466 Application of the Sanchi alphabet [June, 



The discovery of these two coins with Pdli characters, is of inesti- 

 mable importance in confirming the antiquity of the alphabet ; as from 

 the style of Agathocles' coins he must necessarily be placed among 

 the earliest of the Bactrians, that is, at the very period embraced by 

 the reign of Asoka the Buddhist monarch of Magadha. 



On the other hand the legend throws light on the locality of Aga- 

 thocles' rule, which instead of being, as assigned by M. Raoul de 

 Rochette, in Haute Asie, must be brought down to the confines, at 

 least, of India Proper. 



As however the opinions of this eminent classical antiquary are 

 entitled to the highest consideration, I take this opportunity of 

 making known to my readers the substance of his learned elucidation 

 of this obscure portion of history given in a note on two silver coins 

 of Agathocles, belonging to the cabinet of a rich amateur at 

 Petersburg, published in the Journal des Savans, 1834, p. 335. 



" In the imperfect accounts transmitted to us of the troubles occa- 

 sioned to the Seleucidan kingdom from the invasion of Ptolemy 

 Philadelphia, and of the loss of entire provinces after the reverses 

 of Antiochus II. Theos, the foundation of the Arsacidan kingdom by 

 the defection of the brothers Arsaces and Tiridates is an established 

 point, fixed to the year 256 B.C. But the details of this event, bor- 

 rowed from Arrian's " Parthics," have not yet been determined with 

 sufficient care, as to one important fact in the Bactrian history. From 

 the extracts of various works preserved in Photius, the defection of 

 the Parthians arose from an insult offered to the person of one of these 

 brothers by the Macedonian chief placed by Antiochus II. in charge 

 of the regions of High Asia and named Ph&hVes. The two princes 

 indignant at such an outrage are supposed to have revenged them- 

 selves with the blood of the satrap, and, supported by the people, to 

 have succeeded in shaking off the Macedonian yoke. 



This short notice from Photius has been corrupted by transcribers in 

 the name of the chief Piracies, which modern critics have failed to cor- 

 rect by a passage in the Chronographia of Syncellus, who had equally 

 under his eyes the original of Arrian and who declares expressly that 

 " Arsaces and Tiridates, brothers, issue of the ancient king of Persia, 

 Artaxerxes, exercised the authority of satraps in Bactria at the time 

 when Agathocles the Macedonian was governor of Persia ; the which 

 Agathocles, having attempted to commit on the person of the young 

 Tiridates the assault before alluded to, fell a victim to the vengeance 

 of the brothers, whence resulted the defection of the country of the 

 Parthians and the birth of the Arsacidan kingdom." Agathocles 



