Peukolaos

Peukolaos
Portrait of Peucolaos
Indo-Greek king
Reign	c. 90 BCE

Peucolaos Tetradrachm. Obv Diademed king, legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ KAI ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ/ ΠΕΥΚΟΛΑΟΥ "King Peukolaos, the Just and the Saviour". Rev. Maharajasa dhramikasa tratarasa/ Piükulaäsa ""King Peukolaos, follower of the Dharma and Saviour". Zeus making a blessing gesture.

Coin of Peukalaos. Obverse: Artemis standing facing, drawing arrow from quiver. Reverse: Goddess standing left, holding a flower and palm. Similar to the goddess of Pushkalavati on a coin of that city.

Peucolaus Soter Dikaios (Greek: Πευκόλαος ὁ Σωτήρ, ὁ Δίκαιος; epithets mean respectively, "the Saviour", "the Just") was an Indo-Greek king who ruled in the area of Gandhara c. 90 BCE. His reign was probably short and insignificant, since he left only a few coins, but the relations of the latter Indo-Greek kings remain largely obscure.

His name could be interpreted as "The man from Pushkalavati". Pushkalavati was the historic capital of Gandhara located in the Valley of Peshawar.

Coins of Peucolaos

Peucolaos struck rare Indian standard silver coins with portrait in diadem, and a reverse of a standing Zeus, which resemble the reverse of contemporary kings Heliokles II and Archebios. The latter has overstruck two coins of Peucolaos.

He also issued bilingual bronzes with Artemis and a crowned woman with a palm branch, perhaps a city-goddess or a personification of Tyche, the deity for good luck.

See also

• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
• Seleucid Empire
• Greco-Buddhism
• Indo-Scythians
• Indo-Parthian Kingdom
• Kushan Empire
• Catalog of the coins of Peucolaos
• Le Roi Peukolaos

Sources

• The Greeks in Bactria and India, W. W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
• The Coin Types of the Indo-Greek Kings, 256-54 B.C., A. K. Narain

References

Preceded by Amyntas Nikator

Indo-Greek Ruler (in Arachosia, Gandhara) c. 90 BCE

Succeeded by Menander II