Zoilus II Soter: Indo-Greek King and Numismatic Legacy

Introduction

Zoilus II Soter was an Indo-Greek king who ruled in the eastern Punjab, dated by numismatists Osmund Bopearachchi and R. C. Senior to circa 55–35 BC. He is known overwhelmingly from coinage; a Zoilus II issue was overstruck on a coin of Apollodotus II and his coin-types and mintmarks link him to the succession of Indo-Greek rulers in the eastern portion of Apollodotus II’s former realm.

His silver drachms carry a diademed royal portrait and the fighting Pallas Athene; his bronzes occur in two principal types, “Apollo with tripod and small elephant” and “elephant and tripod.” Portrait issues typically bear both Greek and Kharoshthi legends and monograms, while the non‑portrait bronzes use Kharoshthi monograms alone, an indication that Indian moneyers or mints produced many of his coins.

Zoilus II’s coins have been recovered in multiple northwestern South Asian hoards, notably the Sutlej and Sialkot II groups and Punjab hoards east of the Jhelum. Twenty‑five of his coins were found beneath the foundations of a 1st‑century BC chapel at the Dharmarajika monastery near Taxila, and two examples appear in the Bara hoard alongside issues of the Indo‑Scythian kings Azes I, Azilises and Azes II. His types were copied by the Indo‑Scythian ruler Bhadayasa, attesting to the circulation and continued influence of his coinage. Zoilus II’s reign and political career remain primarily reconstructed from these numismatic and archaeological data; no independent narrative sources record his actions or the circumstances of his death or succession.