Demetrios II Nicator, 129-126 BC (Second Reign), Tetradrachm

Demetrios II Nicator, Tetradrachm, AR, second reign 129–126 BC, 16.5 g, 28 mm. Antioch on the Orontes. Obverse: Diademed, bearded head of Demetrios II right. Reverse: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY ΘEOY NIKATOPOΣ (of King Demetrios, the God, Victor). Struck at Antioch on the Attic standard. SC 2181.8.

After his capture by the Parthians in 138 BC, Demetrios II was released following the death of his brother Antiochos VII in 129 BC and restored in Syria with Parthian support. His second reign was contested by Alexander II Zabinas, backed by Ptolemaic Egypt, amid internal conflict involving Cleopatra Thea. Tetradrachms of Antioch served as the principal silver currency of the Seleucid capital and broadcast his titulature Theou Nicatoros during this brief restoration; his regime collapsed by 126/125 BC, and he was killed at Tyre, signaling further fragmentation of Seleucid authority in Syria.