Circa 330s-310s BCE
Æ Unit 18.5mm, 7.00 g, 9h
In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Bow-in-bowcase and club; prow upward below.
Zapiti & Michaelidou 26; Troxell, Alexanders 29; Price 3099
One tough aspect of this history is they liked to reuse the same names often. Such is the case with Pasikrates. This one was the head of Soloi, one of the ten Cypriot kingdoms, and was the father of Nikokles and likely Eunostos.
When Alexander the Great requested help for Tyre in 331 BCE, Pasikrates lent his ships. After Alexander’s death, Pasikrates bucked the trend in Cyprus and made the right choice in Ptolemy. He resisted Antigonos I Monophthalmos’ overtures and married his son Eunostos to Ptolemy’s daughter. Soloi was therefore one of the few kingdoms not destroyed by Ptolemy’s brother Menelaus when he took control of Cyprus.
According to Plutarch, Pasikrates of Soloi faced off against Nikokreon of Salamis in a play Alexander held in Phoenicia. The actor Thessalos acted on behalf of Pasikrates.