v23_0181 - BACTRIA - BACTRIAN KINGDOM - MENANDER I SOTER Drachme bilingue

BACTRIA - BACTRIAN KINGDOM - MENANDER I SOTER

(165/155-130 BC)

Menander would be, according to O. Bopearachchi, the greatest monarch of Bactria. Originally from Alexandria in the Caucasus, he would have been of royal blood or belonged to the Greek aristocracy. According to Strabo (XI, 11), Menander would have extended Greek power in Bactria by conquering northwestern India. Its capital would have been Sagala which is not yet identified. He would have entered into conflict with Eucratides I, origin of a civil war which would have ruined Bactria. On the death of Eucratides, Menander recovered part of the latter's territories. When he died in 130 BC, the kingdom fell apart.