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Diomedes Soter (
File:Coin of the Indo-Greek King Diomedes.jpg, Silver coin of Diomedes. Obverse shows the King wearing a Boeotian helmet and royal
Coins of DiomedesOther coins of Diomedes
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Le roi Diomède
{{Hellenistic rulers Indo-Greek kings 1st-century BC monarchs in Asia
Diomedes Soter (Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: , ''Diomḗdēs Sōtḗr'', "Diomedes the Saviour") 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 and possible claimant Greco-Bactrian
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom () was a Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central-South Asia. The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, and continued to dominate Central Asia until its fall a ...
king who may have attempted to reconquer the lands north of the Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...
. He was likely a member of the Eucratid dynasty. 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
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 ...
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
Diomedes is depicted with theDioscuri
Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi.
Their mother was Leda (mythology), Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal ...
on his coins, either on horseback or standing; both types were previously used by Eucratides the Great, which suggests a dynastic link to the latter. It is however uncertain how the two were related, since Eucratides I died long before Diomedes. It is important to note that very few Indo-Greek kings after Eucratides I minted silver coins showing the Dioscuri.
Diomedes also minted Attic-type coins (Greco-Bactrian
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom () was a Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central-South Asia. The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, and continued to dominate Central Asia until its fall a ...
style, with Greek legend only), which depict the king wearing a unique crested helmet, along with the Dioscuri riding horses on the reverse. His bilingual coins (with Greek and Kharoshthi
Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of modern-day Pakistan, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. used primarily by the people of Gandhara alongside vari ...
) show the king either wearing the diadem alone or crested helmets. His coinage indicates that he was ruling in the western part of the Indo-Greek territory.
One overstrike is known, of a coin of Strato and Agathoclea over a coin of Diomedes.Bopearachchi, ''De l'Indus à l'Oxus'', p. 129 This overstrike could indicate that Diomedes fought over the central areas of the Indo-Greek territories with Strato and Agathoclea.
Gallery
diadem
A diadem is a Crown (headgear), crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of Monarch, royalty.
Overview
The word derives from the Ancient Greek, Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", fro ...
, with Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΔΙΟΜΗΔΟΥ, ''Basileōs Sōtēros Diomēdou,'' "Of King Diomedes the Saviour". Reverse with standing Dioscuri
Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi.
Their mother was Leda (mythology), Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal ...
, and the Kharoshti
Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of modern-day Pakistan, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. used primarily by the people of Gandhara alongside var ...
legend: ''Maharajasa Tratarasa Diyametasa,'' "Of the Great Saviour King Diomedes".
Image:Diomedes round bilingual.jpg, Silver coin of Diomedes. The obverse shows King bareheaded and wearing a diadem, with surrounding Greek legend. The reverse shows the Dioscuri standing, and with the Kharoshti legend on the outside.
File:Diomedes helmetted.jpg, Another silver coin of Diomedes. The Obverse showing the King wearing a Boeotian helmet with a diadem, with the Greek legend on the outside. The reverse shows the Dioscuri riding horses, and the Kharoshti legend on the outside.
See also
*Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom () was a Ancient Greece, Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central Asia, Central-South Asia. The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid Empire, Seleucid satrap Diodotus I, Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, ...
*Greco-Buddhism
Greco-Buddhism or Graeco-Buddhism was a cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Gandhara, which was in present-day Pakistan and parts of north-east Afghanis ...
*Indo-Parthian Kingdom
The Indo-Parthian kingdom was a Parthian kingdom founded by Gondophares, and active from 19 CE to c. 226 CE. At their zenith, they ruled an area covering parts of eastern Iran, various parts of Afghanistan and the northwest regions of the Indian ...
*Indo-Scythians
The Indo-Scythians, also known as Indo-Sakas, were a group of nomadic people of Iranic Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the present-day regions of Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and the northwestern Indian subcontinent: p ...
*Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...
*Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...
References
External links
Coins of Diomedes
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Le roi Diomède
{{Hellenistic rulers Indo-Greek kings 1st-century BC monarchs in Asia