
p. 15 C21.
ery inpublishingadif fic ultinsc ription TheRatioofSilvertoGold
nWar: IGI.2301 " NC1930 pp. 16-38 c omestothec onc lusionthat
pire wasconventionallytariffedat10:1althoughthiswas belowits
rwasavailable andalthoughbeforethewarithadbeen14:1 IGI. 2355.
couldfallintothe lacunaeinourevidence.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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8/9/2019 Essays on the coinage of Alexander the Great / by Alfred R. Bellinger
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GEOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT
teaboutthebron ewearein greaterdifficulties.
bron emoneywasessentiallyfiduciary:thatits
ytheweightof themetal.Thisisconfirmed though
ved bywhatlittleinformationwehaveaboutthe
econclusiveisthevariationinweightof individual
nation.IntheDramaHoardthere are94bron e
ellpreservedandinaboutthesamecondition 13of
25weighlessthan6. Itisobviousthat therehas
actnessaseventhefractionalsilvershows.129To
ninvaluewouldbeverysmall butifac oinof4. 78grams
he sameasoneof8.09that mustbebecausethe
r.Buttoo muchcanbemadeoftheindifference.
ionstowhichIcamein regardtoSelucidissueswhere
minationsnotdistinguishedbydifferenceintype.130
ethattheweighingof theoriginalf lansforbron ec oins
caseofsilverbecausethebullionvaluewasso much
itistoo drastictoassumethatthebullionvalue wasof
econceptionoftokenmoneywithavalueentirely
l likeourpaper isamodernonewhichcannotfairly
the thirdcenturyB.C.Doubtlesstheultimateworth
theirtheoretic alability tobee c hangedforprec ious
dthemtocirculatefreelyin spiteofvariationinweight
thatoftheir material.Yettheanalogyofsilverand
epeasantorsoldier userofbron ecoins.Theper-
ominationsdistinguishableonlybyweightmustrest
onthatthemoremetalthereis inyourcointhe
ybehelpfulinseparatingdenominationsbutisnoguide
lverissues andwemustlookforother methodsof
lyproposedalternateschemesforidentifyingSeleucid
ehypothesisofe ualitybetweenthelargestbron eandthe
vehadoccasiontoremark 132itis doubtfulwhethera
antiatedforall thekingsfromSeleucusIto Anti-
DuRapportdeV aleurdesMetau moneiairesdans1 Egyptau
es " REG1928 pp.121-196 esp.161f.
c h op. c it. pp. I57f . givethesamek indofvariationfor tolemaic
tDura-Europos. F inalReportV I. TheCoins NewHaven 1949 p. 188.
n eCoinages " ESM pp. 270-274.
aryStudy2. TheCoins rinc eton 1961 p. 13 n. 78.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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8/9/2019 Essays on the coinage of Alexander the Great / by Alfred R. Bellinger
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eirmints whichbynomeansissueallthesamede-
ron e.Butasidefromthis hisvaluesareunsatis-
e ander.Accordingtohiscalculationsthepiece
ouldbeeitherJ/8obolor /16obol andthereforel/Kor /96
eofapossiblereductioninweightby AntiochusIV ,
for theearlySeleucidperiod.Onthebasisof con-
theformeroraloweronewouldbe preferable.Thereisno
ebron eunitandthe silverdrachmaissuedfre uently
ommonuse and48:1seemsawidegap letalone96:1.
o silverdrachmwas20:1 and asthetetradrachm
thedrachma therewasaratioof 5:1 betweenthe
minations.Whyshouldtheminoronesbeseparated
avepointedout inthec aseof Iliumthef irstlocalissues
ultiplesof Ale ander sdenominationbutfractions:
96and1/192drachmaacc ordingtoNewell slowerrec koning
ordingtohishigher Thissurelymustbere ectedfromitsin-
usthe serviceofconfutingsomeoftheunsuccessful
essors hasmadeacautioussuggestionasto thevalues
33Sincefrom305B.C.ontheEgyptianstandardwas
hisdef initionsw illnotapplytoA le ander sc oins but
estingprinciplewhichoughtnottobeoverlooked.
says atouteforc ehasarderamontourunsystemede
rraisvolontiersdanslac lassedebron eB deSvoronos ui
re uente 1 obole lapiecediv isionnairepare c ellenc e.
soprominentinthewritersthat itseemsreasonablethat
san actualcoin.Thereisasilverobol butitdoesnot
monenoughtosatisfy there uirement anditistempt-
ec eanobolandsoestablisharatioof6:1betweenthe
epurelyfactualnamechalkous thebron epiece
susedofour unitasit hadbeenusedofthe much-
empttousetokenmoney 134asitwouldpresumably
epiecewhichwastheonlydenominationorthe
velopedsystemsitmayhavebeenconfinedto a
ofdenominations havingitsmultiplesanddivisions
stables butforthisearlyperioditisalmostc ertain
epiecewouldbecalledchalkous.That however
p p . 15 0 f.
lesia usae 11. 815 818.
C r e a
t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0
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nderI 498-454B . C. thek ingsofMac edonhadstruc k
asamatterofc oursethat hilipIIandAle anderIII
esi eof hilip soutputwasaltogetherbeyondthat
andA le ander sdwarfedthatofhisfather. O f
hatmadethispossiblewasthat hilipc ameintoc ontrolof the
ngaeandistrict.WhenhetookovertheThasiancolony
velopedtheneighboringgoldminesuntiltheypro-
han1 000talents.3Thatundoubtedlytooktheform
e sRhetoric 1putsabundanceofmoneyatthe be-
ealth followedbyrealestate movables c attleand
onofbullion andwhilewereadof ersianbullion
andofgoldob ec tsinc ludedintheplunder thereisno
sinbullionanymore thanthereisoftransactions
ttheMac edoniankings liketheGreekc ities usednot
ybutaspecieeconomyisofimportancetokeepin
tsof incomewereallgoldtheywouldbe300 000
vertalent totranslateitintoitsc ommonestforms
drac hmsor300goldpiec esataratioof10:1. 6Nowthough
shiscontemporaries generallybelievedthatasupply
hilipdoesnotseemtohaveaccumulatedmuch.None
edonianRegalCoinageto413B . C. NNM126 , NewYork 1953.
A thousandtalents meansgoldtothevalueof1 000silver A ttic
sgoldbut hilipcertainlygothisgreatlyincreasedsupplyof silverfrom
heremaythereforehavebeenathousandtalentsofgold plusanunspecified