PARTHIA Sellwood’s “unknown king” (Arsakes XVI) 78-62 BC silver drachm

DescriptionAll we have of this person is the coins. There was civil war or dynastic conflict during this time.The Parthians were Central Asian nomads who descended on the “settled” and “civilized” world with their new military invention, which was stirrups, which permitted the existence of mounted spear bearing warriors.Coins of the “Greek” world before Alexander are called “archaic” if they’re old enough, and “classical” for the period of high artistry. From Alexander on they are called “Hellenistic,” and display a change of subject matter from dieties to monarchs.Ancient Coins includes Greek and Roman coins and those of neighbors and successors, geographically from Morocco and Spain all the way to Afghanistan. Date ranges for these begin with the world’s earliest coins of the 8th century BC to, in an extreme case, the end of Byzantine Empire, 1453 AD.