This paper explores the visual languages of monarchic self-fashioning deployed by King Agathokles I of Baktria (ca. 180â176â¯B.C.). It does so by offering a reappraisal of the logic(s) behind the issue of the so-called âpedigree coinsâ, a striking local innovation in Baktrian language of royalty. The paper complicates current understandings of charismatic rule in the Hellenistic Far East by engaging with anthropological models of sacred kingship (divine and cosmic) across different cultural spaces (the Mediterranean World, the Near East, and India). Furthermore, it suggests Baktrian creative manipulation of Alexanderâs memory. Indeed, it is argued that Agathokles may have pioneered âimperial leapfroggingâ in Central Asia, in a skillful adaptation of visual cultures of power at the same time conversant with and reacting to Seleukid, Arsakid, and even Mauryan strategy of kingship validation.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
Azfar-Moin, A./Strathern, A. (2022), âSacred Kingship in World History: Between Immanence and Trascendenceâ, A. Azfar-Moin/A. Strathern (eds.), Sacred Kingship in World History: Between Immanence and Trascendence, New York: 1â30.
Bopearachchi, Osmund (1991), Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques. Catalogue Raisonné, Paris.
Brack, Jonathan (2023), An Afterlife for the Khan: Muslims, Buddhists, and Sacred Kingship in Mongol Iran and Eurasia, Oakland.
Briant, Pierre (2003), Darius dans lâombre dâAlexandre, Paris.
Canepa, Matthew P. (2024), âEnvisioning Dualism and Emplacing the Eschaton: Apocalyptic Eschatology and Empire in Sasanian Iranâ, Jörg Rüpke/Michal Biran/Yuri Pines (eds.), Empires and Gods. The Role of Religions in Imperial History, Berlin: 135â174.
Chrubasik, Boris/Stevensm Kathryn (2022), âThe Seleucid Era and Early Hellenistic Imperialismâ, Historia 71.2: 150â187.
Coloru, Omar (2009), Da Alessandro a Menandro. Il regno greco di Battriana, Roma.
Covey, Alan R. (2020), Inca Apocalypse. The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World, Oxford.
Degen, Julian (2019a), âAlexander III., Dareios I. Und Das Speererworbene Land (Diod. 17, 17, 2)â, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History 6.1: 53â95.
Degen, Julian (2019b), âXenophon and the Light from Heavenâ, Ancient History Bulletin 33.3â4: 81â107.
Degen, Julian (2024), âXerxes I, an Heir of Assyria? The Daiva Inscription in Contextâ, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 83.1: 41â58.
Dwivedi, Mamta (2020a), âEarly Historic South Asiaâ, Sitta von Reden (ed.), Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Volume 1: Contexts, Berlin: 95â128.
Dwivedi, Mamta (2020b), âIndic Sourcesâ, Sitta von Reden (ed.), Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Volume 1: Contexts, Berlin: 423â468.
Ferrario, Marco (2022), âFar Away from PÄrsa: Empire, Borders, and Ideology in Achaemenid Bactriaâ, Iran and the Caucasus 26.1: 1â16.
Ferrario, Marco (2024), âExpanders of the Realm: Sacred Kingship and Empire in Early Achaemenid Central Asiaâ, Iran and the Caucasus 28.4â5: 339â356.
Gehrke, Hans-Joachim (1982), âDer Siegreiche König. Ãberlegungen Zur Hellenistischen Monarchieâ, Archiv Für Kulturgeschichte 64: 247â277.
Glenn, Simon (2020a), âHistory from Coins: The Role of Numismatics in the Study of the Graeco Bactrian and Indo-Greek Worldsâ, Rachel Mairs (ed.), The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World, London: 467â486.
Glenn, Simon (2020b), Money and Power in Hellenistic Bactria, New York.
Graeber, David/Sahlins, Marshall (2017), On Kings, Chicago.
Härtel, Stefan (2023), âThoughts on the Iconography of the Sophytos Coinageâ, DABIR 10.2: 162â174.
Härtel, Stefan (2024), Commentary, Contextualisation and Interpretation of the Bactrian Inscriptions of the KuÅ¡Än Period, Ph.D. Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin.
Henkelman, Wouter F.M. (2017), âImperial Signature and Imperial Paradigm: Achaemenid Administrative Structure and System across and beyond the Iranian Plateauâ, Bruno Jacobs/Wouter F.M. Henkelman/Matthew W. Stolper (eds.), The Administration in the Achaemenid EmpireâDie Verwaltung im Achämenidenreich. Imperiale Muster Und Strukturen / Administration in the Achaemenid Empire Tracing the Imperial Signature. Akten Des 6. Internationalen Kolloquiums Zum Thema âVorderasien Im Spannungsfeld Klassischer Und Altorientalischer Ãberlieferungenâ aus Anlass Der 80-Jahr-Feier Der Entdeckung Des Festungsarchivs von Persepolis, Landgut Castelen Bei Basel, 14.â17. Mai 2013, Wiesbaden: 46â256.
Holt, Frank Lee (1984), âThe So-Called âPedigree Coinsâ of the Bactrian Greeksâ, Waldemar Heckel/Richard D. Sullivan (eds.), Ancient Coins of the Graeco-Roman World. Proceedings of the Nickle Conference Held in the Nickle Arts Museum of the University of Calgary, Oct. 19â23, 1981, Waterloo: 60â92.
Hoo, Milinda (2023), âBaktria in Early Hellenistic Times and the Question of âAlexandrian Legacyââ, Krzysztof Nawotka/Agnieszka Wojciechowska (eds.), Legacy of the East and Legacy of Alexander, Wiesbaden: 103â128.
Hoo, Milinda (2024), âThe Power to Impress and Impressing to Power. Translocal Developments in Baktrian Kingship and Royal Representation in the Third and Second Centuries BCâ, Christoph Michels/Hans Beck/Achim Lichtenberger (eds.), The Same, but Different? Monarchical Rule and Representation in the Hellenistic World, Stuttgart: 361â406.
Klinkott, Hilmar (2023), Xerxes: Der Grosskönig in Griechenland, Stuttgart.
Klinkott, Hilmar (2024), âThe âAchaemenidsâââOur Houseâ. The Creation of a Dynasty with an Imperial Auraâ, Kai Ruffing/Brigitte Truschnegg/Andreas Rudigier/Julian Degen/Sebastian Fink/Kordula Schnegg (eds.), Navigating the Worlds of History Studies in Honor of Robert Rollinger on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday, Wiesbaden: 913â944.
Kosmin, Paul J. (2014), The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in the Seleucid Empire, Cambridge (MA).
Kosmin, Paul J. (2018), Times and Its Adversaries in the Seleukid Empire, Cambridge (MA).
Kovacs, Martin (2022), Vom Herrscher zum Heros: die Bildnisse Alexander des GroÃen und die Imitatio Alexandri, Rahden.
Kubica, Olga (2023), Greco-Buddhist Relations in the Hellenistic Far East. Sources and Contexts, London.
Lincoln, Bruce (1998), âApocalyptic Temporality and Politics in the Ancient Worldâ, John Collins/Bernard McGinn/Stephen Stein (eds.), The Encyclopaedia of Apocalypticism, New York: 457â475.
Mann, Michael (1986), The Sources of Social Power. 1: A History of Power from the Beginning to A.D.1760, Cambridge.
Manteghi, Haila (2018), Alexander the Great in the Persian Tradition: History, Myth and Legend in Medieval Iran, London.
Marcinkiewicz-Joseph, Frances A. (2016), Demetrius I of Bactria: An Analysis of Hellenistic Royal Power Through Numismatic Evidence, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Houston.
Michels, Christoph (2024), âIntroductionâ, Christoph Michels/Hans Beck/Achim Lichtenberger (eds.), The Same, but Different? Monarchical Rule and Representation in the Hellenistic World, Stuttgart: 11â37.
Morris, Lauren (2020), âCentral Asian Empiresâ, Sitta von Reden (ed.), Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies: Contexts, Vol. 1, Berlin: 53â94.
Nabel, Jacob (2018), âAlexander between Rome and Persia: Politics, Ideology, and Historyâ, Kenneth Royce Moore (ed.), Brillâs Companion to the Reception of Alexander the Great, Leiden: 197â232.
Olivelle, Patrick (2013), King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautá»lyaâs ArthaÅÄstra. A new annotated translation, Oxford.
Olivelle, Patrick (2023), Ashoka: Portrait of a Philosopher King, New Haven.
Pfeiffer, Stefan (2024), âEine Prospektive Erinnerungsgemeinschaft Dynastie Und Genealogie in Der Repräsentation Der Ptolemaierâ, Christoph Michels/Hans Beck/Achim Lichtenberger (eds.), The Same, but Different? Monarchical Rule and Representation in the Hellenistic World, Stuttgart: 153â180.
Richardson, Seth (2020), âDown with âLegitimacyâ: On âValidityâ and Narrative in Royal Talesâ, Elisabeth Wagner-Durand/Julia Linke (eds.), Tales of Royalty. Notions of Kingship in Visual and Textual Narration in the Ancient Near East, Berlin: 243â260.
Rollinger, Robert (2023), âThe Persian Empire in Contact with the Worldâ, Karen Radner/Nadine Moeller/Daniel T. Potts (eds.), The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East. Volume V: The Age of Persia, Oxford: 887â948.
Sahlins, Marshall (2009), âThe Stranger King Or, Elementary Forms of the Politics of Lifeâ, Indonesia and the Malay World 36: 177â199.
Sahlins, Marshall (2022), The New Science of the Enchanted Universe: An Anthropology of Most of Humanity, Princeton.
Schmitt, Carl (1922), Politische Theologie: Vier Kapitel zur Lehre von der Souveränität, Leipzig.
Stoneman, Richard (2019), The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks, Princeton.
Strathern, Alan (2019), Unearthly Powers: Religious and Political Change in World History, Cambridge.
Strathern, Alan (2024), Converting Rulers: Kongo, Japan, Thailand, Hawaii and Global Patterns, 1450â1850, Cambridge.
Strootman, Rolf (2025), âImperial Leapfrogging: How Empires Anchor Their Rule in the Pastâ, Sebastian Fahner/Christian Feichtinger/Rogier E.M. Heijden (eds.), Politics of Pasts and Futures in (Postâ)Imperial Contexts, Berlin: 107â136.
Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1938), The Greeks in Bactria and India, Cambridge.
Tieken, Herman Joseph Hugo (2023), The AÅoka Inscriptions: Analysing a Corpus, Delhi.
Wiesehöfer, Josef (2024), âChanges and Dynamics in the Achaemenid Ideology of Ruler and Ruleâ, Kai Ruffing/Brigitte Truschnegg/Andreas Rudigier/Julian Degen/Sebastian Fink/Kordula Schnegg (eds.), Navigating the Worlds of History Studies in Honor of Robert Rollinger on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday, Wiesbaden: 1125â1140.
Worthington, Ian (2014), By the Spear: Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire, Oxford.
| å ¨é¨æé´ | è¿å»ä¸å¹´ | è¿å»30天 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| æè¦æµè§æ¬¡æ° | 170 | 170 | 5 |
| å ¨ææµè§æ¬¡æ° | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| PDFä¸è½½æ¬¡æ° | 24 | 24 | 0 |
This paper explores the visual languages of monarchic self-fashioning deployed by King Agathokles I of Baktria (ca. 180â176â¯B.C.). It does so by offering a reappraisal of the logic(s) behind the issue of the so-called âpedigree coinsâ, a striking local innovation in Baktrian language of royalty. The paper complicates current understandings of charismatic rule in the Hellenistic Far East by engaging with anthropological models of sacred kingship (divine and cosmic) across different cultural spaces (the Mediterranean World, the Near East, and India). Furthermore, it suggests Baktrian creative manipulation of Alexanderâs memory. Indeed, it is argued that Agathokles may have pioneered âimperial leapfroggingâ in Central Asia, in a skillful adaptation of visual cultures of power at the same time conversant with and reacting to Seleukid, Arsakid, and even Mauryan strategy of kingship validation.
| å ¨é¨æé´ | è¿å»ä¸å¹´ | è¿å»30天 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| æè¦æµè§æ¬¡æ° | 170 | 170 | 5 |
| å ¨ææµè§æ¬¡æ° | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| PDFä¸è½½æ¬¡æ° | 24 | 24 | 0 |