Nomos 16

KINGS OF MACEDON. Aeropos, 398/7-395/4 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 23 mm, 10.49 g, 10 h). Young male head to right wearing simple taenia. Rev. ΑΕΡΟΠΟ Horse walking to right, reins trailing below. AMNG I, pl. 29, 23 = Traité IV 822, pl. CCCIV, 11. SNG Alpha Bank 172. SNG ANS 76. SNG Ashmolean 2434 A. Westermark, Remarks pl. LXIX, 12. Very rare. Finely toned and of lovely style. Extremely fine.

From the Ravenel Collection, USA, ex Bank Leu 48, 10 May 1989, 157.

Aeropus II was the regent and guardian for the infant Orestes, son of Archelaus I, who had been murdered in 399, perhaps partially because of his strong philhellenic bias, which enraged many of the native nobles. This assassination led to a turbulent succession crisis during which Orestes was eliminated leaving Aeropus as sole ruler for a short period before being challenged by Amyntas II (possibly his son or the illegitimate son of Archelaus I) and then being succeeded by his own son Pausanias. Pausanias lasted for a very short period before being ousted by Amyntas III (the great grandson of Alexander I) in 393. This ushered in a period of relative stability culminating in the reigns of his son Philip II and grandson Alexander III. Returning to Aeropus, what little we know about him indicates that he was a member of the powerful Lynkestes family, long time rivals of the Macedonian royal house (other Lynkestids were involved in revolts after Amyntas III’s death in 369). The fact that no coins are known of the infant Orestes has led to the suggestion that Aeropus continued issuing silver and very rare bronze in the name of Archelaus I before and after the death of the child, until finally striking coins in his own name.