Antimachus II
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Obv: Goddess Nike with a victory plam in the right hand and a royal diadem in the left hand. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΑΝΤΙΜΑΧΟΥ (BASILEOS NIKEFOROY ANTIMAXOY) "Victorious King Antimachus".
Rev: Antimachus riding a horse, helmetted. Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA JAYADHARASA AMTIMAKHASA "Victorious King Antimachus".
Antimachus II was a Greco-Bactrian king. He ruled on a vast territory from the Hindu-Kush to the Punjab around 170 BCE. He was almost certainly identical with the eponymous son of Antimachus I, who is known from a unique preserved tax-receipt. He seems to have ruled areas to the east of his father, and is one of very few kings who did not strike portraits - this possibly reflects his status as junior co-regent.
Like his father, Antimachus II was eliminated by the conquests of king Eucratides. There is however some uncertainty as for the time of his reign. The suggestion 160-150 BCE fits in well with the numismatical developments and was previously the suggested by Bopearachchi, but if Antimachus II was a co-regent of his father it would be natural to synchronise his reign with that of Antimachus I. Therefore Bopearachchi has more recently suggested 174-165 BCE.
| Preceded by Antimachus I |
Greco-bactrian Ruler (Paropamisadae, Arachosia, Gandhara, Punjab) 172-167 BCE |
Succeeded by Eucratides I |
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
- Rea, J. R.; R. C. Senior and A. S. Hollis (1994). "A Tax Receipt from Hellenistic Bactria" (PDF). Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 104: 261–280. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
- Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1966). The Greeks in Bactria and India, 3rd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- "Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum 9", American Numismatic Society, New York, 1997.
