Satrapal coins in the collection of the Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies : Tiribazus, Pharnabazus, and Mazaeus

Coins minted by fourth century BCE Persian officials form a wonderful complement to the literary sources of the period. Three examples are discussed in this paper. The first, minted by Tiribazus, is from the only series which can unquestionably be attributed to the man known from literary evidence. Its unique reverse type is shown to reflect a powerful Achaemenid image often found on monuments in Iran. The second example was minted by Pharnabazus and draws on Greek artistic traditions. It was minted while Pharnabazus planned to invade Egypt in the 370s, and may have utilised a type familiar to mercenaries who also fought in Sicily. The third example returns to Achaemenid imagery on coins through the career and minting activity of one of the most remarkable officials of the Persian Empire: Mazaeus. Mazaeus’s Cilician coins, like Tiribazus’s, are argued to disperse messages of control and order for the Achaemenid administration