The Last Seleukid King

444, Lot: 197. Estimate $500. Sold for $850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SELEUKID EMPIRE. Antiochos XIII Philadelphos (Asiatikos). First reign, 69/8-67 BC, or Second reign, 65/4 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 14.35 g, 12h). Antioch on the Orontes mint. Diademed head right / Zeus Nikephoros seated left; monogram to inner left; all within wreath. SC 2487a; HGC 9, 1340. VF, toned, some porosity. Rare.

Antiochos XIII "Asiatikos" was the last of the great line of Seleukid kings. He spent his youth in Asia and Rome, and, following the withdrawal of Tigranes II from Syria, he was placed on the Seleukid throne by the Romans. His reign was very turbulent, and in 64 BC he was ousted by Pompey. Thereafter, Syria became a Roman province.