Apollodotos II, 85-65 BC, Drachm

Apollodotos II, AR Drachm, 85–65 BC, uncertain mint. 2.51 g; 17 mm. Obverse: Diademed and draped bust of Apollodotos II right; BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣΩTPOΣ KAI ΦIΛOΠATPOΣ AΠOΛΛOΔOTOY (“of King Saviour and Philopator Apollodotos”). Reverse: Apollo standing left, testing arrow in right hand and holding bow in left; Kharosthi legend Maharajasa tratarasa Apaladatasa. Bilingual Greek–Kharosthi issue, struck to the Indian drachm standard. Bopearachchi 2D; Mitchiner 424c.

Apollodotos II was a late Indo-Greek ruler active in northwestern South Asia during the mid-1st century BC, issuing bilingual coinage to serve both Greek-speaking and local Kharosthi-literate audiences. The titles Soter (“Saviour”) and Philopator (“Loving his father”) assert dynastic legitimacy amid political fragmentation and pressure from incoming Indo-Scythian groups. The Apollo reverse aligns the king’s image with his namesake deity and reflects ongoing Hellenistic iconographic traditions adapted to an Indian monetary standard. This series documents the cultural and administrative integration that characterized Indo-Greek governance in Gandhara–Punjab during this transitional period.