Archebius
Indo-Greek king
Archebius Dikaios Nikephoros (Greek: Ἀρχέβιος ὁ Δίκαιος, ὁ Νικηφόρος; epithets mean respectively, "the Just", "the Victorious"; formerly read as "Archelius") was an Indo-Greek king who ruled in the area of Taxila. Osmund Bopearachchi dates him to c. 90-80 BC, and R. C. Senior to about the same period. He was probably one of the last Indo-Greek kings before the Saka king Maues conquered Taxila, and a contemporary of Hermaeus in the west. He may have been a relative of Heliokles II, who used a similar reverse and also the title Dikaios.
01Coin types
Archebius' name means "ruler of life" deriving from ἄρχω (“to rule”) and βίος ("life”). He issued silver with diademed or helmeted king, sometimes in spear-throwing pose. On the reverse is Zeus standing facing, holding a thunderbolt or on some issues an aegis.
Archebius also struck a rare series of Attic tetradrachms, found in Bactria.
He also issued bronzes with Nike on one side and an owl on the other.
02Overstrikes
Archebius overstruck two coins of Peukolaos.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Archebius”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Archebios portrait.jpg by CNG Coins. Used with permission (CNG coin [1])., CC BY-SA 3.0
- Archebios Tetradrachm.jpg by CNG Coins. Uploaded by Beads and Reels., CC BY-SA 3.0
- Archebios bareheaded.jpg by CNG Coins, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Archebios holding spear.jpg by CNG Coins, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Archebios with elephant and owl.jpg by CNG Coins. Uploaded by Beads and Reels, CC BY-SA 3.0
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