reigned, in all, forty-four years. The surname of Gonatus, is by some said to be derived from Gonnus or Gonni, a Thessalian town, where he was brought up; but Eckhel rather derives it from a peculiar piece of defensive armour which he wore, supposing the ancient Macedonian term to resemble the modern Romaic yovarás. His coins are neither rare, nor remarkable; they generally bear a head, which may be either his portrait or a head of Bacchus, poorly executed, and on the reverse is a standing figure of Minerva holding a battle-axe, with the inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIFONOT (BASILEŌS ANTIGONOU), "of the King Anti

gonus.

Demetrius II., son of Antigonus Gonatus (from 239 to 229, B.C.).—No coins worthy of notice mark this reign of ten years.

Antigonus Doson (the promise-breaker) succeeded his brother Demetrius II., and reigned till 221, leaving no remarkable coins to record the state of art in Macedonia at this period.

Philip V. (from 221 to 178, B.C.), succeeded his father Demetrius II., when he was only eight years of age. This prince may rank as one of the greatest of any of the Macedonian dynasty. But he had to contend with the now fast-rising and far-spreading power and influence of Rome; and at last, after displaying the highest military abilities in a succession of conflicts of various character, was, towards the close of a long reign of forty-two years, so embroiled with the mighty republic, that a decisive war became inevitable, and the contest ended in the downfall of the Macedonian monarchy under his successor. There are remarkably fine tetradrachms and didrachms of this prince, the art displayed on which is better than any seen on Macedonian coins since the time of Alexander the Great. They have generally a fine portrait-head of the king on the obverse, and on the reverse the club of Hercules, with the inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ (BASILEOS PHILIPPOU) surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves. Some of his coins have a remarkable figure of Minerva on the reverse, the execution of which is an imitation of the archaic style of art, adopted, perhaps, in close imitation of some highly venerated ancier statue of the goddess.

Perseus (from 178 to 168 B.C.).-Perseus had neither the ability nor the courage of his father. He found himself imply provided with a full treasury, and a well-disciplined army, to resist the expected attack of the Romans; bit, lthough the undecided operations of two or three successive Roman generals gave him ample time to form alliances, and irrange effective means of resistance, he fell an easy prey to a new commander, Æmilius Paulus, who, on his arrival in Macedonia, immediately gave a more vigorous turn to Roman affairs.

It was on the 22nd of July, 168 B.C., that the final contest took place, near the city of Pydna. The celebrated Macedonian phalanx resisted for a time the attack of the Romans, but giving way at last, the slaughter became terrific, 20,000 men being slain on the field, while the cavalry fled in terror without striking a blow. Thus ended the celebrated Macedonian monarchy, and the last Macedonian menarch graced the triumphal procession of the Roman general on his return to Rome, ending his days as a prisoner at Alba, near that city, five years afterwards. The coins issued by Perseus are nearly as good as those of his father, which they resemble. The portrait head is well executed; and the reverses, which are also encircled by a wreath of oak, have the eagle holding a thunderbolt, the type of the Ptolemies of Egypt, possibly adopted in token of some alliance with one of the last of that dynasty. Other coins (copper), attributed to Perseus, have on the obverse a head, wearing a helmet, which has the head of an eagle as a crest, and a wing above the ear, in allusion to the fabulous hero, whose name he bore, while behind the neck lies a sacrificial knife; the reverse of this coin has the eagle like the one above described, but only the letters B A. п E. for inscription, the initials of Basileus and Perseus. A tetradrachm of Perseus is engraved in Plate VL

CHAPTER VIII.

COINS OF GETAS, KING OF THE EDONEANS, AND OF THE KINGS OF OTHER PARTS OF MACEDONIA AND THRACE; OF THE KINGS OF EPIRUS AND SICILY; OF THE KINGS OF CARIA, OF THE KINGS OF CYPRUS, OF THE KINGS OF PEONIA; SCILURUS, KING OF SARMATIA, TISIPHONUS, TYRANT OF PHEROS, AND DIONYSIUS TYRANT OF HERACLEA.

It appears convenient, in treating of the coinage of short dynasties, to form several series into groups having some chronological affinity. Those series which terminate before, or shortly after the time of Alexander the Great, I have placed next after the Macedonian series, arranging them as nearly in chronological order as convenient, but extreme observance of chronological succession would be impossible. My general plan, however, will be to leave such series as extend greatly beyond the Christian era to be described last, so as not to have to retrace our steps in order to notice a number of coins of a comparatively early period, after having once advanced deeply into the decadence of Greek art. The earliest regal coins after those of Macedonia are undoubtedly those of Getas, king of the Edoneans, and they will therefore range first in this miscellaneous chapter.

COINS OF GETAS, KING OF THE EDONEANS.

These are very remarkable monuments, and no doubt of equal antiquity with the celebrated coins of Alexander I. of Macedon, always cited in elementary works on ancient coins as the earliest to which a date can be assigned. These coins of Getas, though no historical record helps us to a date, the name being only known through the medium of the coins under description, can safely be assigned to the same date as those of Alexander I., as the mode of fabric is precisely the same, which, when the districts

are near to each other, is a tolerably certain test. Therefore they may be assigned to a period at least as early as 480 B.C. The coin of Alexander I. is the first example of the occurrence of an unabbreviated name of a prince upon a coin; but that of Getas is perhaps quite as remarkable in being the earliest example of the title of king (BAZIAETZ) being placed on the public money of a state. The two curious and highly interesting coins which are here referred to are both in the British Museum. They are of unusual size in the silver coinage of any period, being octodrachms, and are proofs of the wealth of this nation at the early period at which they must have been issued. The Edoneans appear to have possessed that portion of Thrace which contained the rich silver and gold mines of Mount Pangœum, Dates, Crenides, and Scaplæ-Hyla; the subsequent possession of which enabled the sovereigns of Macedon to subdue the world, as foretold by the Delphic oracle when it directed Philip to fight with lances of silver, while we find Horace stating that the Macedonian conquerors forced the gates of towns, broke down ramparts and dispersed armies, as often with the ore of the Thessalian mines as with the Macedonian phalanx. Herodotus tells us that the silver mines on the borders of Thrace yielded a talent of silver per day.

These coins of the Edoneans exhibit inscriptions in different dialects, showing that they were in wide communication with different Greek states. One inscription is ΓΕΤΑ ΗΔΩΑΝ BAZIAENZ, in the Doric dialect, and the genitive case; and the other is, ΓΕΤΑΣ ΗΔΟΝΕΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ, in the Ionic dialect,

and the nominative case.* The relief of the type is bold and striking.

Coins of the Osseans, a people of a neighbouring district of Thrace, have also the same types as those of Alexander I. and Getas, and are of the same fabric with a similar punch mark and inscription on the reverse. The inscription is ΟΣΣΕΩΜ, an olian genitive for ΟΣΣΕΩΝ.

Rude coins of Amadocus, king of the Odryces, a Thracian tribe, with AMA-KO- and a head of Jupiter, and on the reverse a two-headed axe, are attributed to an Amadocus, a prince of this region. Alcibiades speaks of the advantage to be derived by the Athenians from the alliance of Amadocus and Seuthes. This was previous to the battle of Ægos-Potamos in 405 B.C. A second Amadocus, however, appears about thirty years later than the first, to whom some attribute these coins, but the square at the back would almost justify its attribution to the first, as may be seen by a comparison with contemporary kings of Macedon. The coin has a twoheaded axe and a Caduceus on the obverse, with AMA— KO—-, and on the reverse in a small square, is a branch of vine with AHM, and o.

A coin with the head of Jupiter on the obverse, and a horseman on the reverse, a poor imitation of the coins of Macedonia, appears to belong rather to the second Amadocus. It has the inscription.. ΔΟΚΟΥ.—ΟΔΡΙΣΙΤΩΝ.

Teres, another king of the same country, who appears to have been dethroned after the reign of Amadocus II. by Philip of Macedon, has also left coins similar to those of Amadocus I. The type of the double axe belongs to Tenedos, and the bunch of grapes to Maronea, to which places the dominions of these kings did not extend, so that their occurrence on these coins is not accounted for.

We have coins of Seuthes, king of a portion of Thrace, probably Odressia, which may be those of Seuthes III., about 325 B.C. The former princes bearing this name do not appear to have coined money; at all events none has come down tc us. Those attributed to Seuthes III. are

The only doubt as to the antiquity of these coins arises probably from the ase of the in forming the genitive; notwithstanding which, the best numis matists give them the period I have named.