King Dionysios

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Square copper coin of king Dionysios (r.c. 65 - 55 BCE).
Obv: Bust of king Dionysios, diademed. Greek legend: BASILEO SOTIROS DIONYSIOU "Saviour King Dionysios".
Rev: Athena holding a thunderbolt. Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA TRATARASA DIYANISIYASA "Saviour King Dionysios".

Dionysios (reigned circa 65 - 55 BCE) was an Indo-Greek king in the area of eastern Punjab in modern Pakistan. Little is known about him, except for some of his remaining coins.

He was one of the last Indo-Greek kings, and probably fought against the invasions of the Indo-Scythians. Bopearachchi as well as RC Senior support a dating in the mid first century BCE, based on style and monograms of his coins. Earlier scientists like Professor Ahmad Hasan Dani have dated Dionysius much earlier, between the years 115 and 100 BCE, making him the ruler of the Swat and Dir Valleys and the weak successor of Polyxenos.

Dionysios' name echoes the Olympic wine-god Dionysos, who according to Greek mythology was also an ancient king of India.

[edit] See also

• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
• Seleucid Empire
• Greco-Buddhism
• Indo-Scythians
• Indo-Parthian Kingdom
• Kushan Empire

[edit] References

• "Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques", Osmund Bopearachchi, Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
• "The Bactrian and Indus-Greeks", Prof. Ahmed Hasan Dani, Lahore Museum.
• "The Indo-Greeks Revisited and Supplemented", Dr. A.K. Narain, BR Publishing Corporation.