Seleukos I as Satrap, in the name of Philip III Arrhidaeos, 320-315 BC

Seleukos I Nikator as satrap, tetradrachm, AR, in the name of Philip III Arrhidaeos, 320–315 BC, Babylon mint, 16.79 g, 26 mm. Obverse with the head of Herakles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. Reverse with Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on a throne, holding eagle and sceptre; Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ. Struck on a broad flan with centered types; minor surface marks consistent with circulation. Price P225.

This issue belongs to the immediate post-Alexander period, when regional commanders governed former imperial territories while maintaining continuity through coinage in the name of the Argead kings. Tetradrachms struck at Babylon under Seleukos as satrap reflect the retention of Alexander’s dominant monetary type and weight standard to facilitate military payment and long-distance trade, while the royal legend of Philip III underscores the political fiction of centralized authority during the early Wars of the Successors.