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Tetradrachm - Augustus ETOYΣ ΣΚ NIKHΣ
| Issuer | Antioch on the Orontes |
|---|---|
| Year | 6 |
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| Reference(s) | RPC Online I#4158, BMC Greek#419, SNG Copenhagen#133, Prieur#57, McAlee#187 |
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| Reverse description | Tyche of Antioch, the city's divine personification, seated right upon a rocky outcropping representing Mount Silpios, holding an upright palm branch in her right hand. Beneath the rocky seat, the river-god Orontes is depicted swimming right, symbolizing the city's great river. The reverse legend ETOYΣ ΣΚ NIKHΣ appears in the field, recording the regnal year in the Era of Actium (year 20, equating to the Seleucid-derived Nikephoros era). The composition closely follows the celebrated Eutychides prototype of the Tyche of Antioch, rendered in a compact yet expressive hammered die style characteristic of the Syrian provincial coinage under Augustus. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The dating formula ETOYΣ ΣΚ — year 26 of the Actian Era — places this tetradrachm in 6 AD, struck at Antioch under the provincial authority of Syria. The Actian Era itself was a deliberate political calendar reset, counting from Augustus's victory at Actium in 31 BC and imposed across the eastern provinces as a means of anchoring civic time to the new regime. Antioch's mint was among the most productive in the Roman East, supplying silver coinage across Syria and into Judaea.
The NIKHΣ reverse type — Nike — directly invokes Actium, keeping the memory of that victory in daily circulation a full generation after the battle.