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Tetradrachm - Demetrios I Poliorketes Pella
| Issuer | Kingdom of Macedonia |
|---|---|
| Year | 289 BC - 288 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 17.00 g |
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| Obverse description | Diademed head of Demetrios I Poliorketes facing right, wearing a diadem adorned with bull's horns, an attribute associating him with Poseidon and divine kingship. The portrait is rendered in a naturalistic Hellenistic style with finely detailed, flowing hair swept back from the forehead in loose, curling locks. The facial features display the idealised yet individualistic portraiture characteristic of early Macedonian royal coinage. A dotted border frames the entire design. No legend appears on the obverse. |
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| Reverse description | Poseidon Pelagaios standing facing left in a heroic nude pose, right foot resting on a rock or prow, his right arm raised and extended holding a trident, his left arm resting at his side. A dotted border frames the design. The royal legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ to the left and ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ to the right is inscribed vertically in the field flanking the deity, written in Greek characters. A small control symbol, appearing as a monogram or anchor device, is visible in the lower left field. |
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Demetrios I earned the epithet "Poliorketes" — Besieger of Cities — for his use of massive siege engines, including the nine-story Helepolis deployed at Rhodes in 305 BC. By the time these tetradrachms were struck at Pella, his fortunes had collapsed entirely. He had seized the Macedonian throne in 294 BC by murdering Alexander V, but his extravagant court behavior and growing megalomania alienated the Macedonian army. Within months of this issue, Pyrrhus of Epirus and Lysimachus coordinated to strip him of Macedonia, his troops defecting almost without a fight.
Newell 89 places this among the terminal Pella issues before his flight east, where he would die a prisoner of Seleukos I in 283 BC.