Vologases III, 105-147 AD, Drachm

Vologases III, Drachm, AR, AD 105–147, 3.81 g, 20 mm. Minted at Ecbatana. Diademed and draped bust left with long beard and earring. Archer (Arsakes I) seated right on throne, holding bow; monogram below bow; Greek legend surrounding. Struck on the Parthian drachm standard at Ecbatana, the monogram identifying the series corresponding to this subtype. Sellwood 78.4.

Vologases III ruled during a prolonged Parthian civil war and the Roman campaigns of Trajan and Hadrian. His coins from Ecbatana, a principal royal center in Media, maintained the long-standing Arsacid iconography of the seated archer—an emblem of dynastic continuity tracing back to the founder Arsakes I. This type reflects the reassertion of central authority after Roman withdrawal from Mesopotamia and illustrates the regional mint organization and control marks that structured Parthian silver production in the second century AD.