Archebius

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Archebius Dikaios Nikephoros ("The Just and Victorious")
File:Archebios portrait.jpg
Portrait of Archebios on one of his tetradrachms
Indo-Greek king
Reign90–80 BCE
File:Archebios Tetradrachm.jpg
Tetradrachm of Archebios.
Obv: Helmetted king Archebius. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΑΡΧΕΒΙΟΥ "Of King Archebius the Just and Victorious"
Rev: Zeus, with Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA DHRAMIKASA JAYADHARASA ARKHEBIYASA "Archebios, the victorious king of the Dharma.
File:Archebios bareheaded.jpg
Coin of Archebius.
Obv: Bareheaded king Archebius. With Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΑΡΧΕΒΙΟΥ "Of King Archebius the Just and Victorious"
Rev: Zeus, with Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA DHRAMIKASA JAYADHARASA ARKHEBIYASA "Archebios, the victorious king of the Dharma.
File:Archebios holding spear.jpg
Coin of Archebius.
Obv: Helmetted king Archebius holding a spear. With Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΑΡΧΕΒΙΟΥ "Of King Archebius the Just and Victorious"
Rev: Zeus, with Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA DHRAMIKASA JAYADHARASA ARKHEBIYASA "Archebios, the victorious king of the Dharma.
File:Archebios with elephant and owl.jpg
Archebios coin with elephant and owl.

Archebius Dikaios Nikephoros (Greek: Ἀρχέβιος ὁ Δίκαιος, ὁ Νικηφόρος; epithets mean respectively, "the Just", "the Victorious"; formerly read as "Archelius"[1][2]) was an Indo-Greek king who ruled in the area of Taxila. Osmund Bopearachchi dates him to c. 90–80 BCE, 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.[citation needed]

Coin types

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Archebius' name means "ruler of life" deriving from ἄρχω (“to rule”) and βίος ("life”).[citation needed] 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.

Overstrikes

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Archebius overstruck two coins of Peukolaos.

References

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  1. ^ "In the Masson collection of 1836 were found Archebius ( read at the time as 'Archelius')" in Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Buddhism in Central Asia by B. N. Puri (Motilal Banarsidass Pub, January 1, 2000) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • The Greeks in Bactria and India by W. W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
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