Diomedes Soter
Diomedes Soter | |
---|---|
Indo-Greek king | |
Reign | 95–90 BCE |
Diomedes Soter or Diodotus (Greek: Διομήδης ὁ Σωτήρ; epithet means "the Saviour") was an Indo-Greek king and possible claimant Greco-Bactrian King who may have attempted to reconquer the lands north of the Hindu Kush. The places where his coins have been found seem to indicate that his rule was based in the area of the Paropamisadae, possibly with temporary dominions further east. Judging from their similar portraits and many overlapping monograms, the young Diomedes seems to have been the heir (and probably a relative) of Philoxenus, the last king to rule before the kingdom of Menander I finally fragmented.
Time of reign[]
Bopearachchi dates Diomedes to c. 95–90 BCE and R. C. Senior dates him to c. 115–105 BCE.
Coins of Diomedes (Diodotus)[]
Diomedes either born Diodotus or reigning as such; perhaps erroneously labelled on legend as Diomedes, is depicted with the Dioscuri on his coins, either on horseback or standing; both types were previously used by Eucratides the Great, which strongly suggests a Diodotid dynastic link and further supports the subject of his mistaken name. It is however uncertain how the two were related, since Eucratides I died long before Diomedes.
Diomedes minted both Attic-type coins (Greco-Bactrian style, with Greek legend only), and bilingual coins (with Greek and Kharoshthi), indicating that he was ruling in the western part of the Indo-Greek territory.
One overstrike is known, of a coin of Strato and Agathokleia over a coin of Diomedes.[1] This overstrike could indicate that Diomedes fought over the central areas of the Indo-Greek territories with Strato and Agathokleia.
Greco-Bactrian kings | Indo-Greek kings | |||||||||||
Territories/ dates |
West Bactria | East Bactria | Paropamisade |
Arachosia | Gandhara | Western Punjab | Eastern Punjab | Mathura[3] | ||||
326-325 BCE | Campaigns of Alexander the Great in India | Nanda Empire | ||||||||||
312 BCE | Creation of the Seleucid Empire | Creation of the Maurya Empire | ||||||||||
305 BCE | Seleucid Empire after Mauryan war | Maurya Empire | ||||||||||
280 BCE | Foundation of Ai-Khanoum | |||||||||||
255–239 BCE | Independence of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom Diodotus I |
Emperor Ashoka (268-232) | ||||||||||
239–223 BCE | Diodotus II | |||||||||||
230–200 BCE | Euthydemus I | |||||||||||
200–190 BCE | Demetrius I | Sunga Empire | ||||||||||
190-185 BCE | Euthydemus II | |||||||||||
190–180 BCE | Agathocles | Pantaleon | ||||||||||
185–170 BCE | Antimachus I | |||||||||||
180–160 BCE | Apollodotus I | |||||||||||
175–170 BCE | Demetrius II | |||||||||||
160–155 BCE | Antimachus II | |||||||||||
170–145 BCE | Eucratides I | |||||||||||
155–130 BCE | Yuezhi occupation, loss of Ai-Khanoum |
Eucratides II Plato Heliocles I |
Menander I | |||||||||
130–120 BCE | Yuezhi occupation | Zoilos I | Agathokleia | Yavanarajya inscription | ||||||||
120–110 BCE | Lysias | Strato I | ||||||||||
110–100 BCE | Antialcidas | Heliokles II | ||||||||||
100 BCE | Polyxenos | Demetrius III | ||||||||||
100–95 BCE | Philoxenus | |||||||||||
95–90 BCE | Diomedes | Amyntas | Epander | |||||||||
90 BCE | Theophilos | Peukolaos | Thraso | |||||||||
90–85 BCE | Nicias | Menander II | Artemidoros | |||||||||
90–70 BCE | Hermaeus | Archebius | ||||||||||
Yuezhi occupation | Maues (Indo-Scythian) | |||||||||||
75–70 BCE | Vonones | Telephos | Apollodotus II | |||||||||
65–55 BCE | Spalirises | Hippostratos | Dionysios | |||||||||
55–35 BCE | Azes I (Indo-Scythians) | Zoilos II | ||||||||||
55–35 BCE | Vijayamitra/ Azilises | Apollophanes | ||||||||||
25 BCE – 10 CE | Gondophares | Zeionises | Kharahostes | Strato II Strato III |
||||||||
Gondophares (Indo-Parthian) | Rajuvula (Indo-Scythian) | |||||||||||
Kujula Kadphises (Kushan Empire) | Bhadayasa (Indo-Scythian) |
Sodasa (Indo-Scythian) |
See also[]
- Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
- Greco-Buddhism
- Indo-Parthian Kingdom
- Indo-Scythians
- Kushan Empire
- Seleucid Empire
References[]
- ^ Bopearachchi, De l'Indus à l'Oxus, p. 129
- ^ O. Bopearachchi, "Monnaies gréco-bactriennes et indo-grecques, Catalogue raisonné", Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1991, p.453
- ^ Quintanilla, Sonya Rhie (2 April 2019). "History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE". BRILL – via Google Books.
- Tarn, W. W. (1984). The Greeks in Bactria and India. Chicago: Ares. ISBN 0-89005-524-6.
- Bopearachchi, Osmund (2003). De l'Indus à l'Oxus, Archéologie de l'Asie Centrale (in French). Lattes: Association imago-musée de Lattes. ISBN 2-9516679-2-2.
External links[]
- Coins of Diomedes
- Other coins of Diomedes
- (in French) Le roi Diomède
- Indo-Greek kings
- 1st-century BC rulers in Asia