King Lysias

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Attic-standard silver tetradrachm of king Lysias (r.c. 120-110 BCE).
Obv. King Lysias in armour, with small elephant head on the shoulder, in place of the aegis.
Rev. Nude Herakles standing facing, crowning himself, holding club, lion's skin, and palm (variation of Demetrius I type; monogram to left. Greek legend BASILEWS ANIKHTOU LUSIOU "Invincible King Lysias".

Bilingual silver drachm of king Lysias (r.c. 120-110 BCE).
Obv. Draped bust of Lysias, wearing elephant's skin headdress. Greek legend BASILEWS ANIKHTOU LUSIOU "Invincible King Lysias"
Rev. Nude Herakles standing facing, crowning himself, holding club, lion's skin, and palm (variation of Demetrius I type; monogram to left. Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA APADIHATASA LISIKASA "Invincible King Lysias".

Lysias Anikitou ("The Invincible") was an Indo-Greek king who ruled between around 120-110 BCE in Northern India in the area of Punjab. He was probably a successor of King Zoilos I.

His territory initially covered the areas of the Paropamisadae and Arachosia, but he probably conquered parts of Gandhara.

1 Coin types
2 East-West alliance
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Coin types

Lysias' coins use almost entirely the type of King Demetrius: the elephant scalp, Herakles standing, crowning himself, and holding his club, with the single addition of a palm to signify victory. On some other coins, he can be helmeted, or wearing the Greek flat hat "kausia".

His "Indian type" square copper coinage show a bust of Herakles, with an "elephant god" on reverse.

[edit] East-West alliance

Lysias issued some coins which bear the name of the "Western" king Antialcidas on the reverse, in the Kharoshthi script: MAHARAJASA JAYADHARASA AMTIALIKIDASA "The victorious king Antialcidas", together with the pilei (hats) of the Dioscuri, a type typical of Antialcidas. The obverse is a bust of Herakles with the Greek legend BASILEOS ANIKITOU LUSIOU "Invicible King Lysias" (British Museum Catalogue). It has been suggested that the two kings might have forged some kind of alliance, which may have remained until the last Indo-Greek kings, as suggested by the marital coins of Hermaeus. The move for two independent kings to share a common coin is however totally unprecedented in history. According to most modern numismatic experts and historians, the coin was most likely a "mule;" in other words, an impoperly overstruck issue of one of the pertinent rulers.

More likely is that Antialcidas was the son of Lysias, and that the latter extended his territory over two kingdoms, putting his son as regent in Taxila. That would also give a plausible explanation as for why Lysias imitates Demetrius: like him, Lysias was a conqueror of "India", as the Greeks denoted the area of Gandhara and Punjab.

Lysias with elephant scalp and Herakles.	Lysias with helmet, and Herakles.	Lysias with kausia, and Herakles.	Lysias with diadem, and Herakles.
Lysias with helmet and spear, with a small elephant on the shoulder in place of aegis.	Coin of Lysias, with bust of Herakles with club, and elephant in reverse.