| Zoilus II Soter ("The Saviour") | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Zoilus II | |
| Indo-Greek king | |
| Reign | 55–35 BC |
Zoilus II Soter (Ancient Greek:Ζωΐλος Σωτήρ,romanized: Zōïlos Sōtēr;epithet means "the Saviour") was anIndo-Greek king who ruled in easternPunjab. Bopearachchi dates his reign to c. 55–35 BC, a date approximately supported by R. C. Senior. It is possible that some of his coins were issued by a separate king, Zoilus III.
Zoilus seems to have been one of the rulers who succeeded the last important Indo-Greek kingApollodotus II in the eastern parts of his former kingdom. All these kings use the same symbol as Apollodotus II, the fightingPallas Athene introduced by Menander I, and usually also the same epithetSoter (Saviour). It is therefore possible that they belonged to the same dynasty, and Zoilus II could also have been related to the earlier kingZoilus I, but the lack of written sources make all such conjections uncertain.
He may have been the Bactrian ally ofMark Antony andCleopatra VII referred to byVirgil in his vision of theBattle of Actium in :
Hinc ope barbarica variisque Antonius armis, | Antony, with barbarous wealth and strange weapons, conqueror of eastern peoples and the Indian shores, bringing Egypt, |
| —Virgil,TheAeneid, 8.688[1] |
Zoilus II issued silver drachms with diademed portrait and Pallas Athene in rather crude style, and two sorts of bronzes in various denominations: "Apollo, with tripod and small elephant", and "Elephant and tripod".
The portraits attributed to Zoilus II could be divided into two groups; one depicting a balding man with hollow cheeks, the other a seemingly younger man with a fringe and round cheeks. As numismatic evidence indicates that the younger portraits are later, recent research has suggested that they be attributed to a younger king, Zoilus III Soter, who would then have been a son and successor of the older Zoilos.[2]
In particular, the mint mark which is characteristic of the coins of Zoilos with a full head of hair, is a later mint mark used down to the last Indo-Greek kingsStrato II andStrato III, suggesting a later reign for Zoilus III.[2] This mint-mark however was never used by the "balding" Zoilus II, or by any king before him.[2]
TheIndo-Scythian kingBhadayasa also copied coins of Zoilus II, or the hypothetical Zoilus III, only mentioning his own name on theKharoshthi legend of his coins.[2]
Many of themonograms on the coins of Zoilus II are in Kharoshti, indicating that they were probably made by an Indian moneyer. This is a characteristic of several of the Indo-Greek kings of the eastern Punjab, such asStrato I,Apollodotus II, and sometimesApollophanes andDionysios. Furthermore, the monogram is often identical on their coins, indicating that the moneyer, or the place of mint, were the same.
The coins of Zoilus II combine Greek monograms withKharoshthi ones, indicating that some of thecelators may have been native Indians. TheKharoshthi monograms are the letters for: sti, ji, ra, ga, gri, ha, stri, ri, bu, a, di, stra, and śi. The "Apollo and tripod" and "Elephant and tripod" types only have Kharoshthi monograms, while the portrait types usually have combinations of Greek and Kharoshthi monograms. The monogram 62 (below) has been shown to be the last Indo-Greek monogram, and only appears on the younger portraits that may belong to Zoilus III.
The coins of Zoilus II have been found in theSutlej andSialkot II hoards, and inPunjab hoards east in theJhelum (Bopearachchi, p138).
Also, 25 coins of Zoilus II were found under the foundations of a 1st-century BC rectangular chapel in the monastery ofDharmarajika, nearTaxila.[3][4]
Two coins of Zoilus II were also found in the Bara hoard nearPeshawar, together with coins of the Indo-Scythian kingsAzes I,Azilises,Azes II.[5]
A coin of Zoilus II was overstruck on a coin ofApollodotus II.
| Preceded by | Indo-Greek Ruler (inEastern Punjab) 55 – 35 BC | Succeeded by |