37 | Ancient Greek coins

Automatically generated translation

SELEUCID KINGDOM, Antiochos VII. Tetradrachm. (Ar. 16.42g/29mm). 138-129 BC (Seaby 7092). Obv: Laureate head of Antiochos VII right. Rev: Athena standing to left portanod spear and Nike with laurel wreath, behind shield, between OA, around Greek legend, all within laurel. Extremely Fine. Loose coinage in part.

Founded by Seleucus I Nikátor, this dynasty ruled until 69 AD (when it was annexed to Rome by Pompey the Great) a vast territory that included Babylon, Syria and a large part of Asia Minor until it reached, to the east, the present Pakistan and by north to the deserts of the Aral Sea. It was a very heterogeneous state, made up of twenty peoples of different races, languages and religions and that brought together more than thirty million inhabitants. Antioch in Syria and Seleucia in Mesopotamia were his two capitals. Despite being heirs of the Hellenistic culture, the Seleucids ruled more like their predecessors, Syrians, Mesopotamians and Persians, making their kings worship as kings. Antiochos VII was the last great king of the empire, at his death the kingdom entered a sharp decline becoming a second level power.