_Munera lætitiamque Dei._ Æn. i. _v._ 640.
and stiles Bacchus the fabled inventer of it,
----_Bacchus lætitiæ dator._ Ib. _v._ 738.
I am, +SIR,+ With the greatest respect, Your most obedient humble Servant, J. Nixon.
XXII. _Some Remarks on a_ Parthian _Coin with a_ Greek _and_ Parthian _Legend, never before published. In a Letter from the Rev._ John Swinton, _M.A. of_ Christ-Church, Oxon. _F.R.S. to the Rev._ Thomas Birch, _D.D. Secret. R. S._
AS we know little of the reigns of the latter Parthian kings, and less still of their coins; an attempt to strike out even the least new light on either of those heads will not, I persuade myself, prove unacceptable to the Royal Society. In this persuasion, I do myself the honour to send you a few conjectures upon another brass Parthian medal, in my possession, as remarkable, on account of the double legend it contains, as the former, which I endeavoured a little to illustrate about a year ago. This medal, which certainly merits the attention of the curious, is in very good conservation, and approaches near the size of those of the middle Roman brass. It exhibits the head, or effigies, of a Parthian king, with a beard, diadem, and hair formed into such curls as I never yet observed upon any antient coins. Under the effigies, the Greek letters ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ ΜΟ⦙⦙⦙, which demonstrate the piece to be Parthian, appear; and, on the reverse, a _Victory_, done something after the Roman manner, tho’ the workmanship is pretty rude, presents itself to our view, together with a legend in a language and character at this time unknown. The legend consists of ten complete elements, placed behind the _Victory_ above-mentioned; besides which there is one in the field of the medal, being probably the initial letter of the name of the city where the coin was struck. The metal, tho’ termed by me brass, discovers something of a composition similar to that of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire’s medal of Vologeses III. as described by [68]Sig. Haym. This coin, of which I herewith transmit you a draught most accurately taken (_See_ TAB. IV. _Fig. 1._), having not yet, as I apprehend, been published; you will permit me now to offer a few cursory remarks upon it, drawn up in the shortest and most concise manner possible.