156 Memoir on the Ancient Coins, [April, 



Colonel Tod observes, that, he could not fix the period of the conquest 

 of Bactria by Menander ; leading us to infer that he was a prince of the 

 Greek dynasty on the Hyphasis ; it would appear certain however that 

 Menander was a king of Bactria, who extended his conquests very far 

 into India, according to the direct testimony of Pliny — which is corro- 

 borated by Plutarch, who, in his valuable and honorable mention of 

 him, styles him Menander, a king of the Bactrians. 



Of Apollodotus we have several coins, and their discovery in these 

 countries proves the fact of his having reigned in them, which has 

 been doubted by some, who have alike referred him to the dynasty on 

 the Hyphasis. 



It must be confessed, that our views are not at present quite clear 

 relative to the reigns and successions of the Bacti'ian princes : if the 

 chronological data of Schlegel be correct, we have from the ascension 

 of Apollodotus to sovereignty 195 B. C. to that of Eucratides 181 

 B. C, but an interval of 14 years, which may have been very naturally 

 filled by the reign of the former, while we have the names of three princ- 

 es, Menander, Heliocles, and Demetrius, who have claims more or 

 less to be considered kings of Bactria. Fortunately, we have other 

 kingdoms to which to assign them, should their pretensions to that of 

 Bactria be found inadmissible. These points, and some others will shortly 

 receive much elucidation, when we become acquainted with the nature 

 of the coins found north of the Hindoo Kush. 



The coins of Eucratides I. or Great, are very numerous, and of 

 very spirited execution. I believe they are not to be found east of 

 Kabul, which, if ascertained to be a fact, yields grounds for the hypo- 

 thesis, that in his time, an independent Greek kingdom existed west 

 of the Indus, whose capital was the ancient Nysa, or near the modern 

 Jelalabad. That such a kingdom existed at the later period, we have 

 the satisfaction of being able to demonstrate to a certainty. 



We have discovered no coins of Demetrius, supposed to have been a 

 son of Euthydemus ; it is fair to infer then that he never ruled in these 

 countries. ColonelToD assigns him to the dynasty on the Hyphasis, 

 of which he has some claims to be considered the founder, and which 

 we may credit until farther researches may confirm or controvert the 

 opinion. 



We are alike without any evidence of Heliocles, whose claim to be 

 reputed a sovereign of Bactria appears to have been advanced by 

 Mionnet, on the authority of a single medal. 



We find no coins of the last of these kings, Eucratides II. 

 although his reign was not a short one, (twenty-two years, according to 

 Sculegel.) As he ascended the throne by the murder of his father,. 



