Syllaeus - Chief Minister to Obodas III

226, Lot: 300. Estimate $150. Sold for $250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NABATAEA. Syllaeus. 9 BC. AR 1/4 Drachm (10mm, 1.11 g, 12h). Diademed head of Obodas III right / Aramaic shin (Syllaeus) and het (Aretas) within wreath. Meshorer, Nabataea Sup. 4; Schmitt-Korte & Price,"Nabataean Coinage III", NC 1994, pl. 10. VF, toned, obverse a little off-center.

Describing Obodas III’s chief minister Syllaeus, the historian Josephus (Antiquitates Judaicae, XVI, 220) writes that, “for the most part his [Obodas’] realm was governed by Syllaeus, who was a clever man, still young in years and handsome.” On the death of Obadas, Syllaeus, likely positioning himself to become king, took control alongside Aretas IV, Obodas’ son and intended successor. Within months he was brought to Rome, found guilty of murdering Obodas, and cast from the Tarpeian rock.

The symbol on the obverse is highly interesting; it much resembles an Aramaic shin. If this interpretation is correct, the obverse must represent Syllaeus. Such a move would have been a bold assertion of his power. Meshorer, however, has argued that it is not a shinas the vertical element of the symbol does not curve, preferring instead to read it as a monogram of Obodas.