Alexander III AR Tetradrachm, Arados, Phoenicia, c.324-320 BC Herakles/Zeus

Alexander III, tetradrachm, silver, reign 336–323 BC, struck at Arados, Phoenicia, 324–320 BC; 17.10 g, 26 mm. Obverse anepigraphic: head of Herakles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on a backless throne, holding eagle and scepter; Σ in left field, AP monogram below throne. Struck under Menes or Laomedon on a broad, slightly irregular flan, with full legends visible; light surface granularity and minor flatness on the highest relief. Price 3316; Duyrat group IV, series 4; Rouvier 52. This Aradian issue belongs to the coordinated imperial coinage in Alexander’s name that financed administration, fleets, and garrisons across the Levant after the Macedonian conquest of Phoenicia. The standard Herakles/Zeus type asserted royal authority, while local control marks such as the Σ and AP monogram identify the mint and emission sequence, illustrating how Phoenician civic mints were integrated into the monetary system of Alexander’s empire and its early successors.