Tetradrachm Macedonian Kingdom (800BC-146BC) Silver Alexander II ...

Kings of Macedon, Alexander III (336-323 BC) AR Tetradrachm Coin.

Region: Aeolia
Mint Period: 188-170 BC
Denomination: AR Tetradrachm
Reference: Price 243, 1689.
State: Temnus (Greek City-State)
Weight: 15.88gm
Diameter: 38mm
Material: Silver

Obverse: Head of Alexander the Great as Herakles right, wearing lion’s skin headdress.

Reverse: Zeus seated left, holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left. Two monograms below his right hand.
Comment: Oenochoe beneath vine tendril with four leaves and two bunches of grapes.
Lexend: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ("Alexander´")

Temnos (also Temnus) was a small Greek city-state, on the western coast of Anatolia. The name survives as a Catholic titular see. When Temnos was a functioning diocese, its bishop was a suffragan of Ephesus. Temnos was a little town of Aeolia, near the Hermus River, which is shown on its coins. Situated at elevation it commanded the territories of Cyme, Phocaea, and Smyrna. Under Augustus it was already on the decline; under Tiberius it was destroyed by an earthquake; and in the time of Pliny it was no longer inhabited. It was however rebuilt later. One of the city’s more noteworthy figures was the rhetorician Hermagoras.

Aeolis or Aeolia was an area that comprised the west and northwestern region of Asia Minor, mostly along the coast, and also several offshore islands (particularly Lesbos), where the Aeolian Greek city-states were located. Aeolis incorporated the southern parts of Mysia which bounded it to the north, Ionia to the south, and Lydia to the east.

Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC), popularly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος, Mégas Aléxandros), was a Greeki king (basileus) of Macedon. He is the most celebrated member of the Argead Dynasty and created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander received a classical Greek education under the tutorship of famed philosopher Aristotle, succeeded his father Philip II of Macedon to the throne in 336 BC after the King was assassinated, and died thirteen years later at the age of 32. Although both Alexander’s reign and empire were short-lived, the cultural impact of his conquests lasted for centuries. Alexander is one of the most famous figures of antiquity, and is remembered for his tactical ability, his conquests, and for spreading Greek culture into the East (marking the beginning of Hellenistic civilization).

Philip had brought most of the city-states of mainland Greece under Macedonian hegemony, using both military and diplomatic means. Upon Philip’s death, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He succeeded in being awarded the generalship of Greece and, with his authority firmly established, launched the military plans for expansion left by his father. He invaded Persian-ruled Asia Minor, and began a series of campaigns lasting ten years. Alexander repeatedly defeated the Persians in battle; marched through Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Bactria; and in the process he overthrew the Persian king Darius III and conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire.ii Following his desire to reach the “ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea”, he invaded India, but was eventually forced to turn back by the near-mutiny of his troops, who were tired of war.

Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, before realizing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following Alexander’s death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, which resulted in the formation of a number of states ruled by Macedonian aristocracy (the Diadochi). Remarkable though his conquests were, Alexander’s lasting legacy was not his reign, but the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered. The importing of Greek colonists and culture to the East Alexander initiated resulted in a new Hellenistic culture, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire until the mid-15th century. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mould of Achilles, and features prominently in the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which generals, even to this day, compare themselves, and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactical exploits.