Pantaleon

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Cupro-nickel coin of king Pantaleon.
Obv: Bust of Dionysos with a wreath of leaves.
Rev: Panther with a small bell around the neck, touching a vine with the left leg. Greek legend: BASILEOS PANTALEONTOS "King Pantaleon".

Bilingual Indian-standard coin of Pantaleon.
Obv: Dancing Lakshmi with legend in Brahmi: RAJANE PAMTALEVASA "King Pantaleon".
Rev: Buddhist lion, with legend in Greek BASILEOS PANTALEONTOS "King Pantaleon".

For the Christian saint, see Saint Pantaleon; for the instrument, see Pantalon; for the Lydian prince see Pantaleon (disambiguation).

Pantaleon reigned some time between 190 BCE - 180 BCE and is one of the most enigmatic of the Greek kings in Bactria and India. He was a younger contemporary or successor of the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius, and is sometimes believed to have been his brother and/or subking. He was the first Greek king to strike Indian coins, peculiar irregular bronzes which suggests he had his base in Arachosia and Gandhara and wanted support from the native population.

The limited size of his coinage indicates a short reign. Known evidence suggests that he was replaced by his (probable) brother or son Agathocles, by whom he was commemorated on a "pedigree" coin. Some of his coins (as well as those of Agathocles and Euthydemus II) have another surprising characteristic: they are made of copper-nickel alloy, a technology that would not be developed in the West until the 18th century, but was known by the Chinese at the time. This suggests that exchanges of the metallic alloy or technicians happened between China and the region of Bactria.

INDO-GREEK KINGS AND THEIR TERRITORIES Based on Bopearachchi (1991)
Territories/ Dates	PAROPAMISADAE	ARACHOSIA	GANDHARA	WESTERN PUNJAB	EASTERN PUNJAB
200-190 BCE	Demetrius I
190-180 BCE	Agathocles	Pantaleon
185-170 BCE	Antimachus I
180-160 BCE	Apollodotus I
175-170 BCE	Demetrius II
160-155 BCE	Antimachus II
170-145 BCE	Eucratides
155-130 BCE	Menander I
130-120 BCE	Zoilos I		Agathokleia
120-110 BCE	Lysias		Strato I
110-100 BCE	Antialcidas		Heliokles II
100 BCE	Polyxenios		Demetrius III
100-95 BCE	Philoxenus
95-90 BCE	Diomedes	Amyntas		Epander
90 BCE	Theophilos	Peukolaos		Thraso
90-85 BCE	Nicias	Menander II		Artemidoros
90-70 BCE	Hermaeus	Archebios
	Yuezhi tribes		Maues (Indo-Scythian)
75-70 BCE			Telephos	Apollodotus II
65-55 BCE				Hippostratos	Dionysios
55-35 BCE				Azes I (Indo-Scythian)	Zoilos II
55-35 BCE					Apollophanes
25 BCE- 10 CE					Strato II
					Rajuvula (Indo-Scythian)

[edit] External links

• Coins of Pantaleon