Obverse: Portrait of Deified Alexander the Great
Reverse: Athena Seated Facing Left Holding Nike
Mithradates VI, called “the Great,” was the
legendary King of Pontus, a region in what is
now northeastern Turkey. Bitter enemy of the
Romans, with whom he fought three wars
between 88 and 63 B.C., Mithradates envisioned
himself as the protector of the Greeks of Asia
Minor. At the height of his power he controlled
much of Asia Minor and Greece, choosing
Pergamon as his capital and royal residence. His
reign commences about 121 B.C., when, at the
age of eleven, he succeeded his father,
Mithradates V. He quickly seized Colchis and the
Crimea from the Scythians; yet his attempts to
cement control in Paphlagonia and Cappadocia
were thwarted by Rome. Soon after, an
unsuccessful plot to depose Nicomedes III of
Bithynia provoked raids on Pontic territory in 88
that would ultimately lead to the First
Mithradatic War. Since most of Mithradates'
coins are dated, the origin of this stater can be
traced to 88-86 B.C., the time of this first war.
Rome eventually forced him to give up his
conquered territory, pay a huge indemnity, and
retreat to his original borders. The Second
Mithradatic War erupted after the Roman
invasion of Pontus in 83. However, this invasion
was quickly repelled by the next year. The
Roman design to annex Bithynia provoked the
Third Mithradatic War. Mithradates occupied
Bithynia, but in 73 B.C. his army, isolated from
reinforcements, was destroyed by the Romans.
In 66, after regaining most of his territory,
Mithradates was finally defeated by Pompey the
Great who cleared the way for Roman
domination. Shortly thereafter, while hatching a
plan for the invasion of Italy from the north,
Mithradates died.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who might have touched the coin before us, or
where the coin will venture to after it leaves our
hands. More than money, coins are a symbol of
the state that struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether contemporary currencies or
artifacts of a long forgotten empire. This
stunning hand-struck coin reveals an expertise
of craftsmanship and intricate sculptural detail
that is often lacking in contemporary machine-
made currencies. Like many leaders, Mithradates
adopted the imagery of Alexander the Great in
order to bolster his legitimacy as a ruler and to
appeal to the Greek citizenry residing in Asia
Minor. This magnificent coin is more than a
memorial to a leader; it is an artifact of an
empire passed from the hands of civilization to
civilization, from generation to generation.
- (C.2256)
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