Ancient Coin Stories

Dokimos’ hands were sweaty as they hovered over the button. This was his chance. For years he’d auditioned for “So you think you’re a Diadochos” and here he was live. The announcer gave him the question.

“A power struggle now blooms between Perdikkas, who received Alexander the Great‘s signet ring at his death, and almost everyone else. We have Ptolemy I Soter in Egypt, Antipater in Macedonia, Lysimachos in Asia Minor, and Antigonos I Monophthalmos, among others. Which side do you choose?”

“I know this one,” thought Dokimos. He’d practiced these situations. With a big grin, he slammed that button down.

“I’ll take Perdikkas for all the marbles!”

The announcer paused to read the card, but Dokimos knew he had this.

“And you’ve….” the announcer smiled. “Won an all-paid vacation for you and your entourage to sunny and fantastic Babylon! Yes. You’re the new satrap of Babylonia, while Archon is being demoted to tax collector.”

Dokimos couldn’t believe his luck. Once he packed all the spears, bows, horses, and provisions for a thousand or so, he headed off for his new Babylonian villa.

Unfortunately, Archon didn’t like the demotion to tax collector. This concerned Dokimos at first, so they held a battle in which Archon died, and then Dokimos felt relieved.

While Dokimos lived it up big in his new digs, Perdikkas went to work pissing everyone else off. Pretty much everyone ignored him no matter how much he whined, and when Ptolemy finally stole Alexander the Great‘s body, which was on its way to Macedonia, Perdikkas had had enough.

He led an army straight to the Nile, where he made a miscalculation in the amount of silt a herd of elephants could dredge up. This mistake resulted in a large portion of his army either drowned, eaten by crocodiles or (the most common case) both. This made his troops, which included Seleukos I Nikator, very angry, so they killed him.

Dokimos’ benefactor was now gone, but hope wasn’t loss. He took solace in a support network that included Akletas and Attalos, and they banded together to have a merry time looting the countryside.

This soon attracted the attention of Antigonos I Monopthalmos, who faced off all three in the Battle of Cretopolis. Akletas later committed suicide, while Attalos and Dokimos were captured. Dokimos’ mention in history goes blank after this, so he either retreated into the mountains to breed chinchillas, or he was executed.