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

Demetrios II Nicator, Tetradrachm, AR, second reign 129–126 BC, 16.33 g, 27 mm. Antioch on the Orontes. Obverse: Diademed, bearded head of Demetrios II right. Reverse: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY ΘEOY NIKATOPOΣ; Zeus Nikephoros seated left on a backless throne, holding Nike in right hand and scepter in left; control marks in the field. Struck on the Attic standard at the royal mint of Antioch, typical Seleucid fabric on a broad flan. Reference: SNG Copenhagen 344–345.

Demetrios II’s second reign followed his release from Parthian captivity, and his bearded portrait on these issues is a key distinguishing feature of this later phase. Striking at Antioch signaled recovery of the Seleucid capital after the death of Antiochos VII and amid renewed civil conflict and Ptolemaic intervention. The epithet NIKATOR (“Victor”) and the divine claim ΘEOY on the legend reflect royal propaganda aimed at legitimizing his restored authority in a fragmented empire shortly before his death in 125/4 BC.