Zoilos II

Zoilos II
Indo-Greek king
Coin of king Zoilos II (55–35 BCE). Obv: Bust of Zoilos II with Greek legend ΒΑΣΗΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΖΟΗΛΟΥ ("Basileos Sotiros Zoilou") "King Zoilos the Saviour". Rev: Athena advancing left, with thunderbolt and shield covered with aegis (type of Menander I). Kharosthi legend: MAHARAJASA TRATARASA JHOILASA "King Zoilos the Saviour".
Reign	55 BCE – 35 BCE
Titles	Soter ("The Saviour")

Zoilos II Soter "Saviour" was an Indo-Greek king who ruled in eastern Punjab. Bopearachchi dates his reign to c. 55–35 BCE, a date approximately supported by R. C. Senior.

Rule

He seems to have been one of the rulers who succeeded the last important Indo-Greek king Apollodotus II the Great in the eastern parts of his former kingdom. All these kings use the same symbol as Apollodotus II, the fighting Pallas Athene introduced by Menander I, and usually also the same epithet Soter (Saviour). It is therefore possible that they belonged to the same dynasty, and Zoilus II could also have been related to the earlier king Zoilus I, but the lack of written sources make all such conjections uncertain.

Coins of Zoilus II

Zoilos II issued silver drachms with diademed portrait and Pallas Athene in rather crude style, and two sorts of bronzes in various denominations: "Apollo, with tripod and small elephant", and "Elephant and tripod".

Monograms

Coin of Zoilos II.

Many of the (monograms) on the coins of Zoilos II are in Kharoshti, indicating that they were probably made by an Indian moneyer. This is a characteristic of several of the Indo-Greek kings of the eastern Punjab, such as Strato I, Apollodotus II, and sometimes Apollophanes and Dionysios. Furthermore, the monogram is often identical on their coins, indicating that the moneyer, or the place of mint, were the same.

The coins of Zoilos II combine Greek monograms with Kharoshthi ones, indicating that some of the celators may have been native Indians. The Kharoshthi monograms are the letters for: sti, ji, ra, ga, gri, ha, stri, ri, bu, a, di, stra, and śi. The "Apollo and tripod" and "Elephant and tripod" types only have Kharoshthi monograms, while the portrait types usually have combinations of Greek and Kharoshthi monograms.

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Findplaces

The coins of Zoilos II have been found in the Sutlej and Sialkot II hoards, and in Punjab hoards east in the Jhelum (Bopearachchi, p138).

Also, coins of Zoilos II were found under the foundation of 1st century BCE rectangular chapel in the monastery of Dharmarajika, near Taxila (John Marshall, "Taxila, Archaeological excavations", p. 248.)

Two coins of Zoilos II were also found in the Bara hoard near Peshawar, together with coins of the Indo-Scythian kings Azes I, Azilises, Azes II.

Overstrikes

A coin of Zoilus II was overstruck on a coin of Apollodotus II.

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  Zoilos II with Athena.

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  Apollo holding arrow, with small elephant on the left. Tripod on reverse.

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  Elephant and tripod.

Preceded by: Dionysios

Indo-Greek Ruler (Eastern Punjab) 55–35 BCE

Succeeded by: Apollophanes

INDO-GREEK KINGS AND THEIR TERRITORIES Based on Bopearachchi (1991)
Territories/ Dates	PAROPAMISADE	ARACHOSIA	GANDHARA	WESTERN PUNJAB	EASTERN PUNJAB
200–190 BCE	Demetrius I
190–180 BCE	Agathocles	Pantaleon
185–170 BCE	Antimachus I
180–160 BCE	Apollodotus I
175–170 BCE	Demetrius II
160–155 BCE	Antimachus II
170–145 BCE	Eucratides
155–130 BCE	Menander I
130–120 BCE	Zoilos I		Agathokleia
120–110 BCE	Lysias		Strato I
110–100 BCE	Antialcidas		Heliokles II
100 BCE	Polyxenios		Demetrius III
100–95 BCE	Philoxenus
95–90 BCE	Diomedes	Amyntas		Epander
90 BCE	Theophilos	Peukolaos		Thraso
90–85 BCE	Nicias	Menander II		Artemidoros
90–70 BCE	Hermaeus	Archebios
	Yuezhi tribes		Maues (Indo-Scythian)
75–70 BCE			Telephos	Apollodotus II
65–55 BCE				Hippostratos	Dionysios
55–35 BCE				Azes I (Indo-Scythian)	Zoilos II
55–35 BCE					Apollophanes
25 BCE – 10 CE					Strato II & III
					Rajuvula (Indo-Scythian)

See also

• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
• Seleucid Empire
• Greco-Buddhism
• Indo-Scythians
• Indo-Parthian Kingdom
• Kushan Empire

References

• "The Greeks in Bactria and India", W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
• "Coins of the Indo-Greeks", Whitehead.