Cover.qxd 6/01/2011 1:08 PM Page 1 22 2011 (2012) 2011 Major international Volume 22 numismatic auctions held Australia Association of Journal of the Numismatic in Sydney & Melbourne With three major numismatic auctions each year, consignments are wanted. Be a part of our success. Contact our Sydney offi ce (02) 9223 4578 or our Melbourne offi ce (03) 9600 0244 for a free, confi dential valuation. Journal of the NOBLE www.noble.com.au NUMISMATICS PTY LTD Numismatic Association of Australia ground fl oor 169 macquarie street sydney [email protected] level 7 / 350 collins street melbourne [email protected] Who’s killing whom on the coinage of Patraos of Paionia Nicholas L Wright Figure 1. Map showing the location of Paionia. One series of silver tetradrachms coinages of that period. This paper will issued in the name of Patraos, king of explore the identity of the combatants Paionia (c.335-35 BC), stands apart and discuss the significance of this from its contemporaries in that the unusual type. reverse type appears to show two The Paionians were a Balkan tribal humans in combat rather than the group who migrated down the Axios mythological or divine entities who river valley to the Aegean coast at the dominated the iconography of most end of the Bronze Age (c.1150 BC). JNAA 22, 2011 (2012) 19 Nicholas L Wright Homer listed them in his catalogue aggressive policy against his southern of Trojan allies, initially under the neighbour although he was ultimately command of Pyraichmes, and, later, subdued and, by 349 BC, it is clear under his nephew Asteropaios. Homer’s that Paionia had become one of several Paionians controlled a great swath of Balkan kingdoms overshadowed territory to either side of the Axios by the burgeoning Macedonian river, much of which they were to lose empire.3 Merker states that ‘[f]rom the in the sixth and fifth centuries BC to the numismatic evidence we discover that Achaemenid Persians and, later, to the he [Lykkeios] was succeeded by Patraos Macedonians.1 Whilst exposed to the [c.335 BC] who, like his predecessor, Greek world during the Iron Age, by the struck silver coins. This is all we can Classical period the Paionians had been say with any certainty about Patraos pushed back into the upper Axios and ...’4 Three coin denominations, all of Strymon basins where, from the fifth silver, were produced during the reign to the first centuries BC, they formed a of Patraos: tetrobols, drachms and distinct culture group located between tetradrachms. This paper deals with the the Macedonians, Dardanians, Illyrians most common of the two tetradrachm and Thracians (Fig. 1). Nevertheless, reverse types which depicted a horseman Paionian material culture suggests attacking a fallen warrior (Fig. 2): that by the fourth century BC their aristocracy had assumed a Homeric style heroic identity and a limited Hellenised veneer, perhaps through the filter of the neighbouring Macedonian court.2 Throughout the late Classical Figure 2. AR tetradrachm, Patraos (Gorny & and early Hellenistic periods, the Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung, auction 152, tribal Paionian state was ruled by lot 1350, October 2006). independent kings who produced royal Obv: Head of youth (Apollo silver coinage struck on a local weight Derrainos?) r., usually laureate, standard – sometimes referred to as sometimes wearing plain tainia or ‘reduced Phoenician’ – of c.12.93g to bare headed. the tetradrachm. The first Paionian king Rev: ΠΑΤΡΑΟΥ; Horseman r., wearing whose name is known, Agis, pursued crested helmet spearing kneeling aggressive anti-Macedonian policies or fallen warrior l., who carries but died in 359/8 BC, just as the young round shield. Philip II was asserting his control over Macedonia. Agis was succeeded by Lykkeios who continued to follow an 20 JNAA 22, 2011 (2012) Who’s killing whom on the coinage of Patraos of Paionia To avoid potential confusion The best avenue of investigation lies in when discussing the reverse type in an iconographic study of the horseman, the present study, the mounted figure the warrior and other comparative data. will be referred to as ‘the horseman’, Different approaches have led to the the figure on foot will exclusively be emergence of three mutually exclusive referred to as ‘the warrior’. These terms interpretations in the scholarship of the are intrinsically restrictive but should last half century. be understood only as an artificial The general identity of the horseman titular division; there is no doubt that is undisputed. He wears a crested helmet the horseman is equally martial in of the Attic form and a chiton which, on appearance, and, as will be discussed different dies, is shown with either short below, at least one accepted reading or long sleeves. To Classical Greeks, of the type would see the warrior as a male garments with long sleeves were dismounted cavalryman. considered to be characteristic of It is immediately apparent that the barbarian, especially Iranian, garb.7 imagery does not fit within any pre- However, Alexander the Great was existing mythological framework; both shown wearing a long sleeved chiton the horseman and the warrior are clearly in the Alexander mosaic from Pompeii mortal rather than mythological figures. although the event depicted (probably One of the key indicators of this is the battle of Issos) predates his supposed that the attributes of the figures are not adoption of Persian dress. Long sleeves fixed, but change to produce a number also feature on the sarcophagus of of different combinations. The coin type Abdalonymos from Sidon, worn by all of Patraos was therefore more akin to of the clothed Macedonians including the Archaic and Classical coins of the the king (Fig. 3).8 It may therefore be Thraco-Macedonian tribes and of the possible to consider the long sleeved Macedonian kings preceding Philip II,5 chiton as a part of the traditional than it was to the contemporary coinages attire of the Macedonians and perhaps of Alexander the Great, his successors other Balkan population groups. The and the fourth century BC civic coinages horseman is never depicted wearing of the Greek world. To put it plainly, the trousers, the truest mark of barbarism coinage of Patraos was a tribal coinage from which even Alexander abstained. meant for economic exchanges in the On some examples, he is shown wearing central Balkans, rather than a civic a Greek-style cuirass, commonly shown coinage designed to have a universal fastened over the shoulders and with Hellenic appeal.6 How then, removed pteryges protecting the upper thighs. from the ancient Paionians by both time He holds a couched spear which he and space, is the modern audience to uses to attack the fallen warrior. There establish the identity of the two figures? can be no doubt that the horseman JNAA 22, 2011 (2012) 21 Nicholas L Wright Figure 3. Alexander Sarcophagus (Istanbul Archaeological Museum, Istanbul). is the principal focus and hero of the the type as a visual narrative of one type – not only is he the central figure well documented incident involving but he is also the obvious victor in the Ariston, commander of Alexander the martial struggle against the warrior. By Great’s Paionian cavalry. The single way of comparison, the early-fourth Paionian squadron was 150-strong century BC Dexileos stele from Athens when it crossed to Asia in 334 BC commemorates the deceased aristocrat, where it served principally as a light Dexileos, who is shown on horseback, scouting force. The squadron’s exploits triumphing over a fallen opponent can be traced up to and including the (Fig. 4). Within a Paionian context the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC, after horseman can be understood as being which it ceased to appear in the written a representative of the aristocratic sources.9 The Paionians occupied a Paionian elite, a group who are known position of honour on the right wing at to have fought on horseback with Alexander’s three great pitched battles, distinction during the eastern campaigns Granikos, Issos and Gaugamela, in of Alexander the Great. close proximity to the Macedonian The most popular interpretation king and his companions. The Paionian of the Patraos coin type stresses the commander, Ariston, may have been link between the Paionian king and his a member of the ruling house, perhaps Macedonian contemporary and explains even a brother of Patraos and/or the 22 JNAA 22, 2011 (2012) Who’s killing whom on the coinage of Patraos of Paionia Figure 4. Dexileos stele (Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Athens). father of Patraos’ successor, Audoleon. at full speed and the latter broke and If so, his presence with Alexander may fled. The valiant charge of the Paionians have served to ensure the compliance was highly praised, particularly the of his countrymen with Macedonian actions of Ariston who slew Satropates overlordship.10 personally. The Persian commander was Following Alexander’s crossing first stabbed through the throat and, after of the Tigris in 331 BC, the Roman being unhorsed, was decapitated and his historian Quintus Curtius Rufus tells head presented to Alexander amid great us that the disordered Macedonian applause. At that point, the narrative vanguard was attacked by a body of episode was picked up by Plutarch who one thousand Persian cavalry under maintained that when Ariston presented the command of Satropates (otherwise the head to Alexander he stated ‘In my unknown). Alexander ordered Ariston country, O King, such a gift is rewarded and his squadron to charge the Persians with a golden cup.’ ‘Yes,’ replied a JNAA 22, 2011 (2012) 23 Nicholas L Wright laughing Alexander, ‘an empty one; but of the Satropates’ affair certainly makes I will pledge your health with one which it clear that he was neither Greek is full of neat wine.’11 nor Macedonian – the belief that he Taking the Ariston and Satropates was a Paionian prince must remain episode as the high point of Paionian an untestable assumption.