Drachm - Phraates Artemis

Elymais was a semi-autonomous kingdom in what is now southwestern Iran, nominally subordinate to the Parthian Arsacids but functionally independent for much of its existence. By the 2nd century AD, the local dynasts — including the Phraates series of rulers — were striking their own bronze coinage with increasing stylistic degradation, a reflection of political fragmentation rather than artistic indifference. The die-cutting grew progressively cruder across successive reigns, making precise attribution within the Phraates sequence genuinely difficult without comparative die study.

Van't Haaff's catalog remains the primary reference for Elymaean attribution, and the 14.6 series specifically covers issues where Artemis iconography intersects with this ruler's name — a pairing that reflects the region's syncretic religious environment under late Parthian influence.