City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 5-2019 The Iconography of the Gold and Silver Coinage of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great Nisha N. Ramracha The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3197 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE GOLD AND SILVER COINAGE OF PHILIP II OF MACEDON AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT by NISHA NALINI RAMRACHA A master’s thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Liberal Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, The City University of New York 2019 © 2019 NISHA NALINI RAMRACHA All Rights Reserved ii The Iconography of the Gold and Silver Coinage of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great by Nisha Nalini Ramracha This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Liberal Studies in satisfaction of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Arts. Date Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis Thesis Advisor Date Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis Executive Officer THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract The Iconography of the Gold and Silver Coinage of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great by Nisha Nalini Ramracha Advisor: Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis The history of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great has been tremendously studied through ancient sources and archaeology. One approach has been through numismatics: a comprehensive study of currency in the form of coins and additional media for transactions, trade, payment and otherwise. This form of research gives scholars an economic perspective on the lives and campaigns of these renowned Macedonian Argead kings through statistical calculations in the form of weights, di-axes, ascertaining inauguration dates as well as appraisal of metals such as gold, silver and bronze in ancient economies, and deducing the locations of mints and various other forms of data. While significant amounts of information can be gathered from such computations concerning coinage, the iconography comprises the preponderance of what constitutes a coin. This thesis aims to analyze the iconography found on the gold and silver coinage of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. The thesis begins with a brief history of the previous Argead iv dynasty, Philip II of Macedon, Alexander the Great, the commencement of coinage in Asia Minor as well as early Greek and Macedonian coinage. This will be accompanied by pertinent mythology, a description of the coinage and relevant terminology. Subsequently, are the arguments concerning the historical origins and dates of the iconography followed by an examination of the meanings behind the symbolism chosen for the gold and silver coinage of two of Philip and Alexander’s widely studied denominations: silver tetradrachms and gold staters. An important part of this analysis will be to determine what messages Philip and Alexander wanted to convey by selecting such iconography for their coinage which can hypothesize about their history, motives, beliefs, successes and the particular origins of the imagery they choose for their coinage. Iconography on the coinage may even reveal more about Philip and Alexander’s personalities and their relationship with each other since these minute works of art were approved by the kings during their lifetimes. These investigations summarized at the conclusion of this thesis intend to postulate a range of themes that can be drawn from comparing the iconography selected by both Philip and Alexander and their merit to future scholars. v Acknowledgements I would like to thank my advisor Professor Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis for the knowledge she has imparted to me in Classical Archaeology during my graduate degree, for her guidance throughout my MA thesis, and for her assistance in pursuing my internship at the American Numismatic Society (A.N.S.) which lead to the research examined in this thesis. She was instrumental in initiating the first internship class which proved an indispensable asset to my numismatic education. I am also indebted to the faculty and staff at the A.N.S including Executive Director, Dr. Ute Wartenberg-Kagan, for allowing me to volunteer and intern since 2017 at such a wonderful environment where I could explore my classical numismatic interests. I must thank Deputy Director, Dr. Gilles Bransbourg for his initial help as well as the guidance of Dr. Elena Stolyarik, Disnarda Pinilla-Bell and Dr. David Yoon. I am thankful to all the resources the ANS provides such as MANTIS and PELLA (an online resource of the Argead kings of Macedonia). I am especially appreciative of my supervisor Dr. Peter Van Alfen, the Chief Curator and Greek chair, who taught me the fundamentals of numismatics since 2017. Dr. Van Alfen also introduced me to my first collection of gold and silver coinage of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. He gave me a chance to go from volunteer to intern, an opportunity to take part in the Summer Graduate Numismatic Seminar and continues to be a great mentor in the numismatic field. I would love to thank the Altfest Graduate Fellowship for the scholarship I received in summer 2018 which made this research possible through an internship at the A.N.S. as well as the City University of New York (C.U.N.Y.) for a second fellowship provided by the M.A.L.S. Liberal Studies department to advance my numismatics research in 2018/2019. I must thank all my friends and peers for their time and support listening to my stories of vi archaeology, adventure and Alexander. I would also like to thank the Ramracha family: my elder sister Tara, who helped sponsor my education and first archaeological dig in Europe at Halmyris, Romania; my younger sister Lydia and my mom, Jamuni, who gave me unwavering support throughout my years of study and graduate work. My aunt Radicka, uncle Rennie and unquestionably uncle Vassan Ramracha for his additional advice and instruction towards my endeavors in the study of history. Thanks are in order to little Vishnu Rajvir Alexander Singh-Ramracha II for his daily inspiration. Finally, I want to convey my deepest gratitude to my father Suresh Vishnu Ramracha without whom none of this would be possible. He encouraged me to study in the United States, nurtured all my dreams, encouraged every idea, inspired me to strive for the best with his own accomplishments, imparted an education at home, financed my initiatives, gave me my first lessons in history, found the time to watch every documentary I wanted and bought every book my heart desired. vii Table of Contents Title Page ............................................................................................................................................. i Copyright Page ................................................................................................................................... ii Approval Page ................................................................................................................................... iii Thesis Abstract .................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents............................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... x Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: A Brief History of the Argead Dynasty, Philip II of Macedon Alexander the Great ....... 7 A Brief History of the Argead Dynasty .......................................................................................... 7 Philip II of Macedon ....................................................................................................................... 8 Alexander ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2: The Beginnings of Numismatics, Greek Coinage, and Macedonian Coinage ................ 15 The Beginnings of Numismatics ................................................................................................... 15 Greek Coinage .............................................................................................................................. 18 Macedonian Coinage .................................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 3: Iconographic Analysis of the Gold and Silver Coinage of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great .......................................................................................................................... 23 Mythology ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Zeus ..........................................................................................................................................