Diodotid dynasty
| Diodotid dynasty | |
|---|---|
.png) Coin of Diodotus Soter, with thundering Zeus serving as the symbol of the Diodotids | |
| Country | Greco-Bactria |
| Founded | c. 255 BC |
| Founder | Diodotus I |
| Final ruler | Diodotus II |
| Titles | |
| Dissolution | c. 225 BC |
The Diodotid dynasty was a Hellenistic dynasty founded by Seleucid viceroy Diodotus I Soter[1][2] c. 255 BC, ruling the far-eastern Kingdom of Bactria. The Diodotids were the first independent Greek kings to rule in Bactria.[3][4]
Antiochus Nicator, a proposed Greco-Bactrian King c. 230s BC, would have belonged to the Diodotid dynasty (his existence as a distinct Greco-Bactrian ruler is controversial and his coins may have represented Seleucid authority).[5] Diodotus II Theos was the last Diodotid ruler of Bactria. His reign was marked for his controversial alliance with the Parthians against the Seleucid Empire.[4]
After the deposition of Diodotus II c. 225 BC by Euthydemus I, the dynasty may have continued in the female line with the Euthydemids who also married into the Seleucid dynasty. It was thus that the Euthydemids, who also initiated the Indo-Greek Kingdom,[6] were the most legitimate Greco-Bactrian rulers.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ Holt 1999, pp. 64
- ^ Ramirez-Faria, Carlos (2007). Concise Encyclopedia Of World History. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 64. ISBN 978-81-269-0775-5.
- ^ Astin, A. E. (1990). The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press. p. 401. ISBN 978-0-521-23448-1.
- ^ a b Justin XLI, paragraph 1
- ^ Jakobsson, Jens (2010). "Antiochus Nicator, a third king of Hellenistic Bactria?". Numismatic Chronicle. 170: 17–33.
- ^ "Indo-Greek kingdom | Asian history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
- ^ Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1938; repr. 2010). The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108009416.