LE SYMPOSIUM INTERNATIONAL LE LIVRE. LA ROUMANIE. L ...

Macedonian and thracian relations in northern Greece
after the persian wars with particular reference
to the coinage and politics of Alexander I *
elpIDA KoSMIDou
Since the studies by Gaebler and Svoronos 1 , there has been a growing
awareness of the complexities in dating and allocating surviving coins to
issuing authorities between the rivers Axios and nestos. understanding the
history of the area after the persian retreat through coin data and vice versa
is equally challenging; ties between events, political entities and coins are
as tenuous as the physical evidence itself, namely imprecise dates of coins
and scarce or hellenocentric literary sources. 2 Much has been accomplished
on the matter, but several questions remain. this paper examines intergroup
relations in the region of the Strymon from a Macedonian perspective.
Attention is drawn to the effect that any relations between thracians and
Macedonians, whether confrontation or collaboration, may have had upon
the coinage of Alexander I. For this purpose, I discuss here the post-war
balance of power with respect to territorial possession, mine control and
recorded conflicts through the lens of Alexander’s coinage. particular
reference is made to military elements in the iconography of royal issues
and of related thracian coinages, such as can be placed in this context and
may reveal interaction between the communities.
* I would like to thank Dr Alan W. Johnston for language corrections and comments
on the final draft as well as fellow panel members at the conference for our enthusiastic
discussion of ideas. Military issues of the period in question and representations of arms
and armour in coinages of the region are treated in my forthcoming phD thesis (uCl,
university of london), to which I refer the reader for details not included here. All dates
in this paper are BC.
1 SVoronoS 1919; GAeBler 1935.
2 pICArD 2007,464; pICArD 1999,206.