Drachm - Malichus I

Malichus I ruled the Nabataean Kingdom from around 60 to 30 BC, and his coinage was struck during a period of uncomfortable dependence on Roman patronage — he was compelled by Mark Antony to provide cavalry support during the Parthian campaigns of the late 30s BC. Meshorer 59 places this emission squarely within that fraught moment, when Nabataean political autonomy was functionally subordinate to whatever Roman faction held the eastern Mediterranean.

Nabataean silver of this period was struck on a reduced Attic standard, a deliberate departure from earlier issues.