KINGS of MACEDON. Ptolemy Keraunos?. 281-279 BC. Æ.
KINGS of MACEDON. Ptolemy Keraunos.? 281-279 BC. Æ.
12,5mm (2.13g., 12h). Diademed and draped bust of Arsinöe II right / BAΣIΛ ΠT[O], eagle standing left. Arslan & Ozen 29-55 (OD6/RD9). Very rare.
Ptolemy Keraunos, the eldest son of Ptolemy I, was originally chosen as heir to the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, but that title eventually fell unto his younger half-brother. Attempting to establish power elsewhere, Keraunos arrived at the court of Lysimachos, king of Thrace, Macedon, and parts of Asia Minor as well as the husband of his half-sister, Arsinöe II, with whom Keraunos later traveled east seeking the aid of Seleukos. This opportunity was then seized by Seleukos and he later defeated Lysimachos, only to be murdered in turn by Keraunos shortly thereafter. Having married Arsinöe and forged an alliance with Pyrrhos of Epiros, Keraunos ruled for two years until his death fighting against the Gauls.