SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA: Antiochos I Soter, 281-261 BCE, AR Tetradrachm. Seleukeia on the Tigris, 16.81 g, 29mm.
Obv: Diademed head right.
Rev: Apollo Delphios seated left on omphalos, testing arrow, resting hand on bow; monograms to outer left and right.
SC 379.6a; HGC 9, 128g.
From the Tiberius Collection (CNG E-Auction 355 lot 173, 15.07.2015).
In an effort to foster intercultural cooperation, Alexander arranged for his generals to marry prominent women from the conquered eastern territories; Antiochos was the product of Seleukos’s marriage to a Sogdian princess, Apama. He fell in love with one of his father’s brides, Stratonice, with the result that his father gave her up and she became Antiochos's bride instead. After Antiochos succeeded the throne, he faced the constant war that was the lot of Alexander's successors, particularly conlfict with the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt (First Syrian War) and with Gallic invaders.