Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 2817536, member: 42773&quot;]In his vision of the Battle of Actium, Virgil writes, “Hinc ope barbarica variisque Antonius armis, victor ab Aurorae populis et litore rubro, Aegyptum viresque Orientis et ultima secum Bactra vehit. (Antony, with barbarous wealth and strange weapons, conqueror of eastern peoples and the Indian shores, bringing Egypt, and the might of the Orient, with him, and furthest Bactria).” [The Aeneid, Bk.VIII, 688]</p><p><br /></p><p>The Bactrian ally of Marc Antony may very well have been Zoilos II, who ruled in eastern Punjab from 55-35 BC. Zoilos succeeded the last important Bactrian king Apollodotus II The Great. He appears as a balding man with hollow cheeks on drachms that follow the earlier Bactrian designs with Athena Alkidemos, the goddess in a fighting stance. I received this coin in a consignment recently. It’s the first of its type I’ve handled and it’s beautifully struck from brand new dies, with no circulation wear that I can discern. Just gorgeous...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://s1.postimg.org/3os5tfy7z/ziolos_6.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><font size="3"><br /></font></p><p><font size="3">BAKTRIA, Indo-Greek Kingdom. Zoilos II. Circa 50-40/35 BC.</font></p><p><font size="3">AR drachm, Indian standard, 17mm, 2.2g, 12h.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv.: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΖΩΙΛΟΥ; Diademed and draped bust right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev.: MAHARAJASA TRATARASA JHOILASA in Kharosthi; Athena Alkidemos advancing left; monograms in left and right field.</font></p><p><font size="3">Reference: Bopearachchi Série 1A; SNG ANS 1654-1658.</font></p><p><br /></p><p>King Z also minted some small bronze coins with Apollo and tripod and/or elephant, which come in a handful of varieties that include round and square flans. These appear to be much scarcer than the drachms, and not generally well-preserved...</p><p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://s2.postimg.org/7rez5bd6h/zoilos_1.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>There are also drachms with a youthful bust with the inscription ΖΩΙΛΟΥ, which have led scholars to posit a Zoilos III, perhaps the son of Zoilos II...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://s1.postimg.org/57sbaqglb/zoilos_iii.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Does anyone else have coins of Zoilos II or III to share?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in