Hermaeus

Hermaeus Soter or Hermaios Soter (Ancient 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 BC and R. C. Senior to c. 95–80 BC.

Hermaeus Soter "the Saviour"
Profile of Hermaeus.
Indo-Greek king
Reign90–70 BC
ConsortKalliope
Obv: Helmeted Hermaios, with Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΕΡΜΑΙΟΥ: "King Hermaeus, the Saviour".
Rev. Radiate Zeus making a blessing gesture.

Biography
Obv: Hermaios bareheaded, with Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΕΡΜΑΙΟΥ: "King Hermaeus, the Saviour".
Rev. Radiate Zeus making a blessing gesture.

Hermaeus seems to have been successor of Philoxenus or Diomedes, and his wife Kalliope (Greek: Καλλιόπη) 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, overran most of his Greek kingdom in the Paropamisade around 70 BC. According to Bopearachchi, these nomads were the Yuezhi, the ancestors of the Kushans, whereas Senior considers them Sakas.

Coin of Hermaeus. Greek legend: BΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΕΡΜΑΙΟΥ "Of the Saviour King Hermaeus". British Museum.

Kushan ruler Kujula Kadphises associated himself to Hermaeus on his coins,[1] either in attempt to solidify legitimacy or due to the difficulties minting early coins. In any case, the Yuezhi-Kushans preserved a close cultural interaction with the Greeks as late as the 3rd century AD.

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 BC.

Hermaeus issued Indian silver coins of three types. The first type has a 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 prancing 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 typical Scythian longbow.

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

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

Contacts with China
Indian-standard square coin of Hermaios. Obv: radiate Zeus-Mithra, with Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΕΡΜΑΙΟΥ: "King Hermaeus, the Saviour".

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 BC.

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 BC 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 BC), then sent envoys to apologize to the Chinese court, but he was disregarded. During the reign of Emperor Chengdi (51–7 BC) other envoys were sent, but they were rejected as simple traders.

Imitations by Indo-Scythian and Yuezhi invaders
Hermaios posthumous issue struck by Indo-Scythians near Kabul, circa 80-75 BC.
Hermaios posthumus issue, mid 1st century BC.
Tetradrachm of Kujula Kadphises (30-80 AD) in the style of Hermaeus.
Obv: Hermaios-style diademed bust. Corrupted Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΤΗΡΟΣΣΥ ΕΡΜΑΙΟΥ ("Basileos Stirossu Ermaiou"): "King Hermaeus, the Saviour".
Rev: Herakles standing with club and lion skin. Kharoṣṭhī legend: KUJULA KASASA KUSHANA YAVUGASA DHARMATHIDASA "Kujula Kadphises ruler of the Kushans, steadfast in the Law ("Dharma"). British Museum.

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.

  • Another coin of Hermaeus and Calliope.
  • Early posthumous coin (70–50 BC)
Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kings, territories and chronology
Based on Bopearachchi (1991)[3]
Greco-Bactrian kings Indo-Greek kings
Territories/
dates		West BactriaEast BactriaParopamisade
ArachosiaGandharaWestern PunjabEastern PunjabMathura[4]
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

References
  1. 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.
  2. Senior, “The Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian king sequences in the second and first centuries BC”, ONS 2004 Supplement.
  3. O. Bopearachchi, "Monnaies gréco-bactriennes et indo-grecques, Catalogue raisonné", Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1991, p.453
  4. Quintanilla, Sonya Rhie (2 April 2019). "History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE". BRILL – via Google Books.

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.
Preceded by
Niciuas		 Indo-Greek Ruler
(in Paropamisade)
90 – 70 BC		 Succeeded by
Yuezhi rulers
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