Despite the evident wear on this particular example, the type bears one of the most refined and expressive numismatic portraits of Zeus from classical Greece. This is particularly notable since, especially if you talked to a Greek, Macedonia was supposedly a backwater kingdom populated with barbarians. The coins of Macedon, with alternating obverse heads of Zeus and Apollo set off against reverse youthful and mature riders, were used to depict the tempestuous relationship between Phillip and his son. This was attested to by both Maria Caccamo and Georges Le Rider who both tie Apollo and the youthful rider to Alexander, and Zeus and the mature horseman to Philip. This is not really a surprise, as Zeus was intimately connected to royalty. In fact, the ancient orator Isokrates stated that the divine portrait represents “the conceit of a royal power” where the king’s right to rule comes directly from Olympus.