 Silver drachm of king Hermaeus ( 90- 70 BCE). Obv: Diademed bust of Hermaeus with Greek legend: BASILEOS SOTEROS ERMAIOU "Saviour King Hermaeus". Rev: Zeus seated on throne, with scepter. Monogram. Kharoshti legend MAHARAJA TRATARASA HERMAYASA "Saviour King Hermaeus". Actual size: 15mm, 2.03g. Hermaeus (ca. 90-70 BCE) was one of the last of the Greco-Indian kings. His reign came to an end when the Indo-Scythians overran his Indian kingdom in the Paropamisadae. His wife was Calliope, represented conjointly on some of his coins.
Following his reign, it is generally considered that Greek communities remained under the rule of the Hellenized nomads, continuing rich cultural interraction (See Greco-Buddhism).
The coinage of Hermaeus was copied widely (posthumous issues) by the Indo-Scythian kings down to around 1 BCE.
Although rather unlikely, some Biblical scholars have suggested that Hermaeus may have been one of the three Kings (or Magi) from the east who are related to have visited Jesus at the time of his birth:
"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him" Matthew 2:1-8 .
External links
See also
References
- "The Greeks in Bactria and India", W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
- "The Coin types of the Indo-Greek Kings 256-54 BCE", A.K. Narain
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