Antimachus II Nikephoros

Introduction

Antimachus II Nikephoros was an Indo-Greek king who ruled territory from the Hindu Kush to the Punjab in the mid 2nd century BCE. A surviving tax receipt makes it very likely that he was the son of Antimachus I; numismatic study by Osmund Bopearachchi initially placed his reign at c. 160–155 BCE but was revised to c. 174–165 BCE to synchronize him with Antimachus I. R. C. Senior has not fixed a date and has suggested that Antimachus II’s coinage might represent Indian issues of Antimachus I despite differing epithets and types.

Antimachus II is chiefly attested through his coinage. He issued large numbers of lighter Indian-standard bilingual silver drachms, round in form, bearing Nike on the obverse and a horseman on the reverse; he did not strike portrait coins nor is he known to have issued tetradrachms. He also struck bilingual bronze types showing the aegis, laurel wreath and palm, motifs that connect to his epithet “the Victorious.”

Sources indicate dynastic and military strain during his time: his father appears to have been dethroned in Bactria by Eucratides I, and Antimachus II probably confronted Eucratides. He was succeeded by Menander I, who adopted three of Antimachus II’s four monograms. Antimachus II’s principal legacy is numismatic: his bilingual, Indian-standard issues and victory-themed imagery provide primary evidence for his rule and for the dating of this segment of the Indo-Greek succession.