Strato II

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This article is about Indo-Greek kings. For the airplane, see Grob Strato 2C.
Strato II
Strato II portrait.jpg
Strato II
Indo-Greek king
Reign 25 BCE � 10 CE
Died 10 CE
Mathura
Religion Greco-Buddhism

Coin of Strato II.

Obv: Bust of Strato II. Greek legend: BASILEOS SOTEROS STRATONOS "Of King Strato
the Savior".
Rev: Athena holding a thunderbolt. Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA TRATARASA STRATASA
"King Strato the Saviour".
Strato II "Soter" (Ancient Greek: St??t?? B? ? S?t??, Str�ton B? ho Sot?r; epithet
means "the Saviour") was an Indo-Greek king. He ruled c. 25 BCE to 10 CE according
to Bopearachchi. R. C. Senior suggests that his reign ended perhaps a decade
earlier. He may have been supplanted by the Indo-Scythian Northern Satraps,
particularly Rajuvula and Bhadayasa, whose coins were often copied on those of the
last Indo-Greek kings.[1] Numerous coins of Rajuvula have been found in company
with the coins of the Strato group in the Eastern Punjab (to the east of the
Jhelum) and also in the Mathura area:[2] for example, 96 coins of Strato II were
found in Mathura in conjunction with coins of Rajuvula, who also imitated the
designs of Strato II in the majority of his issues.[3]

Contents
1 Rule
2 Coins of Strato II, III and Strato Dikaios
3 Imitations by Indo-Scythian rulers
4 See also
5 Notes and references
6 Bibliography
7 External links
Rule

Monolingual coin of Strato II Soter in Prakrit only. Obv. Apollo standing right,
with quiver on back, holding arrow; thick bead-and-reel border. Obv. Diadem with
Kharoshthi legend "Maharajasa tratarasa Stratasa" (Saviour King Strato).
Strato II ruled in the eastern Punjab, probably retaining the capital of Sagala
(modern Sialkot, Pakistan), or possibly to the city of Bucephala (Plutarch, p. 48
n. 5).

Approximate region of East Punjab and Strato II's capital Sagala.

His territory was invaded by Rajuvula, Indo-Scythian king of Mathura, and he became
the last of the Indo-Greek kings, together with his son[4] Strato III "Philopator"
("the father-loving"), who was included as joint regent on some of his coins and
also issued coins on his own.

A few silver coins with a different portrait and the inscription Strato Soter
Dikaios ("the just") may also belong to Strato III as sole ruler, or to a fourth
king named Strato.[5][n 1]
Just like the earlier king Strato I, the last Stratos are thought to belong to the
dynasty of Menander I, who also used the epithet Soter and the symbol of standing
Pallas Athena.

Coins of Strato II, III and Strato Dikaios

Coin of Strato II and Strato III.

Obv: Probable bust of Strato II. Possible Greek legend: ??????OS ?O????? ?????
O??? ??? F?? / ?????O??? "Of Kings Strato the Saviour and Strato the Father-
loving".[6]
Rev: Athena holding a thunderbolt. Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA TRATARASA
STRATASA, POTRASA CASA PRIYAPITA STRATASA "King Strato the Saviour, and his
grandson Strato the Father-loving.
The chronology of the late Indo-Greek kingdom has been established by Bopearachchi
and other scholars from numismatical evidence alone. The coins deteriorated
continuously, the Strato coins being the most debased and crude in style, a
striking contrast to earlier kings who struck some of the most beautiful coins of
antiquity.

The decay was due to the increasing pressure of the Indo-Scythian nomads on the
remaining Greek pockets, as well as their long isolation from the rest of the
Hellenistic world.

The boxy mint mark characteristic of Strato II and III and late Indo-Greek kings.
Strato II and III used exclusively a single "boxy" mint-mark, which they had in
common with late Indo-Greek kings such as Apollophanes and was initiated by
Dionysios Soter.[7]

Strato II, Strato III and Strato Dikaios struck debased silver drachms, which as
mentioned portray Pallas on the reverse. Strato II appears as an old man with a
sunken jaw on some of his coins, which is not surprising given that his grandson
was co-regent.

Strato II also issued bronzes and even lead coins of the common type Apollo/tripod.
On some of Strato II's silver drachms the letter sigma is written as C (a lunate
sigma), a not uncommon trait on late Hellenistic coins in the east.

Imitations by Indo-Scythian rulers

Coin of Northern Satrap Rajuvula (c. 10 CE), an imitation of Strato II, Mathura and
Eastern Punjab. This was the main coin type of Rajuvula.
Subsequent Indo-Scythian rulers, who replaced the Stratos in their territories,
designed their coins in direct imitation of those of Strato II. This is the case of
the Northern Satraps, who ruled in the territories from Sagala in Eastern Punjab to
Mathura, such as Rajuvula, Bhadayasa. Just as the Yuezhi had copied the coins of
the last Greco-Bactrian ruler Heliocles in Bactria, or the Indo-Scythians had
copied the coins of the last western Indo-Greek ruler Hermaios in the area of
Kabul, here again the Indo-Scythian Northern Satraps relied heavily on the
numismatics of their predecessors.[1] The fact that powerful new rulers such as
Rajuvula extensively adopted these coin designs tends to suggest that Strato II had
been quite a significant ruler in his eyes.

vte
Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kings, territories and chronology
Based on Bopearachchi (1991)[8]
Greco-Bactrian kings Indo-Greek kings
Territories/
dates West Bactria East Bactria Paropamisade
Arachosia Gandhara Western Punjab Eastern Punjab Mathura[9]
326-325 BCE Campaigns of Alexander the Great in India Nanda Empire
312 BCE Creation of the Seleucid Empire Creation of the Maurya Empire
305 BCE Seleucid Empire after Mauryan war Maurya Empire
280 BCE Foundation of Ai-Khanoum
255�239 BCE Independence of the
Greco-Bactrian kingdom
Diodotus I Emperor Ashoka (268-232)
239�223 BCE Diodotus II
230�200 BCE Euthydemus I
200�190 BCE Demetrius I Sunga Empire
190-185 BCE Euthydemus II
190�180 BCE Agathocles Pantaleon
185�170 BCE Antimachus I
180�160 BCE Apollodotus I
175�170 BCE Demetrius II
160�155 BCE Antimachus II
170�145 BCE Eucratides I
155�130 BCE Yuezhi occupation,
loss of Ai-Khanoum Eucratides II
Plato
Heliocles I Menander I
130�120 BCE Yuezhi occupation Zoilos I Agathokleia Yavanarajya
inscription
120�110 BCE Lysias Strato I
110�100 BCE Antialcidas Heliokles II
100 BCE Polyxenos Demetrius III
100�95 BCE Philoxenus
95�90 BCE Diomedes Amyntas Epander
90 BCE Theophilos Peukolaos Thraso
90�85 BCE Nicias Menander II Artemidoros
90�70 BCE Hermaeus Archebius
Yuezhi occupation Maues (Indo-Scythian)
75�70 BCE Vonones Telephos Apollodotus II
65�55 BCE Spalirises Hippostratos Dionysios
55�35 BCE Azes I (Indo-Scythians) Zoilos II
55�35 BCE Vijayamitra/ Azilises Apollophanes
25 BCE � 10 CE Gondophares Zeionises Kharahostes Strato II
Strato III
Gondophares (Indo-Parthian) Rajuvula (Indo-Scythian)
Kujula Kadphises (Kushan Empire) Bhadayasa
(Indo-Scythian) Sodasa
(Indo-Scythian)
See also
Indo-Greek Kingdom
Greco-Buddhism
Indo-Scythians
Notes and references
Notes

Given that the coins of Strato I have lately been attributed to two different
kings, there may actually have been as many as five kings named Strato.
References

The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans, John M. Rosenfield, University of California

Press, 1967, p.135 [1]
Mathura and Its Society: The 'Sak�-Pahlava Phase, Bratindra Nath Mukherjee, Firma
K.L.M., 1981, p.9
 Bibliography of Greek coin hoards, p. 194-195 [2]
R.C. Senior, Indo-Scythian coins and history. Volume IV. The Greek legend clearly
implies that the two kings were father and son, and Senior dismisses the older
reading "grandson" on the Kharosthi legend.
Senior, ibid.
Rapson, E.J. (1906). "Coins of the Graeco-Indian sovereigns agathokleia, Strato I
Soter, and Strato II Philopator". Corolla Numismatica. Numismatic essays in honour
of Barclay V. Head. With a portrait and eighteen plates. Oxford. At the Internet
Archive.
Jakobsson, J (2010). "A Possible New Indo-Greek King Zoilos III, and an Analysis
of Realism on Indo-Greek Royal Portraits". Numismatic Chronicle. JSTOR article
O. Bopearachchi, "Monnaies gr�co-bactriennes et indo-grecques, Catalogue
raisonn�", Biblioth�que Nationale, Paris, 1991, p.453
Quintanilla, Sonya Rhie (2 April 2019). "History of Early Stone Sculpture at
Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE". BRILL � via Google Books.
Bibliography
Whitehead, R.B. (1914). Catalogue of coins in the Punjab museum, Lahore. I Indo-
Greek Coins. Oxford. At the Internet Archive.
External links
Coin India Strato II and III
(in French) Les Rois Straton II et III
Preceded by
Apollophanes Indo-Greek ruler
(Eastern Punjab)
25 BCE � 10 CE Succeeded by
Strato III
vte
Hellenistic rulers
Categories: Indo-Greek kings1st-century BC rulers in Asia1st-century monarchs in
Asia
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