Description:
This Alexander the Great coin was minted in the city of Kition, located on the southern coast of the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Tutored by Aristotle in his youth, Alexander succeeded his murdered father King Philip II in 336 BC, inheriting a strong Greek kingdom and an experienced army. He took full advantage and by 333 BC, Alexander had marched his army through Asia Minor and defeated the Persians in the major battles of Granicus and Issus. The Cypriot kings saw this as their opportunity to rise up against their Persian overlords and in 333 BC, Cyprus became part of Alexander’s Empire.
By the time of his death, Alexander had overthrown the Persian King Darius III and conquered the entirety of his empire. Alexander's own empire in 323 BC, stretched from the Adriatic Sea to Egypt and as far east as the Indus River in India. His legacy lived on long after him, ushering in centuries of Greek settlement and Hellenistic culture over distant areas.
Athena is shown on this Alexander coin wearing a Corinthian helmet. She was an armed warrior goddess and was chosen by Alexander to decorate his coinage. Athena was known to be a shrewd companion of heroes and was also the goddess of heroic endeavor. The reverse shows winged Nike holding a wreath and stylis. She was the goddess who personified triumph throughout the ages of the ancient Greek culture. Nike, the goddess of strength, speed and victory would fly around battlefields rewarding the victors with glory and fame.
