Theophilos (king)

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Tetradrachm of Theophilos, Attic standard.
Obv: Bust of king Theophilos. Bead and reel contour.
Rev: Athena on a throne, with Nike on her right hand, holding a victory wreath. Greek legend: BASILEOS AUTOKRATOROS TEOPHILOU "King Autocrat Theophilos".

Theophilos was an Indo-Greek king who ruled for a short time in the Paropamisadae. He was possibly a relative of Zoilos I.

[edit] Time of reign

While Bopearachchi suggests c.90 BCE, R.C. Senior believes that Theophilos ruled in the 130s BCE. Both numismatics do however suggest that the reigns of Theophilos and Nicias were adjacent.

[edit] Coins of Theophilos

Just like Zoilos I, Theophilos struck Indian silver coins with Herakles, a common symbol of the house of Euthydemus I, and the epithet Dikaios/Dhramikasa "The Just/Follower of the Dharma". The monograms are mostly the same as those of Nicias. The bronzes have similar inscriptions.

Bronzes of Theophilos:

Herakles with lion skin, and his club on the reverse.

Bust of Herakles, with cornucopia on reverse.

However, there is a wholly different, and very rare, Attic coinage of a king Theophilos. Found in Bactria, these coins feature a reverse with a seated Athena with Nike, a different title "Autocrat King", and also a separate monogram. Although this is not a very common occurrence on Indo-Greek coins, according to Bopearachchi this should be considered as one and unique king, a proposition reinfored by the similarity between the portraits and the identical treatment of the diadem (one end straight, one end crooked).

[edit] See also

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

[edit] References

• "The Greeks in Bactria and India", W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.