Zoilos I

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Attic-standard coin of Zoilos I (r.c. 130-120 BCE).
Obv. Diademed and draped bust of Zoilos I.
Rev. Crowned Herakles holding wreath, with club over the arm and lion skin (type of Euthydemus II. Greek legend BASILEOS DIKAIU ZOILOU "King Zoilus the Just".

Bilingual coin of Zoilos I (r.c. 130-120 BCE).
Obv. Bust of Herakles. Greek legend BASILEOS DIKAIU ZOILOU "King Zoilus the Just"
Rev. Herakles club and a steppe-type recurve bow's bowcase on reverse, inside a victory wreath. Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA DHARMIKASA JOILASA "King Zoilus, of the Dharma".

Zoilus I Dikaios ("The Just") was an Indo-Greek king who ruled in Northern India and occupied the areas of the Paropamisadae and Arachosia previously held by Menander I. He may have belonged to the dynasty of Euthydemus I.

1 Time of reign
2 Coin types of Zoilos I
3 See also
4 References
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Time of reign

Bopearachchi has dated Zoilos to c. 130-120 BCE). A coin of Zoilus I was however probably overstruck by Menander I ^[1]: in this case, Zoilos probably came to power a few years earlier than 130 BCE, while Menander was still alive. R.C. Senior has suggested some time between 150-135 BCE).

[edit] Coin types of Zoilos I

Zoilos I uses a coin type similar to that of Euthydemus II, son of Demetrius: Crowned Herakles standing, holding a wreath or diadem in his right hand, and a club and the lion skin in his left hand.

His square coins are original in that they combine the club of Herakles with a Scythian-type bowcase (for a short recurve bow) inside a victory wreath, suggesting contacts or even an alliance with horse-mounted people originating from the steppes, possibly either the Scythians (future Indo-Scythians), or the Yuezhi who had invaded Greco-Bactria. This bow can be contrasted to the traditional Hellenistic long bow depicted on the coins of the eastern Indo-Greek queen Agathokleia.

The Indian-standard square coins of Zoilos I also bear the Pali title "Dharmikasa" ("Follower of the Dharma"), probably related to Buddhism, appearing for the first time on Indo-Greek coinage, simultaneously with the eastern king Strato I, son of Menander I.

A few monolingual Attic tetradrachms of Zoilos I have been found. Zoilos inherited several monograms from Menander I.