Thraso

Thraso (Greek: Θράσων), latinized as Thrason, was an Indo-Greek king in Central and Western Punjab, unknown until the 1982 discovery of one of his coins by R. C. Senior in the Surana hoard. The coin is in a style similar to those of Menander I, has the same type of Athena, and shares one of Menander's mint marks. On the coin, the title of Thraso is Basileus Megas ("Great King"), a title which only Eucratides the Great had dared take before him and which is seemingly misplaced on the young boy Thraso, whose single preserved coin indicates a small and insignificant reign.

Thraso
Simulation of Thraso coin based on description by Bopearachchi, 1991 (actual coin image non published).
Obv: Diademed king to the right, with coat attached on right shoulder. Greek Legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΘΡΑΣΟΝΟΣ [1]
Rev: Athena Alkidemos moving to the left, left arm holding a horizontal shield, right arm holding thunderbolt. Legend Maharajasa mahatasa / Thrasasa[2]
Indo-Greek king
Reign95–80 BCE

Osmund Bopearachchi suggests a preliminary dating of 95–80 BC, but Senior himself concludes that Thraso was the son and heir of Menander (c. 155–130 BC), since his coin was not worn and was found in a hoard with only earlier coins.[3]

It seems as though the child was briefly raised to the throne in the turmoil following the death of Menander, by a general who thought the grandiloquent title might strengthen his case.

Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kings, territories and chronology
Based on Bopearachchi (1991)[4]
Greco-Bactrian kings Indo-Greek kings
Territories/
dates		West BactriaEast BactriaParopamisade
ArachosiaGandharaWestern PunjabEastern PunjabMathura[5]
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)

Notes
  1. Bopearachchi, 1991, p.310
  2. Bopearachchi, 1991, p.310
  3. Senior, Decline of the Indo-Greeks (1998). The coin belonged to a secretive coin-collector, who did not allow Senior to photograph it, and it remains unpublished.
  4. O. Bopearachchi, "Monnaies gréco-bactriennes et indo-grecques, Catalogue raisonné", Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1991, p.453
  5. Quintanilla, Sonya Rhie (2 April 2019). "History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE". BRILL – via Google Books.

References
  • R. C. Senior, The Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian King Sequences in the Second and First Centuries BC, ONS 179 Supplement.
Preceded by
Epander		 Indo-Greek Ruler
(in Punjab)
c. 130 BCE		 Succeeded by
Artemidoros Aniketos
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