SELEUCID KINGDOM: Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BC). AR tetradrachm (16.69 gm), Antioch, ca. 168–164 BC. Diademed head of Antiochus IV right / BASILEWS ANTIOCOU QEOU EPIFANOUS NIKHFOROU, Zeus enthroned left, holding Nike on extended right hand and scepter in left, DI monogram in outer left field. Mørkholm 16. Antioche de Syrie 392–394 (die A38). Metal flaw on eye. Good very fine

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SPECIAL OFFERS - AN OFFERING OF TETRADRACHMS OF ANTIOCHUS IV OF SYRIA (LOTS 164-174): Antiochus IV Epiphanes is the best known of all Seleucid monarchs, generally remembered as a tyrant and megalomaniac whose clumsy efforts to force Greek-style worship on his subjects spurred the Jews into full revolt under the Maccabees. A fair assessment of his reign reveals a talented and complex sovereign undone by ambition and stubbornness. The youngest son of Antiochus III the Great, Antiochus spent most of his youth as a hostage in Rome until the death of his brother, Seleucus IV, offered him an opportunity to seize the Seleucid throne. From the outset, he tried to strengthen his kingdom through an energetic policy of Hellenization and urbanization. This found favor with his Greek and Macedonian subjects, but alienated the Semitic peoples in his realm. His assumption of the title Epiphanes (“God manifest”) in particular provoked resentment, as it seemed he was demanding to be worshiped as the earthly embodiment of Zeus. Wits in Antioch nicknamed him Epimanes, or “madman.” His flamboyant personal style—his admiration for artists, dancers, and actors and his enjoyment of drunken, lowbrow revelry—seemed to presage the reign of Nero two centuries later. His foreign adventures focused largely on Egypt, which he invaded twice. Following the first Egyptian campaign in 169 BC, he looted the great Temple in Jerusalem to obtain gold for his troops, an act that turned Jewish resistance into outright revolt. Years of bitter warfare with his erstwhile subjects followed, leading ultimately to the Jewish recapture of Jerusalem and the festival of Hanukkah. Antiochus, however, seems at first to have regarded the Jewish revolt as a minor annoyance, for he resumed his attempt to conquer Egypt in 168 BC. His well-trained army (modeled on the Roman legions) easily swept aside all resistance by the Ptolemaic government. But at Eleusis he was met by a single Roman magistrate, the aged Popillius Laenus, who handed him a decree by the Roman Senate ordering his immediate withdrawal. Laenus then dramatically drew a circle in the sand around the king and demanded an answer before he stepped out of it. Antiochus had no choice but to submit or find himself at war with Rome. He pulled his army out of Egypt and, during the march back to Syria, vented his rage on Jerusalem, putting 80,000 Jews to the sword. In 166 he defiantly staged an elaborate victory celebration in Antioch and prepared to mount an eastern expedition to recapture Seleucid territories long lost to the Parthians. He got as far as western Persia before he fell ill and died in early 164 BC, leaving his nine-year-old son in charge of a Seleucid kingdom weakened by internal conflict and external aggression.

The coinage of Antiochus IV combines excellent Hellenistic portraiture with legends that hint at his personal quirks and policies. Lots 164 to 168 of these silver tetradrachms were minted in Antioch ca. 173/2 to 169/8 BC and carry the reverse legend “of King Antiochus, God Manifest” (BASILEWS ANTIOCOU QEOU EPIFANOUS). The remaining coins, struck after the second Egyptian campaign of AD 168, carry the additional epithet “Bearer of Victory” (NIKHFOROU).