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Drachm - Vonones I
| Issuer | Parthian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 8-12 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Bust of Vonones I facing left, depicted in the Parthian royal tradition with a distinctive tiara or mural crown adorned with ribbed bands, and long hair falling in stylized strands behind the neck. The king wears a torque or necklace visible at the truncation, and the portrait displays the characteristically angular, frontal-eye treatment common to late Arsacid coinage. A diadem ribbon is tied at the rear of the crown, its ends trailing behind. The circular Greek legend surrounds the effigy, reading from the upper left. |
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| Obverse lettering | BACIΛEYC ONΩNHC (Translation: King Vonones.) |
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| Additional information |
Vonones I had spent years as a hostage — and later a guest — at the court of Augustus before being recalled to Parthia around 8 AD to take the throne after the death of Phraates V. His Roman manners alienated the Parthian nobility almost immediately: he was said to disdain horses, preferred walking, and kept Roman-style banquets. The backlash was swift enough that Artabanus II drove him out within a few years, and Vonones spent the remainder of his life shuffled between Roman client territories before being killed trying to escape in 19 AD.
His coinage tenure was short, making surviving drachms genuinely scarce relative to other Arsacid rulers.