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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 book 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#0018
MAREK JAN OLBRYCHT
that suggests itself, therefore, is that the head is a representation of a tiaraed and
diademed mler17.
The tiara18 and diadem19 being of especial importance as insignia of authority to
the Achaemenids, they deserve some attention. Diadems are well known from de-
pictions of Anatolian satraps and dynasts on coins and in sculpture20. What set apart
aristocrats’ and satraps’ headbands from regal headgear was, among other things,
the way they were tied. On coinage of Anatolian satraps, headbands appear on a ti-
ara tied in a bow in the front and back21. An added ąuality distinguishing aristocratic
bands or diadems from the royal diadem was color: white-blue was reserved for the
Persian Great King.
Another attribute of Persian kings was the tiara. The regal tiara was wora upright
(tiara orthe)22, as opposed to an ordinary tiara used by Iranians including satraps
and dynasts23. What is arguably a relatively faithful depiction of an upright Iranian
17 Thus correctly assumes R DEBORD, L'Asie Mineure en IVe siecle (412-323 a. C.). Bordeaux 1999, pp.
485^186, pl. XII 5-7.
1 - Iranian tiaras: H. VON GALL „Die Kopfbedeckung des persischen Omats bei den Achameniden“, Archdo-
Iogische Mitteilungen ans Iran 7, 1974, pp. 145-161; W. HINZ, „Tiara“, Realencyclopadie der Classischen Altertu-
mswissenschaft, Suppl.-Bd. XIV, 1974, pp. 794—796; P. CALMEYER, „Zur Genese altiranischer Motive: IV. 'Person-
liche Krone' und Diadem”, Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 9, 1976, pp. 45-63; C. HARRISON, “Numismatic
Problems in the Achaemenid West: The Undue Modem Influence on 'Tissaphemes'”, [in:] V. B. GORMAN, E. W.
ROBINSON (eds.), Oikistes. Studies in Constitutions, Colonies, and Military Power in the Ancient World. Offered
in Honor of A.J. Graham (Mnemosyne, Supplement 234), Leiden/Boston/Koln 2002, pp. 301-319; M. J. OLBRY-
CHT, “Parthian King’s Tiara - Numismatic Evidence and Some Aspects of Arsacid Political Ideology”, Notae
Numismaticae - Zapiski numizmatyczne 2, 1997, pp. 27—65; IDEM, Aleksander Wielki..., pp. 285-286; W. HEN-
KELMAN, “The Royal Achaemenid Crown”, Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 28, 1995-1996, pp. 275-293.
19 The Achaemenid diadem is described in detail by Curtius Rufus (3.3.19). For a fuli discussion of the prob-
lem, see H.-W. RITTER, Diadem und Konigsherrschaft. Untersuchungen zur Zeremonien und Rechtsgrundlagen
des Herrschaftsantrittes bei den Persem, dem Alexander Grossen, und im Hellenismus, Yestigia. Beitrage zur a/ten
Geschichte, Bd. 7, XIV, Miinchen-Berlin 1965; OLBRYCHT, Aleksander Wielki..., pp. 282-286.
20 J. ZAHLE, “Persian Satraps and Lycian Dynasts. The Evidence of the Diadems”, Proceedings of the
9,h International Congress ofNumismatics, Bern 1979, Louvain-La-Neuve 1982, pp. 101-112; IDEM, „Herrscher-
portrats auf lykischen Mtinzen“, in: J. BORCHHARDT ET AL., Gótter, Heroen, Herrscher in Lykien (Katalog zur
Ausstellung auf der Schallaburg 1990), Wien/Miinchen, 1990, pp. 50-56; C. M. HARRISON, Coins of the Persian
Satraps, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania 1982; EADEM, “Numismatic Problems...”; J. BODZEK,
„Uwagi na temat portretu monetarnego w Licji końca V i pierwszej połowy IV wieku p.n.e.”, [in:] J. ŚLIWA (red.),
Munus Amicitiae. Studia archeologiczne poświęcone pamięci Olgi Hirsch-Dyczek, Kraków 1994, pp. 111-134;
OLBRYCHT, “Parthian King’s Tiara...”.
21 See ZAHLE, “Persian Satraps...”. A knot in the front on a headband for the grandest Persian families is
confirmed by Polyainos (Strategemata 7.11.2). A terra-cotta head of a Persepolis aristocrat is known to have such
a band, see ZAHLE, Op. cit., fig. 19. Persian tetradrachms and smaller denominations in the “group with a royal
title” feature a diadem on a tiara with a bow in the front. See L. MILDENBERG, „Uber das Mtinzwesen im Reich
der Achaimeniden”, Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 26, 1993, p. 70-71.
22 Emphatically: Xen. Anab. 2.5.23. Cf. Plut. Them. 29.
23 An ordinary tiara could be called kyrbasia - Hdt. 5.49. Notably, the tiara was of Median origin: H. VON
GALL, „Die Kopfbedeckungen des medischen Omats in achamenidischer und hellenistischer Zeit“, [in:] Akten des
XIII. Internationalen Kongresses fur Klassische Archaologie (Berlin 1988), Mainz 1990, pp. 320—323. In Persepolis
court art, the mlers do not appear in such a tiara - instead they wore a cylindrical toothed crown derived from the
Persian tradition, see GALL, Ibidem. Similarly, the archer on coins, believed to represent a king, wears a fluted,
toothed crown.
that suggests itself, therefore, is that the head is a representation of a tiaraed and
diademed mler17.
The tiara18 and diadem19 being of especial importance as insignia of authority to
the Achaemenids, they deserve some attention. Diadems are well known from de-
pictions of Anatolian satraps and dynasts on coins and in sculpture20. What set apart
aristocrats’ and satraps’ headbands from regal headgear was, among other things,
the way they were tied. On coinage of Anatolian satraps, headbands appear on a ti-
ara tied in a bow in the front and back21. An added ąuality distinguishing aristocratic
bands or diadems from the royal diadem was color: white-blue was reserved for the
Persian Great King.
Another attribute of Persian kings was the tiara. The regal tiara was wora upright
(tiara orthe)22, as opposed to an ordinary tiara used by Iranians including satraps
and dynasts23. What is arguably a relatively faithful depiction of an upright Iranian
17 Thus correctly assumes R DEBORD, L'Asie Mineure en IVe siecle (412-323 a. C.). Bordeaux 1999, pp.
485^186, pl. XII 5-7.
1 - Iranian tiaras: H. VON GALL „Die Kopfbedeckung des persischen Omats bei den Achameniden“, Archdo-
Iogische Mitteilungen ans Iran 7, 1974, pp. 145-161; W. HINZ, „Tiara“, Realencyclopadie der Classischen Altertu-
mswissenschaft, Suppl.-Bd. XIV, 1974, pp. 794—796; P. CALMEYER, „Zur Genese altiranischer Motive: IV. 'Person-
liche Krone' und Diadem”, Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 9, 1976, pp. 45-63; C. HARRISON, “Numismatic
Problems in the Achaemenid West: The Undue Modem Influence on 'Tissaphemes'”, [in:] V. B. GORMAN, E. W.
ROBINSON (eds.), Oikistes. Studies in Constitutions, Colonies, and Military Power in the Ancient World. Offered
in Honor of A.J. Graham (Mnemosyne, Supplement 234), Leiden/Boston/Koln 2002, pp. 301-319; M. J. OLBRY-
CHT, “Parthian King’s Tiara - Numismatic Evidence and Some Aspects of Arsacid Political Ideology”, Notae
Numismaticae - Zapiski numizmatyczne 2, 1997, pp. 27—65; IDEM, Aleksander Wielki..., pp. 285-286; W. HEN-
KELMAN, “The Royal Achaemenid Crown”, Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 28, 1995-1996, pp. 275-293.
19 The Achaemenid diadem is described in detail by Curtius Rufus (3.3.19). For a fuli discussion of the prob-
lem, see H.-W. RITTER, Diadem und Konigsherrschaft. Untersuchungen zur Zeremonien und Rechtsgrundlagen
des Herrschaftsantrittes bei den Persem, dem Alexander Grossen, und im Hellenismus, Yestigia. Beitrage zur a/ten
Geschichte, Bd. 7, XIV, Miinchen-Berlin 1965; OLBRYCHT, Aleksander Wielki..., pp. 282-286.
20 J. ZAHLE, “Persian Satraps and Lycian Dynasts. The Evidence of the Diadems”, Proceedings of the
9,h International Congress ofNumismatics, Bern 1979, Louvain-La-Neuve 1982, pp. 101-112; IDEM, „Herrscher-
portrats auf lykischen Mtinzen“, in: J. BORCHHARDT ET AL., Gótter, Heroen, Herrscher in Lykien (Katalog zur
Ausstellung auf der Schallaburg 1990), Wien/Miinchen, 1990, pp. 50-56; C. M. HARRISON, Coins of the Persian
Satraps, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania 1982; EADEM, “Numismatic Problems...”; J. BODZEK,
„Uwagi na temat portretu monetarnego w Licji końca V i pierwszej połowy IV wieku p.n.e.”, [in:] J. ŚLIWA (red.),
Munus Amicitiae. Studia archeologiczne poświęcone pamięci Olgi Hirsch-Dyczek, Kraków 1994, pp. 111-134;
OLBRYCHT, “Parthian King’s Tiara...”.
21 See ZAHLE, “Persian Satraps...”. A knot in the front on a headband for the grandest Persian families is
confirmed by Polyainos (Strategemata 7.11.2). A terra-cotta head of a Persepolis aristocrat is known to have such
a band, see ZAHLE, Op. cit., fig. 19. Persian tetradrachms and smaller denominations in the “group with a royal
title” feature a diadem on a tiara with a bow in the front. See L. MILDENBERG, „Uber das Mtinzwesen im Reich
der Achaimeniden”, Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 26, 1993, p. 70-71.
22 Emphatically: Xen. Anab. 2.5.23. Cf. Plut. Them. 29.
23 An ordinary tiara could be called kyrbasia - Hdt. 5.49. Notably, the tiara was of Median origin: H. VON
GALL, „Die Kopfbedeckungen des medischen Omats in achamenidischer und hellenistischer Zeit“, [in:] Akten des
XIII. Internationalen Kongresses fur Klassische Archaologie (Berlin 1988), Mainz 1990, pp. 320—323. In Persepolis
court art, the mlers do not appear in such a tiara - instead they wore a cylindrical toothed crown derived from the
Persian tradition, see GALL, Ibidem. Similarly, the archer on coins, believed to represent a king, wears a fluted,
toothed crown.