Seleucus I, Zeus and Alexander

TL;DRAbstract

This chapter examines how Seleucus attempted to develop a set of royal imagery that drew both on Alexander and on a personal connection to Zeus, in order to justify his rule over the largest portion of Alexander's empire. Seleucus developed his own iconography, but he also drew on Alexander’s imagery in order to justify his rule. Seleucus’ Nikephoros coinage is often considered a victory coinage since it portrays the goddess of victory crowning Zeus. The identity of the figure in the horned bust demonstrates how Seleucus was able to use an image that is similar to an image that could represent Alexander and to make it his own. The Seleucid coins demonstrate that Seleucus was willing to separate himself from the image of Alexander, and this holds an important lesson for the Zeus coinage and for the legitimacy of Seleucus as a king. Keywords:Alexander; Nikephoros coinage; Seleucus; Zeus

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