Strato II
Strato II | |
---|---|
![]() Sakaimitation of Strato II | |
Indo-Greekking | |
Reign | 25 BCE – 10 CE |
Predecessor | Menander II(dynastically) |
Successor | Strato III |
Died | 10 CE Mathura |
Religion | Greco-Buddhism |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Strato_II_fine.jpg/330px-Strato_II_fine.jpg)
Obv:Bust of Strato II. Greek legend: BASILEOS SOTEROS STRATONOS "Of King Strato the Savior".
Rev:Athenaholding a thunderbolt.Kharoshthilegend: MAHARAJASA TRATARASA STRATASA "King Strato the Saviour".
Strato IISoter(Ancient Greek:Στράτων B΄ ὁ Σωτήρ,Strátōn B΄ ho Sotḗr;epithetmeans "the Saviour" ) also known asStratha,was anIndo-Greekking. He ruledc. 25 BCEto 10 CE according to Bopearachchi. R. C. Senior suggests that his reign ended perhaps a decade earlier. He may have been supplanted by theIndo-ScythianNorthern Satraps,particularlyRajuvulaandBhadayasa,whose coins were often copied on those of the last Indo-Greek kings.[1]Numerous coins of Rajuvula have been found in company with the coins of the Strato group in theEastern Punjab(to the east of theJhelum) and also in theMathuraarea:[2]for example, 96 coins of Strato II were found in Mathura in conjunction with coins ofRajuvula,who also imitated the designs of Strato II in the majority of his issues.[3]
Rule
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Strato_II_Soter_Maharajasa_tratarasa_Stratasa.jpg/330px-Strato_II_Soter_Maharajasa_tratarasa_Stratasa.jpg)
Strato II ruled in the easternPunjab,probably retaining the capital ofSagala(modernSialkot,Pakistan), or possibly to the city of Bucephala (Plutarch, p. 48 n. 5).
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Strato_II_East_Punjab_territory_with_capital_in_Sagala.jpg/220px-Strato_II_East_Punjab_territory_with_capital_in_Sagala.jpg)
His territory was invaded byRajuvula,Indo-Scythianking ofMathura,and he became the last of the Indo-Greek kings, together with his son[4]Strato III"Philopator"( "the father-loving" ), who was included as joint regent on some of his coins and also issued coins on his own.
A few silver coins with a different portrait and the inscriptionStrato SoterDikaios( "the just" ) may also belong to Strato III as sole ruler, or to a fourth king named Strato.[5][n 1]
Just like the earlier king Strato I, the last Stratos are thought to belong to the dynasty ofMenander I,who also used the epithet Soter and the symbol of standingPallas Athena.
Coins of Strato II, III and Strato Dikaios
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Strato_II_other_coin.jpg/330px-Strato_II_other_coin.jpg)
Obv:Probable bust of Strato II. Possible Greek legend: ΒΑϹΙΛΕΩΣ ϹΩΤΙΡΟϹ ϹΤΡΑΤΩΝΟϹ ΚΑΙ ΦΙΑ / ϹΤΡΑΤΩΝΟϹ "Of Kings Strato the Saviour and Strato the Father-loving".[6]
Rev:Athenaholding a thunderbolt.Kharoshthilegend: MAHARAJASA TRATARASA STRATASA, POTRASA CASA PRIYAPITA STRATASA "King Strato the Saviour, and his grandson Strato the Father-loving.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Coins_of_Strato_and_Rajuvula_discovered_together_in_a_mound_in_Mathura.jpg/330px-Coins_of_Strato_and_Rajuvula_discovered_together_in_a_mound_in_Mathura.jpg)
The chronology of the late Indo-Greek kingdom has been established byBopearachchiand other scholars from numismatical evidence alone. The coins deteriorated continuously, the Strato coins being the most debased and crude in style, a striking contrast to earlier kings who struck some of the most beautiful coins of antiquity.
The decay was due to the increasing pressure of theIndo-Scythiannomads on the remaining Greek pockets, as well as their long isolation from the rest of the Hellenistic world.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/IGM62.jpg)
Strato II and III used exclusively a single "boxy" mint-mark, which they had in common with late Indo-Greek kings such asApollophanesand was initiated byDionysios Soter.[8]
Strato II, Strato III and Strato Dikaios struck debased silver drachms, which as mentioned portray Pallas on the reverse. Strato II appears as an old man with a sunken jaw on some of his coins, which is not surprising given that his grandson was co-regent.
Strato II also issued bronzes and even lead coins of the common type Apollo/tripod. On some of Strato II's silver drachms the lettersigmais written as C (alunate sigma), a not uncommon trait on late Hellenistic coins in the east.
Imitations by Indo-Scythian rulers
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Rajuvula_coin_Northern_Satrap_with_Greek_legend_and_Athena_Alkidemos.jpg/220px-Rajuvula_coin_Northern_Satrap_with_Greek_legend_and_Athena_Alkidemos.jpg)
Subsequent Indo-Scythian rulers, who replaced the Stratos in their territories, designed their coins in direct imitation of those of Strato II. This is the case of theNorthern Satraps,who ruled in the territories fromSagalain EasternPunjabtoMathura,such asRajuvula,Bhadayasa.Just as theYuezhihad copied the coins of the lastGreco-BactrianrulerHelioclesinBactria,or theIndo-Scythianshad copied the coins of the last westernIndo-GreekrulerHermaiosin the area ofKabul,here again theIndo-ScythianNorthern Satraps relied heavily on the numismatics of their predecessors.[1]The fact that powerful new rulers such as Rajuvula extensively adopted these coin designs tends to suggest that Strato II had been quite a significant ruler in his eyes.
See also
[edit]Notes and references
[edit]Notes
- ^Given that the coins of Strato I have lately been attributed to two different kings, there may actually have been as many as five kings named Strato.
References
- ^abThe Dynastic Arts of the Kushans, John M. Rosenfield, University of California Press, 1967, p.135[1]
- ^Mathurā and Its Society: The ʼSakæ-Pahlava Phase, Bratindra Nath Mukherjee, Firma K.L.M., 1981, p.9
- ^"Bibliography of Greek coin hoards, p. 194-195".Archived fromthe originalon 2018-05-25.Retrieved2016-12-08.
- ^R.C. Senior,Indo-Scythian coins and history. Volume IV.The Greek legend clearly implies that the two kings were father and son, and Senior dismisses the older reading "grandson" on the Kharosthi legend.
- ^Senior, ibid.
- ^Rapson, E.J. (1906)."Coins of the Graeco-Indian sovereigns agathokleia, Strato I Soter, and Strato II Philopator".Corolla Numismatica.Numismatic essays in honour of Barclay V. Head. With a portrait and eighteen plates. Oxford.
{{cite book}}
:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)At theInternet Archive. - ^The journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.Vol. 23. Bishop's College Press. 1854. pp. 689–691 Plate XXXV.
- ^Jakobsson, J (2010). "A Possible New Indo-Greek King Zoilos III, and an Analysis of Realism on Indo-Greek Royal Portraits".Numismatic Chronicle.JSTOR article
Bibliography
[edit]- Whitehead, R.B. (1914).Catalogue of coins in the Punjab museum, Lahore.Vol. I Indo-Greek Coins. Oxford.
{{cite book}}
:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)At the Internet Archive.