DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45399#0035
TIIE PARTHIAN COINAGE.
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circle of clots. But the tetradrachms, ancl those pieces of copper which bear the head or
figure of a city, can be read to the last, and were unquestionably produced in cities where
the Greek tongue was by no means dead. This class of coins, too, bears, in all cases, dates
according to the era of the Seleucidse, while very few drachms of the Parthian Kings bear
a date. The two series I have mentioned run parallel to one another, touching at but few
points, so that it often is by no means easy to be sure with which tetradrachms some of the
later drachms ought to be classed ; the portrait is the only point in which the two series
meet, and the notions of portraiture possessed by the artists of the tetradrachms differ entirely
from those possessed by the artists of the drachms.
It has long been conjectured, and I think rightly, that the tetradrachms and civic copper
were minted at some of the great Greek cities of Central Asia, such as Seleucia and Charax,
while the drachms were the State coinage of the Parthian Empire, and struck wherever there
was a Parthian garrison. On almost all the tetradrachms the King does not appear alone.
He is usually in the act of receiving a palm or wreath from a female figure who wears a
mural crown, and holds a sceptre or a cornucopiae, and who clearly represents the mint
city itself.
I have already mentioned the fact that some of the later drachms bear a legend which
is not Greek. Two letters of this language occur on the coins of Sanabares, at the beginning
of the Christian era, and about a century later the reigning monarchs’ names in full appear
so written with the title Malka or King. The resemblance of the characters in which these
legends are written to the Sassanian-Persian letters attracted long ago the attention of the learned,
and M. de Longperier read them on that analogy. Similar characters are found on a host of
smaller coins, which used to be called sub-Parthian, and which are of somewhat doubtful
attribution. These I have entirely passed by, considering that the reading of them would be
too uncertain, and not feeling myself competent to decide between the widely varying opinions
of the Persian scholars in the matter. I treat, therefore, not of the coins of Parthian
satraps, except where they bear the name of the Great King Arsaces, but of the regal coins
of Parthia only.
' IV. PARTHIAN COINAGE.
Arsaces I., II. Arsaces—Tiridates I.
Plate I. 1. Obv. Head of Arsaces 1. in helmet, round which is tied royal diadema.
Rev. APSAKOY. Arsaces wearing helmet and cloak, seated r. on omphalos, holding bow.
Drachm. B.M. Wt. 59-2.
I. 2. \_Obv. Similar.]
Rev. BA£IAEQ£ AP^AKOY. Same type; in ex. H-j.
Drachm. B.M. Wt. 55-4.
GARDNER
4
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circle of clots. But the tetradrachms, ancl those pieces of copper which bear the head or
figure of a city, can be read to the last, and were unquestionably produced in cities where
the Greek tongue was by no means dead. This class of coins, too, bears, in all cases, dates
according to the era of the Seleucidse, while very few drachms of the Parthian Kings bear
a date. The two series I have mentioned run parallel to one another, touching at but few
points, so that it often is by no means easy to be sure with which tetradrachms some of the
later drachms ought to be classed ; the portrait is the only point in which the two series
meet, and the notions of portraiture possessed by the artists of the tetradrachms differ entirely
from those possessed by the artists of the drachms.
It has long been conjectured, and I think rightly, that the tetradrachms and civic copper
were minted at some of the great Greek cities of Central Asia, such as Seleucia and Charax,
while the drachms were the State coinage of the Parthian Empire, and struck wherever there
was a Parthian garrison. On almost all the tetradrachms the King does not appear alone.
He is usually in the act of receiving a palm or wreath from a female figure who wears a
mural crown, and holds a sceptre or a cornucopiae, and who clearly represents the mint
city itself.
I have already mentioned the fact that some of the later drachms bear a legend which
is not Greek. Two letters of this language occur on the coins of Sanabares, at the beginning
of the Christian era, and about a century later the reigning monarchs’ names in full appear
so written with the title Malka or King. The resemblance of the characters in which these
legends are written to the Sassanian-Persian letters attracted long ago the attention of the learned,
and M. de Longperier read them on that analogy. Similar characters are found on a host of
smaller coins, which used to be called sub-Parthian, and which are of somewhat doubtful
attribution. These I have entirely passed by, considering that the reading of them would be
too uncertain, and not feeling myself competent to decide between the widely varying opinions
of the Persian scholars in the matter. I treat, therefore, not of the coins of Parthian
satraps, except where they bear the name of the Great King Arsaces, but of the regal coins
of Parthia only.
' IV. PARTHIAN COINAGE.
Arsaces I., II. Arsaces—Tiridates I.
Plate I. 1. Obv. Head of Arsaces 1. in helmet, round which is tied royal diadema.
Rev. APSAKOY. Arsaces wearing helmet and cloak, seated r. on omphalos, holding bow.
Drachm. B.M. Wt. 59-2.
I. 2. \_Obv. Similar.]
Rev. BA£IAEQ£ AP^AKOY. Same type; in ex. H-j.
Drachm. B.M. Wt. 55-4.
GARDNER
4