228, Lot: 156. Estimate $100. Sold for $68. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NABATAEA. Syllaeus. 9 BC. AR 1/4 Drachm (11mm, 1.04 g, 12h). Petra mint. Struck circa 9-8 BC. Diademed head of Obodas III right; [monogram] to left / Aramaic shin (Syllaeus) and het (Aretas) within wreath. Meshorer, Nabataea Sup. 4. VF, toned, obverse a slightly 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.