Phraataces (Phraates V), Silver Drachms of the Arsacid Empire

Historical Context

Phraataces—designated in Greek historical sources by the diminutive Φραατάκης (Phraatákēs, literally "Little Phraates") and catalogued in modern dynastic corpora as Phraates V—held power over the Arsacid Empire from approximately 2 BC until AD 4. He was the son of Phraates IV and Musa, an Italian woman sent to the Arsacid court by Augustus around 20 BC as part of diplomatic negotiations involving the restitution of Roman legionary standards lost at Carrhae in 53 BC and during later engagements.

Elevated from imperial gift to principal queen, Musa exercised substantial influence at the court in Ctesiphon, eventually persuading Phraates IV to send his senior legitimate heirs to Rome as imperial charges. Around 2 BC, Musa poisoned the aged king, clearing the path to power for Phraataces. The opening years of his reign were consumed by territorial friction with Rome regarding royal succession in Armenia following the death of Tigranes III. To prevent direct military conflict, Phraataces convened an imperial summit with Augustus' adopted heir, Gaius Caesar, on an island in the Euphrates River between late AD 1 and AD 2. Under this agreement, Parthia conceded direct dominion over Armenia, while Rome formally acknowledged Phraataces as lawful Arsacid sovereign.

Around AD 2, Phraataces consolidated his domestic standing by marrying his mother, Musa. This joint rule was publicly announced on imperial coinage, where portraits of both monarchs replaced the established dynastic motifs. Although divine queen-mothers and close-kin royal marriages were attested across ancient Near Eastern dynasties, this union provoked severe indignation among the Parthian nobility. By approximately AD 4, an aristocratic rebellion overthrew the regime, driving Phraataces toward Syria and briefly installing Orodes III on the Arsacid throne.

Obverse: Iconographic Composition

Across the silver drachm series, the obverse displays a left-facing profile portrait of Phraataces. The portraiture and secondary accessories exhibit consistent typological variations between issues:

• Royal Portraiture and Regalia: The monarch is depicted bareheaded, bound with a royal diadem whose ribbons cascade behind the neck. He wears a multi-wound torque encircling his neck. On sole-reign issues belonging to Sellwood Type 56, his beard is closely cropped and pointed. On joint-reign issues catalogued as Sellwood Type 58, the beard is noticeably heavier and square-cut. The dynastic forehead wart or pellet, prominent under Phraates IV, is consistently omitted on Type 56 drachms, though occasional trace pellets reappear on select dies of Type 57.
• Flanking Symbols and Attendant Figures:
  • Sole Reign, Single-Nike Type (Sellwood 56): The monarch's profile is flanked in front by a star set above a crescent moon, and behind by a single winged Nike flying left, holding a wreath or diadem toward the king's head.
  • Sole Reign, Two-Nikai Type (Sellwood 57) and Joint Reign (Sellwood 58): The astral symbols are dropped. Instead, the king is flanked symmetrically by two winged Nikai—one advancing from before and one from behind—each holding a wreath toward his brow.
• Border: The entire composition is enclosed by a circular border of fine dots or beads.

Obverse: Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse dies of all Parthian silver drachms struck under Phraataces—both during his sole rule and in conjunction with Musa—are entirely anepigraphic. No royal names, patronymics, or administrative marks appear on the obverse face of the drachm series.

Reverse: Iconographic Composition

The reverse design diverges sharply between the sole rule of Phraataces and his subsequent joint reign alongside Musa:

Sole Reign (Sellwood Types 56 and 57)

During his sole reign, Phraataces preserved the traditional reverse design established by the dynasty's founder: Arsaces I seated right upon a high-backed throne (replacing the earlier omphalos motif). The founder wears nomadic riding dress, a bashlyk (kyrbasia felt cap), and an open cloak, extending a strung composite bow in his right hand.

• Primary Mint Monograms: Beneath the extended bow sits the primary control mark, notably the monogram representing Mithradatkart (the royal complex at Old Nisa) on Type 56 or the intertwined ligature representing Ecbatana on Type 57.
• Supplementary Reverse Marks: Behind the throne on Sellwood Type 56 appears a supplementary control mark, which varies across issues. These include isolated Greek letters (such as Δ, Τ, Ι, Ο, or retrograde Κ), a star, a crescent, or a stepped Zoroastrian fire altar (Sellwood 56.13).

Joint Reign (Sellwood Type 58)

Upon the formal union of Phraataces and Musa, the traditional seated archer was removed in an unprecedented break with Arsacid numismatic convention, replaced by the left-facing portrait bust of Queen Musa.

• Musa's Adornment: Musa is depicted wearing a multi-tiered, stepped jeweled tiara or crown secured with diadem ties, alongside a jeweled necklace with a central pectoral medallion, and earrings.
• Mint Placement: On standard drachms struck at Ecbatana (Sellwood 58.9), the regional mint monogram is positioned directly beneath Musa's chin.

Reverse: Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The epigraphic conventions of the reverse mirror the typological break between the sole and joint reigns:

Sole Reign Inscription (Sellwood Types 56 and 57)

• Script and Language: Ancient Greek alphabet, executed in quadrate, highly stylized forms.
• Standard Epigraphic Text: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ
• Transliteration: Basileos Basileon Arsakou Euergetou Dikaiou Epiphanous Philhellenos
• Translation: "Of the King of Kings, Arsaces, the Benefactor, the Just, the Manifest [God], Friend of the Greeks"
• Arrangement: Engraved as a quadrate, four-sided square frame of seven lines surrounding the seated archer.
• Die Realities: On circulating currency from provincial and eastern workshops, these characters are severely blundered into abstract rectilinear formations, where royal words are reduced to chevron-like strokes and simplified block characters.

Joint Reign Inscription (Sellwood Type 58)

• Script and Language: Ancient Greek alphabet, incorporating quadrate and lunate letterforms.
• Standard Epigraphic Text: ΘΕΑΣ ΟΥΡΑΝΙΑΣ ΜΟΥΣΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ (or rendered with lunate sigmas: ΘΕΑC OYPANIAC MOYCHC BACIΛICCHC)
• Transliteration: Theas Ouranias Mouses Basilisses
• Translation: "Of Queen Musa, Heavenly Goddess" (or "Of Heavenly Goddess Queen Musa")
• Arrangement: Engraved vertically in two columns flanking Musa's profile bust. On standard Ecbatana dies, the title ΘΕΑΣ ΟΥΡΑΝΙΑΣ is placed behind the head (right field), while ΜΟΥΣΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ appears in front of the face (left field).

Typology and Documented Variants

Parthian silver drachms of this era were struck to a reduced regional standard, with intact examples typically weighing between 3.50 g and 3.85 g, though eastern or heavily circulated billon issues occasionally register lower. The following table provides documented variants attested in scholarly literature and verified museum holdings. Any specimen under external review must be evaluated against this typology as comparative data rather than by presumed identity:

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Dynastic Sequence and Nomenclature

Discrepancies in Arsacid ruler naming complicate catalogue concordance. Classic corpora such as Warwick Wroth's British Museum catalogue adhered to Flavius Josephus' diminutive name Phraataces, whereas contemporary corpora—notably the Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum (SNP) and modern historical surveys—designate him as Phraates V. Similar conflicts affect related Arsacid rulers:

• Artabanus Numbering: David Sellwood numbered the monarch who ruled c. AD 10–38 as Artabanus II. Scholars recognizing Arsaces II (c. 211–185 BC) under the throne name Artabanus I adjust this sequence, designating Sellwood's Artabanus I (c. 127–124 BC) as Artabanus II, and advancing the first-century AD king to Artabanus III or IV.
• Pakoros Sequence: Sellwood Type 49 was assigned to the crown prince Pacorus I who died in 38 BC, leading to the designation of the monarch of c. AD 78–105 as Pacorus II. Subsequent revisions disputing independent minting by the prince reclassify the later king as Pacorus I.

Because ruler numerals fluctuate across academic systems, safe cataloguing requires referencing precise typological frameworks, such as Sellwood classification numbers, rather than regal numerals in isolation.

Mint Attributions and Workshop Interpretations

While the monogram representing Ecbatana (Hamadan) on Types 57.13 and 58.9 is uncontested, the attribution of eastern issues of Type 56 remains debated. Sellwood assigned monogram 28 to Mithradatkart and issues with the letters "NI" to Nisa proper. Other numismatists suggest that stylistic clustering on eastern issues could indicate mobile military workshops operating across Khurasan during regional campaigns rather than fixed urban mints.

Supplementary Field Symbols

The isolated field symbols behind the throne on Type 56 drachms—most notably the stepped fire altar on Sellwood 56.13 and isolated Greek letters (Δ, Τ, Ι, Ο, Κ)—have prompted differing explanations. Sellwood viewed them as sequence marks or workshop (officina) controls. In contrast, cultural historians regard the stepped altar as an intentional display of Zoroastrian religious authority during a period of dynastic instability. In the absence of contemporaneous Arsacid state archives, these designations remain numismatic interpretations rather than settled institutional facts.

References

1. British Museum Collection Record 1894,0506.2347 (AR Drachm of Phraataces and Queen Musa). Registration 1894,0506.2347 (BMC Parthia, p. 140, no. 25)
2. British Museum Collection Record 1848,0803.8 (AR Drachm of Phraates II). Registration 1848,0803.8
3. British Museum Collection Record 1920,0611.1 (Reformation Broadside Print). Registration 1920,0611.1
4. Catalogue of the Coins of Parthia (BMC Parthia). pp. 136–141, pls. XXIII–XXIV
5. Phraates V (Encyclopaedia Iranica Online). Published 2021
6. Parthia.com Database and Sellwood Type Concordance. Types 56, 57, and 58
7. Numista Coin Database: Parthian Empire Drachm Entries. Entries 92112 and 378656
8. Classical Numismatic Group Auction Archives. CNG 36, lots 317–326 (Fred B. Shore Collection); Triton XIII, lot 639