ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses why Antiochos IV broke with the family image of Apollo-on-the-omphalos. It argues that the adoption of Zeus is specifically linked to the regions that the coinage is produced in and that the retention of Apollo is related to the long-standing successful integration of the god into the cultural context of Mesopotamia. Therefore, even Antiochos IV’s new coinage reflects a continuation of familial policy of associating with the most useful syncretistic deity in the most important regions of the empire. Therefore, for Antiochos IV the changes are rather a condition of the shifting scope of his ambitions rather than the zeal of a convert.
