COINS OF THE PERSIAN SATRAPS

Coins issued by individual Persians in the western satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire can be identified by legends which give the issuers\u27 names. In addition, numismatists have assigned to particular Persians a number of coins which lack personal legends. Two assumptions are the basis for their assignments. They have assumed, in the first place, that any coin type representing a Persian subject bespeaks Persian intervention, or at least Persian influence, at the issuing mint. They have also assumed that certain types representing Persian subjects are portraits of particular Persian satraps, who can be identified by their facial characteristics. Their hypothetical identifications have become the foundation for historical interpretations of satrapal coinage. In Part I of the thesis, coins attributed to Persians are examined in the light of their artistic background and relationship to coins of local issuers. Images depicting Persians were part of the repertoire of local artists and were adapted for a broad range of artistic schemes; it cannot be assumed that they represent Persian satraps. There is no consistent relationship between Persian issuers and coin types which depict Persians; it cannot be assumed that the images bespeak Persian issuers. A survey of types known, by reason of inscribed legends, to have been minted by individual Persians, shows that their coins adhered closely to local customs, which decreed that divinities were the proper subjects for coin types; it seems probable that the so-called portraits are also depictions of mythological beings. But even if the images were intended to represent living persons, the artistic style of the individual die engravers is responsible for their perceived individuality; facial characteristics are not a valid basis for identification of coin issuers. The study concludes that conjectural assignments based on type are too uncertain to be used as a basis for interpretation of satrapal coinage; analyses should be limited to coins whose legends prove they were minted by individual Persian satraps. In Part II, the individual coin issuers are discussed in light of historical evidence. Some changes were suggested in currently accepted dates, minting occasions, and identifications of individual issuers