Spalirises, 70-58 BC, AE Square Unit

Spalirises, AE square unit, Indo-Scythian, 70–58 BC, uncertain mint, 8.55 g, 19 mm. Obverse: king advancing left, holding a goad and bow. Reverse: Zeus seated slightly left, extending right hand and holding scepter in left; monogram in right field. Struck on a square flan, with light softness in places consistent with the issue. Reference: Senior 73.1.

Spalirises is an Indo-Scythian authority of the mid-1st century BC known principally through his coinage, produced during the period of political change in the northwestern Indian subcontinent following the decline of Indo-Greek power. The combination of a ruler-in-action obverse with a classical Zeus reverse documents the continued use of Hellenistic divine imagery in local monetary types alongside motifs associated with steppe-derived kingship, reflecting cultural and administrative continuity across the transition in regional control.