Amyntas Nicator (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: Ἀμύντας Νικάτωρ, ''Amýntas Nikátōr'', meaning "Amyntas the Victor") was an

Indo-Greek The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India. The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" ...

king. His coins have been found both in eastern

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, indicating that he ruled a considerable territory.

Date

Bopearachchi places Amyntas c. 95–90 BCE, whereas Senior places him c. 80–65 BCE.

Coinage

Amyntas struck mainly bilingual silver coins with a variety of portraits. The obverse of these coins show the king wearing either a diadem alone, a kausia hat, or two different types of helmets. Most of these bear the reverse of a sitting Zeus holding a victory palm and a small figure of Athena, which according to R. C. Senior may have indicated an alliance between the house of

Menander I Menander I Soter (, ; ), sometimes called Menander the Great, was an Indo-Greek king (reigned /155Bopearachchi (1998) and (1991), respectively. The first date is estimated by Osmund Bopearachchi and R. C. Senior, the other Boperachchi –1 ...

and the house of Antialcidas. Some of his coins feature the reverse of fighting Athena typical for Menander's descendants. The epithet ''Nikator'' (Victor) was previously used only on the Bactrian coins of

Agathocles Agathocles ( Greek: ) is a Greek name. The most famous person called Agathocles was Agathocles of Syracuse, the tyrant of Syracuse. The name is derived from and . Other people named Agathocles include: *Agathocles, a sophist, teacher of Damon ...

to commemorate a certain Antiochus, almost a century before Amyntas' reign. Amyntas, likely meaning "defender", was a common Macedonian name. It was borne by rulers from the dynasty of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, and also by the famous king's generals. Amyntas shared the coin monograms of several Indo-Greek kings such as Heliocles II, Hermaeus, Polyxenus, Philoxenus and Diomedes. His bronze coins feature the syncretic deity Zeus-

Mithra Mithra ( ; ) is an ancient Iranian deity ('' yazata'') of covenants, light, oaths, justice, the Sun, contracts, and friendship. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth ( ...

wearing a

phrygian cap The Phrygian cap ( ), also known as Thracian cap and liberty cap, is a soft Pointed hat, conical Hat, cap with the apex bent over, associated in Classical antiquity, antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe, Anatolia, and Asia. The Phry ...

and Athena standing at rest, both forming the vitarka mudra. Amyntas also minted the largest silver coins of antiquity: double-decadrachms. These huge coins each have a diameter of about 65 mm and a weight of 85 g. A total of five such coins were found as part of a hoard from Khisht Tepe in northern

, which is commonly known as the ''Qunduz hoard''. Three of the coins shows the goddess

Tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman mythology, Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the dau ...

seated and holding a cornucopia, while two of them show a seated

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

holding

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

. Besides these amazing coins, no other Attic coins of Amyntas are currently known.

Overstrikes

Amyntas is known to have overstruck coins of Heliocles II.

Gallery

File:Coin of Amyntas Nicator.jpg, Another silver coin of Amyntas. The obverse shows the king's portrait holding a spear, with surrounding Greek legend. The reverse shows seated Zeus holding Athena, and with surrounding Kharoshti legend. File:Amyntas with Zeus-Mitra.jpg, Indian-standard coin of Amyntas, with obverse showing the bust of

Mitra ''Mitra'' (Proto-Indo-Iranian language, Proto-Indo-Iranian: wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/mitrás, ''*mitrás'') is the name of an Indo-Iranians#Religion, Indo-Iranian divinity that predates the Rigveda, Rigvedic Mitra (Hindu god), Mitrá ...

wearing a

, and surrounding Greek legend. The reverse showing standing Athena in armour and with surrounding Kharoshti legend.

References

External links

Coins of Amyntas
{{Hellenistic rulers Indo-Greek kings 1st-century BC monarchs in Asia Euthydemid dynasty