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Tetradrachm - Hippokrates Autokrator Nikephoros
| Issuer | Kingdom of Characene |
|---|---|
| Year | 81 BC |
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| Currency | Drachm |
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| Obverse description | Diademed and bearded bust of King Hippokrates facing right, with voluminous wavy hair rendered in fine detail. The royal diadem is tied at the back of the head with flowing ends. The portrait is set within a dotted border, presented in the Hellenistic tradition characteristic of Characenian royal coinage. The facial features are modelled in high relief, conveying a naturalistic regal effigy. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Characene, the small client kingdom at the head of the Persian Gulf, occupied an awkward political position in the late second and early first centuries BC — nominally under Parthian suzerainty but functionally independent enough to strike its own royal coinage. Hippokrates takes the titles Autokrator and Nikephoros, "victor-bearing," a combination that signals active military ambition rather than ceremonial inheritance. The precise military event those titles commemorate is unrecorded in surviving sources.
His reign falls within a period when Characene kings were asserting unusual independence from Parthian oversight, likely exploiting the dynastic instability following the death of Mithradates II around 91 BC.