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Tetradrachm - Euthydemos I
| Issuer | Kings of Baktria |
|---|---|
| Year | 225 BC - 195 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Heracles, nude and bearded, seated in three-quarter view to the left upon a rocky outcrop, his club resting upright against his right knee and his right hand placed upon the rocks beside him. The figure is modelled with vigorous Hellenistic musculature and conveys a moment of heroic repose. The royal Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΕΥΘΥΔΗΜΟΥ is disposed in two lines around the field, with a control mark (monogram) present in the lower field. The composition follows the standard reverse type established by Euthydemos I and maintained throughout his reign. |
| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Euthydemus I seized the Baktrian throne from the Diodotid dynasty sometime around 230–225 BC, and his legitimacy was immediately contested. When Antiochus III marched east on his great anabasis, he besieged Euthydemus at Bactra for two years — a siege that ultimately failed. The subsequent peace, negotiated around 206 BC, was remarkable: Antiochus recognized Euthydemus as a legitimate king, reportedly persuaded by the argument that Euthydemus had not himself rebelled against the Seleucids and that a weakened Baktria would only invite nomadic incursion from the steppe.
The tetradrachms struck across this long reign show subtle die progression, with the Bopearachchi 9A variety among the later emissions.