016 Baktria Eukradites I

Baktria

Ruler: Eucratides I, circa 170 – 145

Denomination: Tetradrachm

Obverse: Diademed heroic bust of Eucratides I left, seen from behind, wearing crested helmet adorned with bull's horn and ear, brandishing spear in right hand. Fillet border.

Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ – ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ; The Dioscuri, holding palm fronds and spears, on horses advancing right; in lower right field, monogram.

Reference: MIG Type 179a. SNG ANS 485.

Weight: 15,81 g; 32,8 mm

Note: The Greco-Baktrian Kingdom is seldom mentioned in classical texts, in fact, much of what we know about the territory has been learnt from coins and their inscriptions. Notably, it is these very coins that have also granted Baktria a position in the history of Hellenistic art (J.J. Pollitt, Art in the Hellenistic Age, p.285), for, they present some of the finest examples of numismatic design and portraiture. Not only remarkable for its artistic merit however, a coin such as this is further significant for what it reveals about the self-perception of a Baktrian King.

Eukratides, an usurper, proclaimed himself King following a revolt (recorded by Justin (XLI, 6)) against Demetrios and the elimination of the entire former dynasty. The reverse of this coin reflects the warring prowess of the King in an intricate depiction of cavalrymen, the Dioskouroi, rushing into battle with their lances set and palm branches trailing behind them. The inscription surrounding the image reads 'of the great King, Eukratides' implying that, like the Persians and Alexander before him, Eukratides had come to dominate all the local rulers of the region.

In a numismatically unprecedented mode of depiction, Eukratides I appears on the obverse of this coin as a heroic nude bust. Seen from behind with a side-profile of his verisimilar portrait, Eukratides, spear in hand, is poised ready to strike. His muscles are tense, ready for action, but Eukratides' face conveys the calm composure of a true leader, he gazes straight ahead and his expression is of utmost concentration. Eukratides wears a crested helmet decorated with a bull's horn and ear, possibly an allusion to his Seleukid blood as we also find them on coins of Seleukos, who, according to Appian (Syr. 57) 'was of such a large and powerful frame that once when a wild bull was brought for sacrifice to Alexander and broke loose from his ropes, Seleukos held him alone, with nothing but his hands, for which reason his statues are ornamented with horns'.

The artistry of this image tempts a comparison with earlier heroic nude sculpture of Olympian deities, for example, the Artemision Bronze. More generally, there is reason to suppose that the Greek kings of Baktria would have considered their coinage a symbol of and a link with their Hellenic cultural heritage and therefore went to some expense to ensure that their coins were designed by the very best artists (J.J. Pollitt, Art in the Hellenistic Age, p.285). Kings such as Eukratides considered their Hellenic roots made them both distinct and civilized, a notion further evidenced by the fact that this portrait type went on to be copied by successive eastern kings and was later adopted by several Roman emperors from the time of Septimius Severus onward.

Eukratides I, unquestionably one of the most important monarchs of the Baktrian and Indo-Greek kingdom, ruled for about a quarter of a century, having risen to power ca. 170 BC. His extensive coinage includes a unique gold 20-stater piece in Paris, tetradrachms with a majestic left-facing heroic bust of the king as on this example, and tetradrachms depicting portraits of his parents Heliokles and Laodike. 

Eucratides I of Baktria overthrew the last of the Euthydemid dynasty which had ruled over Baktria and parts of India for the better part of the previous century. He went on to establish his own dynasty, with his son Eukratides II set to inherit his kingdom, ruling a vast territory which at its greatest extent covered parts of the Indian subcontinent and was greater in size than any other Greek-ruled kingdom of the time.

Eukratides was murdered on his way home from India, apparently by his son, who hated his father so much that he 'ran with his chariot over the blood of his father, and ordered the corpse to be left without a sepulture' (Justin XLI,6). The subsequent civil war between rival members of the dynasty, combined with external pressures from the Indo-Greeks, Sogdians and Parthians led to the ultimate collapse of the Greko-Baktrian Kingdom a mere fifteen years later, when it was conquered by the Parthians under Mithradates.

The reverse shows Eukratides' patron deities, the Dioskouroi, twin sons of Zeus and Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy, riding on horseback with couched lances.

Collection : 17 Greek Tetradrachms and staters