Catalog
Tetradrachm - Pakoros I
| Issuer | Parthian Empire |
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| Year | 40 BC - 38 BC |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed bust of Pakoros I facing left, wearing a distinctive Parthian tiara adorned with a crescent and pellet at its summit, with elaborate scale-patterned hair and beard rendered in fine detail. The king is depicted in a draped and cuirassed bust, with visible torque at the neck, in the Hellenistic portrait tradition adapted to Parthian royal iconography. A wart or distinguishing mark appears on the forehead, a characteristic feature noted in the Sellwood series for this ruler. The field is plain, with no surrounding legend on the obverse. |
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| Reverse description | The archer-king Arsakes I seated right on an omphalos throne, depicted in the traditional Parthian manner holding a bow in his right hand. A Greek multi-line legend surrounds the central device, reading in part from the reverse field and border. The composition follows the standard Seleucid-derived reverse type employed throughout the Arsacid dynasty for their tetradrachms struck at Seleucia on the Tigris, with the monogram of the mint visible in the right field. The design is executed in a bold, somewhat coarse style characteristic of the late Parthian hammered issues. |
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Pakoros I, son of Orodes II, briefly commanded Parthian forces during one of their most dramatic western offensives — the 40 BC invasion that overran Syria, expelled the Roman-backed Hasmonean Hyrcanus II from Judaea, and placed Antigonus on the Jerusalem throne. Pakoros was killed in 38 BC at the Battle of Cyrrhestica by the Roman general Publius Ventidius Bassus, a defeat that effectively ended Parthian ambitions in the Levant.
His coinage is correspondingly short-lived. Sellwood 73 represents the full extent of his independent issue — a reign cut short before consolidation.