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Thraso

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Thraso
Simulation of Thraso coin based on description by Bopearachchi, 1991 (actual coin image non published).
Obv:Diademed king to the right, with coat attached on right shoulder. Greek Legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΘΡΑΣΟΝΟΣ[1]
Rev:AthenaAlkidemos moving to the left, left arm holding a horizontal shield, right arm holding thunderbolt. LegendMaharajasa mahatasa / Thrasasa
[2]
Indo-Greekking
Reign95–80 BCE

Thraso(Greek:Θράσων,Thrásо̄n) was anIndo-Greekking in Central and WesternPunjab,unknown until the 1982 discovery of one of his coins by R. C. Senior in the Surana hoard. The coin is in a style similar to those ofMenander I,has the same type ofAthena,and shares one of Menander's mint marks. On the coin, the title of Thraso isBasileus Megas( "Great King" ), a title which onlyEucratides the Greathad dared take before him and which is seemingly misplaced on the young boy Thraso, whose single preserved coin indicates a small and insignificant reign.

OsmundBopearachchisuggests a preliminary dating of 95–80 BC, but Senior himself concludes that Thraso was the son and heir of Menander (c. 155–130 BC), since his coin was not worn and was found in a hoard with only earlier coins.[3]

It seems as though the child was briefly raised to the throne in the turmoil following the death of Menander, by a general who thought thegrandiloquenttitle might strengthen his case.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Bopearachchi, 1991, p.310
  2. ^Bopearachchi, 1991, p.310
  3. ^Senior,Decline of the Indo-Greeks(1998). The coin belonged to a secretive coin-collector, who did not allow Senior to photograph it, and it remains unpublished.

References[edit]

  • R. C. Senior,The Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian King Sequences in the Second and First Centuries BC,ONS 179 Supplement.
Preceded by Indo-Greek Ruler
(inPunjab)

c. 130 BCE
Succeeded by