|
BAKTRIA, Greco-Baktrian Kingdom. Eukratides I Megas. Circa 170-145 BC. AR Tetradrachm (34mm, 16.94 g, 12h). Helmeted, diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right; all in bead-and-reel border / The Dioskouroi, holding spears and palm fronds, on horses rearing right; monogram to lower right. Bopearachchi 6W; SNG ANS 469–71; HGC 12, 131. In NGC encapsulation 6601771-007, graded MS, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5.
Ex Heritage 3106 (17 January 2023), lot 33145, purchased from Tamco Numismatics.
True to his self-granted title, Eukratides Megas was perhaps the greatest of the Greco-Baktrian kings. His origins are obscure; he seems to have been the son of one Heliokles and a woman named Laodike, who may have been related to the Diodotid or Seleukid royal houses. This tincture of blue blood enabled him to attain a leading position in the army or civil service of the Greco-Baktrian realm, which had by circa 170 BC broken into several sub-kingdoms ruled by Antimachos I and II, Agathokles, Apollodotus I, and Demetrios II. Eukratides revolted against Demetrios and, despite being heavily outnumbered, succeeded in seizing his throne. Then, methodically, he defeated the other Baktrian rulers and annexed their realms, ultimately assuming the title Megas (“Great”). Only Menander I Soter, who controlled northern India, seems to have held out against him. Often depicted on his coins wearing a broad-brimmed helmet, his image spread far and wide, and the splendor of his reign was noticed by the Hellenistic states far to the west. The second century AD historian Justin wrote a brief, garbled account of his reign, noting that he “carried out several wars with great spirit,” but that he ultimately was murdered by one of his own sons while on campaign: “He was killed on his march by his son, with whom he had shared his throne, and who was so far from concealing the murder... he drove his chariot through his blood, and ordered his body to be cast out unburied.” Which of his three sons (Eukratides II, Plato and Heliokles I) carried out the patricide remains a mystery.
The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 133 lots will be determined at the live online sale that will be held on 15-16 September 2026.
CNG Feature Auction 133 – Session Two – Lot 309-594 will be held Tuesday morning, 15 September 2026 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
|
