- Zoilos I
Zoilus I Dikaios ("The Just") was an
Indo-Greek king who ruled in NorthernIndia and occupied the areas of theParopamisade andArachosia previously held byMenander I . He may have belonged to the dynasty ofEuthydemus I .Time of reign
Zoilos used to be dated after the death of Menander, c. 130-120 BCE (Bopearachchi). Two coins of Zoilus I were however overstruck by Menander I [Senior R.C., MacDonald, D.: "The Decline of the Indo-Greeks", Monographs of the Hellenic Numismatic Society, Athens (1998)] so Zoilos came to power while Menander was still alive and was perhaps his enemy. R.C. Senior has suggested some time between 150-135 BCE.
Coin types of Zoilos I
Zoilos I uses a silver coin type similar to that of
Euthydemus II , son of Demetrius: Crowned Herakles standing, holding a wreath or diadem in his right hand, and a club and the lion skin in his left hand. On some of the coins, which are of lower artistic quality, Herakles is crowned by a small Nike. Zoilos I also struck rare gold-plated silver coins with portrait and Heracles.The Indian-standard coins of Zoilos I also bear the Pali title "Dhramikasa" ("Follower of the
Dharma "), probably related toBuddhism , appearing for the first time on Indo-Greek coinage. A few monolingual Attic tetradrachms of Zoilos I have been found. Zoilos inherited (or took) several monograms from Menander I.His bronze coins are square and original in that they combine the club of Herakles with a
Scythian -type bowcase (for a shortrecurve bow ) inside a victory wreath, suggesting contacts or even an alliance with horse-mounted people originating from the steppes, possibly either the Scythians (futureIndo-Scythians ), or theYuezhi who had invaded Greco-Bactria. This bow can be contrasted to the traditional Hellenistic long bow depicted on the coins of the eastern Indo-Greek queenAgathokleia .ee also
*
Indo-Greek Kingdom
*Greco-Buddhism
*Indo-Scythians References
* "The Greeks in Bactria and India" W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press
Notes
External links
* [http://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?results=100&search=Zoilos+AND+Herakles Main coins of Zoilus I]
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