Lot 91
Lot 30091 > ARMENIAN KINGDOM. Kings of Armenia Minor. Aristobulus (AD 54-92). AE (24mm, 9.86 gm, 12h). NGC Fine 4/5 - 3/5. Nicopolis ad Lycum, or Chalkis, dated Regnal Year 13 (AD 66/7). BACIΛEΩC APICTOBOYΛOY ET IΓ, diademed head of Aristobulus left / NEPΩ/NI KΛAY / ΔIΩ KAICA/PI CEBACTΩ / ΓEPMANIK, legend in five lines within wreath. Meshorer 366. Hendin 1257. cf. Roma Numismatics, Auction XV (5 April 2018), lot 285 (realized 19,500 GBP) for the same series from Regnal Year 17 (Hendin 1258). Extremely rare - no examples in coin archives. A loyal client king of Rome, Aristobulus supported the general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo in the Roman-Parthian War of AD 58-63. He received a portion of Greater Armenia as reward, and in AD 73 supplied troops to the governor of Syria, Lucius Caesennius Paetus, who had persuaded Vespasian that Antiochus IV of Commagene was planning to revolt and side with Vologases I of Parthia. Aristobulus' decision to strike dated coins in only two years of his reign - years 13 (AD 66/7) and 17 (AD 70/1) - is significant as they mark the beginning and end of the First Jewish-Roman War respectively, honoring first Nero, then Titus, probably represent a public reaffirmation of Aristobulus' loyalty to his Roman patrons.
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