KINGS OF PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 32 mm, 16.72 g, 12 h), Pergamon. Year 210 of the Bithyno-Pontic era, 1st month = October 88 BC. Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right.
Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - MIΘPAΔATOY / EYΠATOPOΣ Pegasos grazing left; to left, star-in-crescent (Pontic royal badge); to right, IΣ (year) above monogram; in exergue, A (month); all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit. Callataÿ p. 15 and pl. 6. HGC 7, 338. SNG Copenhagen -. SNG Paris -. SNG von Aulock -. Sharply struck and lustrous, and of considerable historical interest. A few very light marks and with very light doubling on the reverse
, otherwise, good extremely fine.
From a European collection, formed before 2005.
This coin was struck in October 88 BC, just a few months after the Asian Vespers, when, on the orders of Mithridates VI, an estimated 80,000 to 150,000 Romans and Italics were massacred in Asia Minor in a coordinated action. Given the orchestrated violence against a specific ethnic group, some modern historians have described the massacre as an early form of genocide. While applying such modern concepts to the ancient world is certainly debatable, there is no doubt that the Asian Vespers represents a particularly dark chapter in ancient history.
