SELEUKID KINGS. Antiochos XI & Philip I, circa 95/4-94/3 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27 mm, 15.72 g, 12 h), uncertain mint in Cilicia, likely Tarsos, circa 94-94/3. Diademed and jugate heads of Antiochos XI, in foreground and with long sideburn, and Philip I, in the back, to right. Rev. [Β]ΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΑΝΤΙΟXΟΥ - ΚΑΙ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ Zeus seated left, holding Nike in his right hand and long scepter in his left; to outer left, C / Φ / Ⲱ / Λ; all within laurel wreath. A. Houghton: The double portrait coins of Antiochus XI and Philip I, in: SNR 66 (1987), 1 var. (A1/-, top left control rendered as Є). SC 2435.1 var. (top left control rendered as Є). An unpublished variety of an extremely rare type. A magnificent example of this exceptional dynastic issue, boldly struck on a full flan and arguably the finest known. Very minor roughness and with a tiny die break on Philip's nose, otherwise, good very fine.

This exceptionally rare tetradrachm conveys an idea almost unheard of in the late Seleukid period: dynastic unity. It depicts the twin brothers Antiochos XI and Philip I, with Antiochos appearing in the foreground and his name listed first on the reverse - suggesting he was the elder of the two. Yet, upon closer examination, it becomes evident that this coin, too, reflects a ruling family already ravaged by dynastic strife and trapped in perpetual civil war. The coin was struck during the twins' campaign against the city of Mopsos, where their elder brother, Seleukos VI, had met a gruesome end - burned alive by an enraged mob, either in the gymnasium or the local palace. At this time, multiple claimants vied for control of the fragmented Seleucid realm. From Cilicia, Seleukos VI had overthrown his uncle, Antiochos IX, in Antioch, only to be driven out shortly thereafter by the latter's son, Antiochos X - an event that likely sealed Seleukos' tragic fate in Mopsos. Around the same time, Seleukos’ brother, Demetrios III, established his own rule in Damascus. Having avenged their brother’s death by razing Mopsos to the ground, the twins, Antiochos XI and Philip I, turned their sights on their cousin, Antiochos X, in Antioch. Though Antiochos XI briefly seized the city, he was soon expelled by his namesake and drowned in the Orontes River. His brothers, Demetrios III and Philip I, would cling to power for several more years amidst the bitter civil wars, only to meet their own downfalls: in 88/7 BC, Demetrios was defeated by Philip himself with the aid of Arab and Parthian forces and was taken prisoner by the Parthians. The surviving twin, Philip I, was eventually driven out of Antioch in 83 BC by the Armenian king Tigranes II the Great and died shortly thereafter in Cilicia. Our coin thus stands as a poignant symbol of the late Seleukid civil wars. The accession of Antiochos IV Epiphanes in 175 BC had given rise to two rival dynastic lines that would battle for a century, ultimately condemning what was once the largest and most powerful of the Hellenistic kingdoms to ruin. Here, Antiochos XI and Philip I present themselves as the united avengers of their fallen brother - yet, in the end, even the surviving twin would not hesitate to wage war against his own sibling, Demetrios III. Nevertheless, as a depiction of a royal twin pair, this coin is utterly unique in the entire ancient world and of the highest historical and iconographic significance - especially, perhaps, to those who, like this cataloguer, share the special bond of being a twin