The specific and the ambiguous: what can we say of royal ideology of bronze coin types of the earliest Seleucid kings?

Abstract

Abstract This article argues that the bronze coin types of the earliest Seleucid kings clearly illustrate the royal ideology of Seleucus I and his co-rulership with Antiochus I. This article considers the audience and meaning of the bronzes, as well as their minting patterns. After a discussion of the obverse and reverse types, this article focuses on two images: that of the bull and the anchor. The bull being both highly produced, and open to interpretation, and the anchor being a symbol more personal and specific to Seleucus I. This article then goes on to put forward that the bull/anchor types produced at Aï Khanoum/Bactra were a deliberate link on the part of Antiochus to the types produced by Seleucus I to create an imperial image.