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DOI Artikel:Olbrycht, Marek Jan: On coin portraits of Alexander the Great and his Iranian Regalia: Some Remarks Ocassioned by the Boobs by F. Smith: L' immagine di Alessandro il Grande sulle monete del regno,(336 - 323 a.C.)
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22229#0015
Tom VI
Kraków 2011
MAREK JAN OLBRYCHT
Rzeszów University
ON COIN PORTRAITS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
AND HIS IRANIAN REGALIA
Some Remarks Ocassioned by the Book by F. Smith: L ’immagine
di Al es san dr o il Grandę sidle monete del regno (336-323)1
The Italian scholar Federica Smith undertook the risky task of defining Alex-
ander’s monetary portraits in her 2000 monograph. The work consists of five parts.
A short introduction is followed by three analytical chapters which constitute the 13
core of her study. The last two chapters contain bibliography and illustrations.
Smith’s book is remarkable for its inclusion of a vast number of studies, even those
scattered and hardly accessible2.
In her first analytical chapter, Smith analyzes bronze coins bearing the ruler’s
likeness, issued, according to a hypothesis by M.J. Price, at Memphis and Naukratis
in 332-331 BC (pp. 8-13). Alexander’s bronzes discovered at Memphis bear on the
obverse a portrait of the king wearing peculiar headgear which Smith incorrectly
calls “elmo frigio”. Representations suggest that rather than a metal helmet, it was
a tiara of the type known from Achaemenid iconography, with long hanging cheek
pieces and a neck guard. The author does nevertheless admit that she means the
type of headgear wom by Achaemenid satraps (p. 9), and those are known to have
used a tiara (see below). Coins of the type under discussion were first attributed by
E. Babelon to Orontes, satrap of Mysia in Asia Minor (4th century BC)3 *, and by
1 F. SMITH, L’immagine di Alessandro il Grandę sulle monete del regno (336-323), Materiali. Studi. Ric-
erche 19: Sezione numismatica, Edizioni Ennerre, Milano 2000. 58 pp.; 12 ill. ISSN 1123-7066 ISBN 88-87235-
17-1. This article was compiled in 2006. Some studies published later have been taken into account but my original
conclusions remain intact.
2 The book was published with great care (errors in the text are sporadic, e.g., misspelled name Goukowsky
on p. 47), it stands out for its well chosen photographs of coins and sculptures.
3 E. BABELON, Les Perses Achemenides, les satrapes, et les dynastes tributaries de leur empire. Chy-
pre et Phenicie. Catalogue des Monnaies Grecąues de la Bibliotheąue Nationale, Paris 1893, p. 56, no. 379.
Kraków 2011
MAREK JAN OLBRYCHT
Rzeszów University
ON COIN PORTRAITS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
AND HIS IRANIAN REGALIA
Some Remarks Ocassioned by the Book by F. Smith: L ’immagine
di Al es san dr o il Grandę sidle monete del regno (336-323)1
The Italian scholar Federica Smith undertook the risky task of defining Alex-
ander’s monetary portraits in her 2000 monograph. The work consists of five parts.
A short introduction is followed by three analytical chapters which constitute the 13
core of her study. The last two chapters contain bibliography and illustrations.
Smith’s book is remarkable for its inclusion of a vast number of studies, even those
scattered and hardly accessible2.
In her first analytical chapter, Smith analyzes bronze coins bearing the ruler’s
likeness, issued, according to a hypothesis by M.J. Price, at Memphis and Naukratis
in 332-331 BC (pp. 8-13). Alexander’s bronzes discovered at Memphis bear on the
obverse a portrait of the king wearing peculiar headgear which Smith incorrectly
calls “elmo frigio”. Representations suggest that rather than a metal helmet, it was
a tiara of the type known from Achaemenid iconography, with long hanging cheek
pieces and a neck guard. The author does nevertheless admit that she means the
type of headgear wom by Achaemenid satraps (p. 9), and those are known to have
used a tiara (see below). Coins of the type under discussion were first attributed by
E. Babelon to Orontes, satrap of Mysia in Asia Minor (4th century BC)3 *, and by
1 F. SMITH, L’immagine di Alessandro il Grandę sulle monete del regno (336-323), Materiali. Studi. Ric-
erche 19: Sezione numismatica, Edizioni Ennerre, Milano 2000. 58 pp.; 12 ill. ISSN 1123-7066 ISBN 88-87235-
17-1. This article was compiled in 2006. Some studies published later have been taken into account but my original
conclusions remain intact.
2 The book was published with great care (errors in the text are sporadic, e.g., misspelled name Goukowsky
on p. 47), it stands out for its well chosen photographs of coins and sculptures.
3 E. BABELON, Les Perses Achemenides, les satrapes, et les dynastes tributaries de leur empire. Chy-
pre et Phenicie. Catalogue des Monnaies Grecąues de la Bibliotheąue Nationale, Paris 1893, p. 56, no. 379.