SELEUKID KINGS OF SYRIA. Achaios, usurper, 220-214 BC. AE (Bronze, 16,4 mm, 3,6 g, ) Sardes. Laureate head of Zeus to right. Rev. BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑXAIOY Eagle standing front, wings spread and head to right, holding wreath in talons. SC Ad204. Very rare.

Achaios was a cousin of Seleukos III and Antiochos III, who supported the latter's claim to the throne in 223 even though Seleukos' troops had offered him the crown instead. Antiochos III rewarded Achaios' loyalty by appointing him to governor of Seleukid Asia Minor, where the general rebelled just three years later after a series of military successes against local cities and the Attalids. The revolt of Achaios came to an end after Antiochos III made peace with Ptolemy IV in 217, which freed forces for an invasion of Asia Minor that resulted in the capture of Sardes in 214. Achaios was publicly flayed and beheaded and his corpse impaled as a warning to future traitors.