Obol - Hecatomnus Caria satrapy - 'Ἑκατόμνος'

Hecatomnus was the first of the Hekatomnid dynasty — appointed satrap of Caria by the Achaemenid court around 395 BC, yet almost immediately behaving as an autonomous ruler. His decision to strike coins in his own name, rather than in the name of the Persian king, was a quiet but pointed assertion of local authority that his successors, including Mausolus, would push considerably further. The Greek inscription on these pieces is itself a political signal: a Persian-appointed governor advertising himself to a Greek-speaking population.