Hermaeus

Hermaeus the Saviour Soter
Indo-Greek king
Coin of Hermaeus. Greek legend: BASILEOS SOTĒROS HERMAIOU "Of the Saviour King Hermaeus". British Museum.
Reign	90–70 BCE
Consort	Kalliope

Hermaeus Soter (Greek: Ἑρμαῖος ὁ Σωτήρ; epithet means "the Saviour") was a Western Indo-Greek king of the Eucratid Dynasty, who ruled the territory of Paropamisade in the Hindu-Kush region, with his capital in Alexandria of the Caucasus (near today's Kabul, Afghanistan). Bopearachchi dates Hermaeus to c. 90–70 BCE and R. C. Senior to c. 95–80 BCE but concedes that Bopearachchi's later date could be correct.

Biography

Hermaeus seems to have been successor of Philoxenus or Diomedes, and his wife Kalliope may have been a daughter of Philoxenus according to Senior. Judging from his coins, Hermaeus' rule was long and prosperous, but came to an end when the Yuezhi, coming from neighbouring Bactria overtook most of his Greek kingdom in the Paropamisade around 70 BCE. According to Bopearachchi, these nomads were the Yuezhi, the ancestors of the Kushans, whereas Senior considers them Sakas.

Following his reign, it is generally considered that Greek communities remained under the rule of these Hellenized nomads, continuing rich cultural interraction (See Greco-Buddhism). Some parts of his kingdom may have been taken over by later kings, such as Amyntas Nikator.

The coinage of Hermaeus was copied widely (posthumous issues), in increasingly barbarized form by the new nomad rulers down to around 40 CE (see Yuezhi article). At that time, Kushan ruler Kujula Kadphises emphatically associated himself to Hermaeus on his coins,^[1] suggesting he was either a descendant by alliance of the Greek king, or that at least he wanted to claim his legacy. In any case, the Yuezhi-Kushan preserved a close cultural interaction with the Greeks as late as the 3rd century CE.

Given the importance of Hermaeus to the nomad rulers, it is possible that Hermaeus himself was partially of nomad origin.^[2]

Coins of Hermaeus

Coin of Hermaios and Kalliope, with Hippostratos on horseback, 105 BCE.

Hermaeus issued Indian silver coins of three types. The first type has diademed or sometimes helmeted portrait, with reverse of sitting Zeus making benediction gesture. Hermaeus also issued a rare series of Attic silver tetradrachms of this type, which were issued for export to Bactria.

The second type was a joint series of Hermaeus with his queen Kalliope. The reverse departs from the traditional Hermaeus format, in that it shows the king on a prancing horse. The "king on a pracing horse" is characteristic of the contemporary Greek kings in the eastern Punjab such as Hippostratos, and it has been suggested that the coin represented a marital alliance between the two dynastic lines. The horseman on Hermaeus' version is however portrayed somewhat different, being equipped with a typic Scythian longbow.

The third series combined the reverses of the first series, without portrait.

Hermaeus also issued bronze coins with head of Zeus-Mithras and a prancing horse on the reverse.

Contacts with China

A Chinese historical record from the Hanshu Chap. 96A could possible be related to Hermaeus, even though this is very speculative and the record more likely refers to later Saka kings. The chronicle tells how a king who may possibly be identified as Hermaeus received the support of the Chinese against Indo-Scythian occupants, and may explain why his kingdom was suddenly so prosperous despite the general decline of the Indo-Greeks during the period. The Chinese records would put Hermaeus's dates later, with his reign ending around 40 BCE.

According to the Hanshu, Chap. 96A, Wutoulao (Spalirises?), king of Jibin (Kophen, upper Kabul Valley), killed some Chinese envoys. After the death of the king, his son (Spaladagames) sent an envoy to China with gifts. The Chinese general Wen Zhong, commander of the border area in western Gansu, accompanied the escort back. Wutoulao's son plotted to kill Wen Zhong. When Wen Zhong discovered the plot, he allied himself with Yinmofu (Hermaeus?), "son of the king of Rongqu" (Yonaka, the Greeks). They attacked Jibin (possibly with the support of the Yuezhi, themselves allies of the Chinese since around 100 BCE according to the Hanshu) and killed Wutoulao's son. Yinmofu (Hermaeus?) was then installed as king of Jibin, as a vassal of the Chinese Empire, and receiving the Chinese seal and ribbon of investiture.

Later Yinmofu (Hermaeus?) himself is recorded to have killed Chinese envoys in the reign of Emperor Yuandi (48–33 BCE), then sent envoys to apologize to the Chinese court, but he was disregarded. During the reign of Emperor Chengdi (51–7 BCE) other envoys were sent, but they were rejected as simple traders.

These events may have initiated an alliance between the Greeks and the Yuezhi (even possibly a dynastic alliance), explaining why the Yuezhi gained pre-eminence after the reign of Hermaeus, why their rulers such as Heraios then minted coins in a way very faithful to the Greek type, and why the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises associated himself with Hermaeus on his coins, in a way characteristic of a ruler asserting his pedigree.

Gallery

Another coin of Hermaeus and Calliope.
Early posthumous coin (70–50 BCE)

Territories/ dates	West Bactria	East Bactria	Paropamisade	Arachosia	Gandhara	Western Punjab	Eastern Punjab
Indo-Greek Kings, territories and chronology Based on Bopearachchi (1991)^[3]
	Greco-Bactrian kings		Indo-Greek kings
326-325 BCE	Campaigns of Alexander the Great in India
312 BCE	Creation of the Seleucid Empire
305 BCE	Seleucid Empire after Mauryan war
280 BCE	Foundation of Ai-Khanoum
255–239 BCE	Independence of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom Diodotus I
239–223 BCE	Diodotus II
230–200 BCE	Euthydemus I
200–190 BCE	Demetrius I
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
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					Telephos	Apollodotus II
65–55 BCE						Hippostratos	Dionysios
55–35 BCE						Azes I (Indo-Scythian)	Zoilos II
55–35 BCE							Apollophanes
25 BCE – 10 CE							Strato II and III
							Rajuvula (Indo-Scythian)

References

↑ Since R.C. Senior suggests that the original posthumous Hermaeus coins were not struck by the Yuezhi but by Sakas, he suggests that Kujula Kadphises' use of the obverse of Hermaeus coins with his own reverse should be seen as Kadphises adapting his coinage to a popular local type after having conquered the Paropamisade. "The Decline of the Indo-Greeks", R. C. Senior, David John MacDonald, (1998), pp. 46-47.
↑ Senior, “The Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian king sequences in the second and first centuries BC”, ONS 2004 Supplement.
↑ O. Bopearachchi, "Monnaies gréco-bactriennes et indo-grecques, Catalogue raisonné", Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1991, p.453

Sources

The Greeks in Bactria and India, W. W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
The Coin Types of the Indo-Greek Kings, 256-54 B.C., A. K. Narain
China in Central Asia, the Early Stage: 125 B.C.-A.D. 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty, A. F. P. Hulsewé, and M. A. N. Loewe, 1979. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

External links

Preceded by:
Niciuas

Indo-Greek Ruler
(Paropamisade)
90–70 BCE

Succeeded by:
Yuezhi rulers

Hellenistic rulers

Argeads	Philip II Alexander III the Great Philip III Arrhidaeus Alexander IV

Antigonids	Antigonus I Monophthalmus Demetrius I Poliorcetes Antigonus II Gonatas Demetrius II Aetolicus Antigonus III Doson Philip V Perseus Philip VI (pretender)

Ptolemies	Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy II Philadelphus Ptolemy III Euergetes Ptolemy IV Philopator Ptolemy V Epiphanes Cleopatra I Syra (regent) Ptolemy VI Philometor Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator Cleopatra II Philometor Soter Ptolemy VIII Physcon Cleopatra III Ptolemy IX Lathyros Ptolemy X Alexander Berenice III Ptolemy XI Alexander Ptolemy XII Auletes Cleopatra VI Tryphaena Berenice IV Epiphanea Ptolemy XIII Ptolemy XIV Cleopatra VII Philopator Ptolemy XV Caesarion

Seleucids	Seleucus I Nicator Antiochus I Soter Antiochus II Theos Seleucus II Callinicus Seleucus III Ceraunus Antiochus III the Great Seleucus IV Philopator Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus V Eupator Demetrius I Soter Alexander I Balas Demetrius II Nicator Antiochus VI Dionysus Diodotus Tryphon Antiochus VII Sidetes Alexander II Zabinas Seleucus V Philometor Antiochus VIII Grypus Antiochus IX Cyzicenus Seleucus VI Epiphanes Antiochus X Eusebes Antiochus XI Epiphanes Demetrius III Eucaerus Philip I Philadelphus Antiochus XII Dionysus Antiochus XIII Asiaticus Philip II Philoromaeus

Lysimachids	Lysimachus

Antipatrids	Cassander Philip IV Alexander V Antipater II Antipater Etesias Sosthenes

Attalids	Philetaerus Eumenes I Attalus I Eumenes II Attalus II Attalus III Eumenes III

Greco-Bactrians	Diodotus I Diodotus II Euthydemus I Demetrius I Euthydemus II Antimachus I Pantaleon Agathocles Demetrius II Eucratides I Plato Eucratides II Heliocles I

Indo-Greeks	Demetrius I Antimachus I Pantaleon Agathocles Apollodotus I Demetrius II Antimachus II Menander I Zoilos I Agathokleia Lysias Strato I Antialcidas Heliokles II Polyxenos Demetrius III Philoxenus Diomedes Amyntas Epander Theophilos Peukolaos Thraso Nicias Menander II Artemidoros Hermaeus Archebius Telephos Apollodotus II Hippostratos Dionysios Zoilos II Apollophanes Strato II

Kings of Bithynia	Boteiras Bas Zipoetes I Nicomedes I Zipoetes II Etazeta (regent) Ziaelas Prusias I Prusias II Nicomedes II Nicomedes III Nicomedes IV Socrates Chrestus

Kings of Pontus	Mithridates I Ctistes Ariobarzanes Mithridates II Mithridates III Pharnaces I Mithridates IV Philopator Philadephos Mithridates V Euergetes Mithridates VI Eupator Pharnaces II Darius Arsaces Polemon I Pythodorida Polemon II

Kings of Commagene	Ptolemaeus Sames II Mithridates I Antiochus I Mithridates II Antiochus II Mithridates III Antiochus III Antiochus IV

Kings of Cappadocia	Ariarathes I Ariarathes II Ariamnes II Ariarathes III Ariarathes IV Ariarathes V Orophernes Ariarathes VI Ariarathes VII Ariarathes VIII Ariarathes IX Ariobarzanes I Ariobarzanes II Ariobarzanes III Ariarathes X Archelaus

Kings of the Cimmerian Bosporus	Mithridates I Pharnaces Asander with Dynamis Mithridates II Asander with Dynamis Scribonius’ attempted rule with Dynamis Dynamis with Polemon Polemon with Pythodorida Aspurgus Mithridates III with Gepaepyris Mithridates III Cotys I

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