|GREEK SILVER TETRADRACHM OF THE SELEUKID KING ANTIOCHOS VII EUERGETES, REIGNED 138-129 BC
Seleukid Kings of Syria, Antiochos VII Euergetes. 138-129 BC
Diameter: 28 mm.; Weight: 16.54 grams
Obverse: Diademed head of Antiochos VII Euergetes right.
Reverse: Athena Nikephoros standing left within laurel wreath.
Very fine condition, an excellent Hellenistic portrait.
Ex American private collection.
|The Seleukid Empire was one of the main successor states to the Macedonian empire forged by Alexander III 'the Great'. Following Alexander's death, his greatest generals, the Diadochs, divided the empire among themselves, but the settlement was not enduring and nearly constant warfare resulted from their ambitions to widen their respective areas of control. Seleukos I, despite being passed over in the initial settlement in 323 BC, received the satrapy of Babylon in the second settlement in 320 BC. By the time of his death in 281 BC, Seleukos I had expanded his realm to encompass most of Alexander's eastern possessions from Asia Minor to Baktria.|