Ariobarzanes I — Drachm, Athena Nikephoros, Eusebeia-Mazaca

Struck at Eusebeia-Mazaca, the royal mint beneath Mount Argaeus, during the reign of Ariobarzanes I Philoromaios, King of Cappadocia (96–63 BC); the ΙΔ in exergue marks regnal year 14. Ariobarzanes owed his throne to Rome — installed by the Senate at the request of a Cappadocian nobility weary of Pontic and Armenian meddling. His epithet was earned in fact as much as name: repeatedly driven out by Mithradates VI of Pontus and Tigranes of Armenia, he was each time set back on the throne by Roman arms, first under Sulla and later Pompey.

The reverse legend, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΡΙΟΒΑΡΖΑΝΟΥ ΦΙΛΟΡΩΜΑΙΟΥ — "Of King Ariobarzanes, Friend of Rome" — surrounds Athena Nikephoros standing left, holding Nike in her outstretched right hand, a grounded shield at her side and spear behind. A control monogram sits in the inner left field, the date ΙΔ in exergue. Athena bearing Victory was the emblem of the Cappadocian royal house, advertising divine favour and the security of a kingdom held in place by Rome.

Attribution: SNG von Aulock 6318

Mint: Eusebeia-Mazaca (under Mount Argaeus)

Weight: 4 g

Diameter: 17 mm

Catalogued in the NumisLens cabinet — NL-ABP7V-VXXE6