Agathoclea
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Agathoclea | |
---|---|
Queen regent | |
Reign | 130-120 BCE |
Successor | Strato I |
Born | c. 155 BC Bactria |
Died | c.100 BCE Sagala |
Burial | Stupas in Gandhara |
Spouse | Menander I |
Issue | Strato I |
Dynasty | Indo-Greek Kingdom |
Agathoclea Theotropus (
Date and genealogy
The traditional view, introduced by Tarn and defended as late as 1998 by Bopearachchi, is that Agathokleia was the widow of
The modern view, embraced by R. C. Senior and probably more solid since it is founded on numismatical analyses, suggests that Agathokleia was a later queen, perhaps ruling from 110 BC–100 BC or slightly later. In this case, Agathoclea was likely the widow of another king, possibly
Some of her subjects may have been reluctant to accept an infant king with a queen regent: unlike the Seleucid and Ptolemaic Kingdoms, almost all Indo-Greek rulers were depicted as grown men. This was probably because the kings were required to command armies, as can be seen on their coins where they are often depicted with helmets and spears. Agathokleia seems to have associated herself with Athena, the goddess of war. Athena was also the dynastic deity of the family of Menander, and Agathokleia's prominent position suggests that she was herself the daughter of a king, though she was probably too late to have been a daughter of the Bactrian king Agathocles.
Coinage
The coins of Agathokleia and Strato were all bilingual, and Agathoclea's name appears more often in the Greek legend than in the Indian.
(See Strato I for details of legends.)
Most of Agathoclea's coins were struck jointly with her son Strato, though on their first issues, he is not featured on the portrait.
Silver: Bust of Agathoclea/walking king
Bust of Strato and Agathoclea conjoined/Athena Alcidemus
Bronzes: Bust of either helmeted Athena or Agathoclea as a personification of this goddess/sitting Heracles
The later king Heliocles II overstruck some of Agathoclea's coins.
See also
References
- ^ Tarn, W.W. The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press.
- ISBN 978-0-521-23448-1.
Sources
- W. W. Tarn. The Greeks in Bactria and India. Third Edition. Cambridge: University Press, 1966.