The title 'Basileus' (king) was added to the reverse inscription on these coins either in the last years of Alexander鈥檚 life or posthumously (Fig. 6, 7, & 8). The king of Macedon was the ruler of his kingdom, but did not enjoy as elevated a position as one usually associates with a monarch. Mainland Greece had for the most part abandoned monarchy, which was especially disdained in city-states like Athens which took pride in its democracy. As such 鈥淏asileus鈥 had connotations of barbarism and was primarily used to refer to the Great King of Persia.聽The term 'Basileus' had not, at any rate, appeared on Macedonian coinage before Alexander, but after Alexander鈥檚 conquest of the Persian Empire it was clearly deemed appropriate.聽
It became the norm on the coins of Alexander鈥檚 immediate successors as well as those of the Diadochi who all adopted the title in 305 BCE. Traditionally the ruler鈥檚 name was inscribed down the right side and additional titles along the bottom plane (Fig. 6 & 7), but Fig. 8 features 螔螒危螜螞螘惟危 to the right and Alexander鈥檚 name crudely fitted around the upper left, along with a poorly rendered Zeus. Scholars have interpreted this as a rush to produce coinage bearing the term 螔螒危螜螞螘惟危, though we cannot know why.
