Obverse: The Head of Herakles Wearing
the Skin
of the Nimean Lion
Reverse: Zeus Enthroned Facing Left
Holding an
Eagle and a Scepter
Historically, Arrhidaeus, bastard child
of King
Philip II, is best known as one of the
half-
brothers of Alexander the Great. Yet
while his
brother rose to glory, carving out one
of the
largest empires the world has ever
known,
Arrhidaeus has vanished into obscurity.
Ancient
texts convey the fact that Arrhiaeus was
mentally
impaired. Although this might have been
due to
natural causes, effective from birth,
some
contrary rumors were circulated. Legend
has it
that Olympias, the mother of Alexander,
attempted to poison Arrhidaeus so that
her child
would be first in line for the throne.
This would
both be in keeping with her malicious,
meddling
character and explain any mental
disorders.
Regardless of this story’s credibility,
there are
many other tales where Olympias
manipulated
Alexander to act out against his
brother.
Needless to say, these instances often
were more
beneficial to Olympias herself than her
son.
However, upon the death of Alexander the
Great,
Arrhidaeus was proclaimed king and
assumed
the title of Philip III. Although he
ruled for six
year (323-317 B.C.) until his death, he
was king
in little more than name.
How many hands have touched a coin in
your
pocket or your 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 touched the coin before us, or where
the
coin will venture to after us. More than
money,
coins are a symbol of the state that
struck them,
of a specific time and place, whether
currency in
the age we live or an artifact 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.
Although the empire of Alexander soon
dissolved
after his death due to internal
struggles and
inept leadership, his successors adopted
much of
his iconography, demonstrated by this
coin, in
order to legitimize their claims to
power. This
coin is an ancient memorial to a
forgotten king
passed down from the hands of generation
to
generation, from civilization to
civilization.
