Ancient Macedonia – Philip II (359-336 BC ) and ancient Greek coins

Ancient Macedonia  – http://www.TrustedCoins.com Ilya Zlobin, expert in coins and artifacts of the ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine times reads the biography of the ancient Greek king of Macedonia Philip II of Macedonia. He was the father of Alexander the Great and won the Olympic games in ancient times and he made coins commemorating his victory. You can own these authentic ancient Greek coins today, which feature a head of Apollo and a nude youth riding a horse.

You are invited to visit his website for selection of over 6000 authentic ancient Greek Roman Biblical Byzantine artifacts and coins all certified authentic and guaranteed authentic for a lifetime. These items make a great gift, and many believe it to be a fantastic numismatic investment.

Philip II of Macedon ( 382–336 BC), was a Greek king (basileus) of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III. Philip was the youngest son of the king Amyntas III and Eurydice I.
He was married several times.

Philip’s military skills and expansionist vision of Macedonian greatness brought him early success. When he became a king he first had to re-establish a situation which had been greatly worsened by the defeat against the. The Paionians and the Thracians had sacked and invaded the eastern regions of the country. Using diplomacy, Philip pushed back Paionians and Thracians promising tributes, and crushed the 3,000 Athenian hoplites in359.

Involved in the Third Sacred War which had broken out in Greece, in the summer of 353 he invaded Thessaly, defeating 7,000 Phocians under the brother of Onomarchus. The latter however defeated Philip in the two succeeding battles. Philip returned to Thessaly the next summer, this time with an army of 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry including all Thessalian troops. In the Battle of Crocus Field 6,000 Phocians fell, while 3,000 were taken as prisoners and later drowned.

This battle granted Philip an immense prestige.

The Macedonian king took Greek Olynthus in 348 BC and razed the city to the ground. The same fate was inflicted on other cities of the Chalcidian peninsula. Macedon and the regions adjoining it having now been securely consolidated, Philip celebrated his Olympic Games at Dium.

In 342 BC, Philip led a great military expedition north against the Scythians, conquering the Thracian fortified settlement Eumolpia to give it his name, Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv).

Philip created and led the League of Corinth in 337 BC. Members of the League agreed never to wage war against each other, unless it was to suppress revolution.
In 336 BC, when the invasion of Persia was in its very early stage, Philip was assassinated by Pausanias, who was the lover of Philip and became jealous when Philip turned his attention to a younger man, also called Pausanias, and was succeeded on the throne of Macedon by his son Alexander III the Great.

Alexander the Great have housed the cult statue of Philip, who was regarded as a hero or deified on his death. Though the Macedonians did not consider Philip a god, he did receive other forms of recognition by the Greeks, such as at Eresos (altar to Zeus Philippeios), Ephesos (his statue was placed in the temple of Artemis), and Olympia, where the Philippeion was built.

Ilya Zlobin YouTube Channel

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMIkDF9DFmI

By MacedonianUprising

Alexander the Great conquered the Louvre

 

Marble head representing Alexander. © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism / Archaeological Receipts Fund / Musée du Louvre)

Eric Bietry-Rivierre

The museum focuses the treasures of the palaces and temples of ancient Macedonia. Gold, silver, marble, mosaics: a forgotten kingdom was hiding under the caption of one man.
 
Prior to being great, Alexander was Macedonian. More than the conquest and the myth is this context of an ancient kingdom located in the northern margin of Greece suggests that the Louvre. Its wealth and refinement were, there is little, unexpected. The venerable and many remains of Delphi and Athens, and more the legend of one man, they were in the shade. But here they reappear on the occasion of miraculous excavation, still in progress.

Vases, jewelry, weapons, dishes, sculptures dazzle like the sun today in the showcase of impeccable Hall Napoléon. As gold and silver between the black walls and the windows where the brushed stainless steel is an ideal setting! In this exemplary set design, signed Fryland Brigitte and Marc Barani, this profusion of rare metal objects reminded that Macedonia was originally fortunately endowed with natural resources. But even more artists and craftsmen of genius.

The jewelry reflects a degree of virtuosity and stunning sophistication. Similarly, the mosaics of river pebbles are a delicacy as it is easy to imagine that they competed with the works of Apelles. Whoever goes to the first painter in history was a favorite of Alexander. But lived in Macedonia as Pindar, Euripides, Zeuxis, Lysippus or Aristotle, tutor to the young prince, who, in Mies, participated in the excitement of the first university in the world. The Sorbonne, Fez, Padua and Oxford have their ancestor not far from Thessaloniki.

The intelligence of this company also remains in the clean lines of its cups and its Dionysian oinochoai. Parts so fresh that they seem out of the best factories of the nineteenth century. It still reads in the polychrome glass, carvings in marble. Most of these treasures were never out of local museums. They alternate with peaks of spears, shields, pieces of the star struck Macedonian bronze helmets and laminated with gold. Prior to accompany the dead, these funeral may have served the famous wars.

Chasseau lion mosaic, pebble coated. (© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism / Archaeological Receipts Fund / Musée du Louvre) The phalanx ultimate weapon
During the reign of Philip II, father of Alexander, the Macedonians had learned to fight in phalanx. “The ultimate weapon would allow Alexander to dominate the whole known world,” says Commissioner Sophie Descamps, head of the Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman. “This horrible quadrangular mass moved in one piece, seemed to live like an animal and function as a machine,” Flaubert imagined it before. In passing, we note the rehabilitation of Philip II, who was yet to Demosthenes for a drunken brute of a double.

Yet here we will look in vain for a detailed account of the victories on the banks of the Granicus or Issus against Darius III. We will not see more Alexander and his 35,000 men shave Tyre, founded Alexandria with its lighthouse and its library. None of the Indus elephant in sight. Much less evocative of the cohort of admirers, of Caracalla in Louis XIV. However, we understand what led to such feats, and the impact they had on an entire culture. The course embraces indeed Macedonia since the fifteenth century BC until the conquest by imperial Rome.

It begins with a cleverly reverse chronology. We start from the most recent excavations to address the archeology of the nineteenth century. It discovered the first pieces of Roman art. And this marble sarcophagus, the pride of the Louvre, which is a funerary bed on which you can see the dead. It weighs seven tons. It dates from the late second century AD If the marble of Attica, it was revealed in Thessaloniki. Then the sense of time is restored and we discover Macedonia through broad themes: architecture (with the remains included in the decorations of the palace-size, giving full-scale), the objects of life Earth and funerary objects.

The most fascinating? These masks or helmets of bronze. Some seem to smile. And, of course, Alexander himself. In god Pan, with a spear, hunting lions with a friend, or in a rare marble portrait about contemporary is a young man who looks away.

 

Chasseau lion mosaic, pebble coated. (© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism / Archaeological Receipts Fund / Musée du Louvre)

Discoveries in bursts

1977 – Last day to Vergina (formerly Aigai), the first capital of the kingdom, several royal tombs. Among them that, intact, of Philip II, father of Alexander. Under a mound of 110 m in diameter and 12 m high resting his bones collected at the stake as the Homeric ritual. They were in a box decorated with gold star Macedonian.

1980 – Discovery of the necropolis of Sindos (sixth and fifth BC.) Near a gold river, near Thessaloniki. Its 121 graves testify to a high level economic and cultural.

1982 – The ancient writer Diodorus Siculus was right. Alexander’s father was murdered at the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra II in 336 BC. AD The location of the theater where the wedding took place is located at Aigai.

1987 – Opening of the probable fall of Eurydice, grandmother of Alexander. And discovery of a marble throne painted nearly two meters high.

2008 – In August, some burials are found in enigmatic Aigai. One has the crown of oak leaves in gold presented at the opening of the exhibition. It could have adorned the remains of Heracles, the illegitimate son of Alexander, who was assassinated by Cassander, one of the generals.

Tomorrow is to locate the tomb of Alexander somewhere near Alexandria. There is little chance that the double sarcophagus of gold, alabaster and glass has remained there. According to the ancients, Antony and Cleopatra would be used to replenish their coffers, Caligula would have taken the cuirass and Caracalla tunic, belt and a ring …

October 13 to January 16, Hall Napoleon of the Louvre. www.louvre.fr

http://plus.lefigaro.fr/tag/alexandre-le-grand

Philip II of Macedonia – the Unifier of Greece

 

King Philip II of Macedon.

 

Video from the Youtube channel of eformisis

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc_G4Ko17Hw

Philip II (Greek: Φιλιππος) was a Greek king of Macedon from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. The famous king (Βασιλεύς) and father of Alexander the Great,  was born in 383/82 BC. He was son of the king Amyntas III and queen Eurydice. His brothers were Alexander II, Perdiccas III and Eurynoe, while he had also 3 half brothers, the sons of Gygaea, namely Menelaus, Arrhidaeus and Archelaus. [1]

Early Life

In 368 BC when his elder brother Alexander II allied himself with Thebans, Philip was taken as a hostage in Thebes where he stayed for about 3 years. In Thebes as Justin attests, “Philip was given fine opportunities of improving his extraordinary abilities; for being kept as a hostage at Thebes three years, he received the first rudiments of education in a city distinguished for strictness of discipline in the house of Epaminondas, an eminent philosopher, as well as commander.” [2]

His Reign

After his brother Perdiccas, the King of Macedon, was killed in the battle against Illyrians along with 4,000 Macedonians, Philip returned to Macedon either as a king or as a regent to his young nephew Amyntas. Based on his experiences gained close to Epaminondas in Thebes, Philip made many innovations in Macedonian army by bringing discipline, better training and new equipment like the introduction of Sarissa [3]. This way he created the famous “Macedonian Phalanx“. At the beginning of his reign he dealt with many difficult situations. On one hand he managed to get rid of the internal threats to his kingdom, namely his 3 half brothers and the pretender Argaeus, supported by Atheneans. Argaeus was finally defeated by Philip’s general Mantias. Afterwards in 358 BC he defeated in battle the Illyrians of Bardyllis while he sealed the peace-treaty with Illyrians by marrying Audate, daughter of Bardyllis. From this marriage Philip had his first daughter, Cynane. In 358 BC Philip was involved in Thessaly where he had another political marriage. This time with Philine of Larrisa who bore Philip, his son Arrhidaeus.

His alliance with Epirus resulted to marry with Olympias, a Molossian princess who would be destined to be the mother of one of the most famous persons of history, Alexander the Great. She also bore Philip his daugher Cleopatra. Philip took with him in Macedonia, Alexander, brother of Olympias. Later he installed Alexander as king of Epirus and he remained known as Alexander of Molossis. In a string of successful campaigns, he managed to reach as far as Thrace and took under his own control both the gold mines of Mt Pangaion, as well as the silver mines in Thrace. He gained the control of Amphipolis, Pydna, Potidaea and Methoni. During the siege of Methoni he lost his eye from an arrow. Next he turned on the South and intervened in the third Sacred war, against the Phocians. Unexpectedly Philip met his two first loses in the background from the Phocian leader Onormachus who introduced the use of catapults in the battlefield. However he succeeded in defeating them and Onormachus met a tragic end in his life. Now Philip took under his own control Thessaly. He took another wife from Thessaly, this time Nikesipolis from Pherae. She bore him a daughter named Thessalonike and the greatest city of Macedonia nowadays is named after her.

The Athenean orator and leader of Anti-Macedonian party of Athens, Demosthenes tried to cause a stir of Atheneans and other Southern Greeks against Philip firstly with his “Olynthiacs”. It was at the time Philip turned against Olynthians, Athens’ allies in the area, and in 348 BC he attacked his former ally Olynthus and destroyed it on the grounds they have given refuge to two of his half-brothers, the pretenders of the thone of Macedon. At the time Isocrates urged him on his letters to Philip, to unite Greeks against Persians.

His last years

In 338 BC Philip and his allies defeated in the battle of Chaeronea the alliance of Athens and Thebes. With this battle he asserted his authority in Greece and created the League of Corinth, where he was elected as “Hegemon” by the rest of Greeks. The Greeks, except Spartans, were finally united against an old common enemy, the Persian empire. However Philip was not destined to be the one who will lead the Pan-Hellenic campaign against Achaemenids since in 336 BC, Philip was assasinated by Pausanias of Orestis, during the marriage of his daughter Cleopatra to Alexander of Epirus. He had reigned for about 25 years and according to the account of the historian Theopompus “Europe had never seen a man like Philip of Macedon“.

 

[1] Justin 7.4.5

[2] Justin 7. 5.1

[3] Diod. 16.3.1

Discussion about the Ancient Macedonian Origins in FYROM’s TV

One of the funniest discussions you will ever watch about the origins of ancient Macedonians is the one between the former PM of FYROM Ljubco Georgievski and one called Milenko Nedelkoski in a FYROM’s TV channel.

The former PM of FYROM explains with simple and reasonable arguments the reasons why Alexander the Great is considered Greek, while he built through his conquests and left behind a Greek world.

It is remarkable, however, the extent of misinformation and irrational argumentation provided by the other interlocutor.  The most important reason for this attitude lies in the fact  that the mainstream mind there in FYROM, has been imposed a revisionist history falsely claiming them as being direct descendants of the ancient Macedonians, which has very little to do with actual history.

Some of the most comical main arguments against the Greek origins of ancient Macedonians and the Modern Macedonian history – used widely by FYROM’s Slavs nowadays- you will notice are:

– Philip II of Macedon fought and defeated Southern Greeks (therefore in the average Slavic mind in FYROM, this implies they were of… different ethnicity!! Probably news about Greeks fighting Greeks in the ancient world still havent reached FYROM!!)

– they spoke a different language (Some among FYROM’s Slavs are claiming also that aside from their elite, the average ancient Macedonian didnt spoke a word of Greek. Imagine a people to go and spread everywhere a language they dont even…speak!! Common Sense always seemed  Unfamiliar territory to many of the Slavs in FYROM)

– Up to 1990, the name “Macedonia” was forbiden in Greece. There was no area called “Macedonia” in Greece and Greeks didnt want to hear…about Alexander and Macedonia (Quite possibly those FYROM’s Slavs who believe this claim, are living in their own fantasy world,  because these allegations are plainly ridiculous [1] , [2]

The video is from the YouTube channel of SlavonicGreek

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnz6n1h795U

Coins of Alexander the Great

 

by Andrew McIntyre

In order to understand the coinage of Alexander the Great, it is necessary first to explain the ancient Greek world. There were no specific nations and no specific country called Greece in the ancient world. Greek-speaking people had settled all over the Mediterranean. They established cities from Spain to the Black Sea in southern Russia.

Alexander’s Life
Alexander became ruler of Macedonia in 336 BC after the murder of his father Philip II. Ancient Macedonia was situated in the northeastern area of modern day Greece. Macedonia had grown strong under Philip II. Even though Alexander was only 20, he launched a massive military expedition against the Persian Empire. The area of contention between the Persians and the Greeks was Asia Minor (modern day Turkey – the Turks had not arrived yet). Most of the coastal cites of Asia Minor were inhabitated by Greek-speaking people, but they were ruled by the Persian Empire. Alexander invaded Asia Minor to liberate the Greeks and drive out the Persians. Alexander’s armies swept down into Egypt and then circled back, taking territory the whole way to borders of India. Alexander’s armies defeated every army for 13 years. While traveling back home through Babylon, Alexander died at the age of 33 in 323 BC. The coins minted under his name from 336 to 323 BC are referred to as lifetime issues and command a high price today.

 
Alexander’s Death
After Alexander’s death, the newly established Empire was divided up among Alexander’s generals and his family. There were many kingdoms formed out this Alexandrian Empire but the three principal kingdoms were the Macedonian Kingdom, Seleucid Kingdom, and Ptolemy Kingdom. The Macedonian Kingdom covered mainland Greece, the Seleucid Kingdom was Syria to Afghanistan including parts of Asia Minor. The Ptolemy Kingdom consisted of Egypt, Israel and Lebanon. The famous Cleopatra (VII), lover of Mark Antony and Julius Caesar, came from the Ptolemy royal family. She was the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt. The borders of all these kingdoms changed frequently. The cities throughout this fractured empire continued to mint coins using Alexander’s name for the next 250 years. These coins are posthumous issues and naturally make up the bulk of the Alexander coins found today.

Coin Types
The two dominant coins of Alexander were the drachm (drachma) and the tetradrachm (tetra = 4). The drachm is about 18 mm wide and weighs about 4.2 grams of silver (size of a penny). The tetradrachm size varies according to when and where it was minted but ranges from 25-40 mm wide and weighs 17.2 grams of silver (larger than a quarter). Alexander coins were considered sound money as the receiver knew that the coin was of a certain weight of silver. The value of the coin principally came from what it was made of, not who issued the coin. The weights of the coins were regulated by city officials called magistrates. It is often their official symbols and monograms that we find on the coins. Ancient forgers used to coat copper coins with silver and try to pass them off as pure silver coins. It is not uncommon to find an ancient banker’s mark or a test cut in ancient coins. By piercing the coin, the person could tell if the silver ran through the coin. The Alexander coinage was principally used to pay soldiers, tribute (levies & taxes), and later protection money to the barbarians. It was not for the purpose of establishing the free flow of commerce. Coins were also made of gold and bronze, but we will principally deal with the silver issues here. When Alexander was alive, there were about 26 mints producing his coinage. After his death, Greek rulers and cities throughout the former Alexandrian Empire produced Alexander coinage at 52 mints at its peak. In all about 91 different mints produced Alexander coinage over the 250 years. The last Alexanders were minted at Mesembria around 65 B.C.
Coin Design
The Alexander coin has Herakles (or Hercules as the Romans called him) on the front (obverse). On the back (reverse) was the supreme god, Zeus, who was the father of Herakles. Zeus sits on his throne holding a scepter and eagle. Although some people have argued the image of Herakles was Alexander himself, there is no convincing evidence of this and the face of Herakles is different in different regions. Herakles was the greatest hero of the Greeks. Born of the Greek god Zeus and made mortal, Herakles attained divine status by accomplishing 12 great tasks on Earth known as the 12 Labors of Herakles. The idea of a man becoming a god obviously was an attractive image for Alexander. The headdress that appears on the head of Herakles is the lion skin of the fierce Nemean lion that was killed by Herakles during his first labor.

 
This is a lifetime issue – 325-323 B.C – The legs of Zeus are side by side)

  

There are two main styles on the back (reverse). One has Zeus with his legs side by side and another style has one leg behind the other. While most lifetime issues have Zeus with his legs side by side and most posthumous issues have one leg behind the other, it is best to consult a reference book to be sure as there are exceptions.

This is a posthumous issue. One leg of Zeus is behind the other) © Gorny Mosch.

Coin Inscriptions.
There are two types of inscriptions found on the reverse of Alexander coins. The primary inscription is ALEXANDROU (of Alexander) and ALEXANDROU BASILEWS (of Alexander the King). The “of” refers to the “coin of Alexander”. The title “King” found on certain coins varied according to region and time period. The Greek speaking people were not partial to the idea of being ruled by any king and therefore the title is not generally found on Alexander coins of mainland Greece.
Coin Dating
Today, our world timeline is based upon the traditional birth date of Jesus Christ. B.C. is Before Christ and A.D. is Latin for Anno Domino which means year of our lord. Sometimes this dating system is documented as B.C.E (Before the Common Era) and C.E (Common Era) to remove the religious terminology but the origin is the still the same. There was no uniform dating system for the ancient world. Some kingdoms later dated their coins according to when a ruler came to power (Ptolemy, Seleucid Kingdoms). Therefore, by knowing when a ruler was in power, we can date some coins. Most ancient coins, unfortunately, had no such archaic dating system on them. The Greeks, however, did place a mind numbing variety of symbols and monograms on many coins. Some monograms were abbreviations of cities or names of officals, and some still remain a mystery. Through scholarly investigation of common coin styles and a little Indiana Jones deciphering, most coins can be placed into a specific date range and assigned to a particular city or region.
Books and References
The Coinage In The Name Of Alexander The Great and Philip Arrhidaeus by Martin Jessop Price. This is most detailed book to date on Alexander coins. This book was published by the British Museum and the Swiss Numismatic Society in 1991. It costs between $275 to $400, if you can find a copy. I know of only two sources. The Swiss Numismatic Society and WWW.VANDERDUSSEN.COM in the Netherlands. The book documents about 4,000 Alexander coins and their variations. It should be noted that as of 2005, Martin’s Price work is 14 years old and he was not infallible in his interpretations. New evidence has come to light about Alexander coins since his work was published that would indicate he was possibly incorrect on some of his conclusions about certains mints and certain coins.

Studies in the Macedonian Coinage of Alexander the Great by Hyla A. Troxell published by The American Numismatic Society, New York 1997 is the most recent Alexander coin book. Troxell follows up on the work done by Martin Price, but focusing mostly on the large Alexander Coinage issued in Alexander’s homeland of Macedonia. She presents corrections to Price’s work, revised dating of some coinages based upon her studies and coin hoards that were discovered after Martin Price’s book was published. This book should be seen as an update of Martin Price’s work with Troxell giving her own conclusions. This book is worthwhile buying and some used copies can be bought for around $40.

Coin Prices
Alexander tetradrachms range from $50 to $3,000 depending on condition, rarity and desirability. Alexander drachms range from $40 to $400. It is best to research and attribute the coin before you buy it as sellers can make mistakes in cataloging coins. The cost difference between a quality Alexander coin that is a lifetime issue versus a posthumous one can be substantial. If you don’t have the reference book, try visiting WWW.COINARCHIVES.COM. If a seller references a coin, use that reference in the search box and see what comes up.

It is important to remember there are Alexanders that are genuine but may look different from the coin referenced. Martin Price in his Alexander book was not trying to document every Alexander coin but a representation mostly of coins in the British Museum. For example, for the mint of Perga, Martin Price documented 26 Alexanders in photographs and 33 Alexanders in descriptions. Hans Colin in his die study of Perga* documented 361 Alexander varieties made up of 73 different obverses and 217 reverses. If the coin is a slight variation of the referenced coin, a seller will often indicate that by using “var” after the reference.

Coin Sources
Alexander coins principally come on the market from existing collections or from newly discovered hoards. In the ancient world, there were no banks. If you had money and needed to keep it safe, you buried it. Sometimes the owner could not come back to claim it and then it sat in the ground 2,000 years until some farmer’s plough ran into it. Hoard coins go to auction houses and are mostly bought by dealers.

http://www.coinsoftime.com/Articles/Coins_of_Alexander_the_Great.html

The Philippeion at Olympia

This Statuette of Alexander with a Lance (Now Missing) portrayed him armed and naked, echoing the great heroes of Greek mythology

The Philippeion was erected near the west wall of the Altis in 338 BC. The circular monument was commissioned by Philip II of Macedon in celebration of both athletic and military victories. Philip had already won several chariot races at Olympia, and his victory over the Thebans and Athenians at the battle of Chaeronea presented the opportunity for a lavish dedication at the Greek sanctuary.

 

The Philippeion stood on a marble base 15.3 meters in diameter and was comprised of 18 ionic columns covered with a carved marble roof and topped with a bronze poppy head (E. Gardiner). Inside the Philippeon stood 8 Corinthian half columns and 5 statues of the Macedonian royal family that depicted Philip, his wife, his parents, and his son, Alexander. The statues were created by the sculptor Leochares, and composed of gold and ivory (J. Swaddling). Like his other dedications at Olympia, the Philippeon was constructed to portray Philip not as a conqueror, but as a champion of the panhellenic ideal (P. Valavanis). Philip lived only two years after the Philippeion was commissioned. Therefore it is likely the monument was completed by Alexander after the king’s death (J. Swaddling).

---

 
 

Reconstruction of the Philippeion: Jocelyn R. Whittenburg

 

http://traumwerk.stanford.edu:3455/archaeopaedia/246