Zoilos II

Zoilos II "The Saviour" (reigned c. 90 - 85 BCE) was an Indo-Greek king who ruled for a short time in some part of the Punjab in what is today northern Pakistan. He may have been a successor or a sub-king of Menander II, although their relationship is unclear.

Many of the mint marks (monograms) on the coins of Zoilos II are in Kharoshti, indicating that they were probably made by an Indian moneyer. This is a characteristic of several of the Indo-Greek kings of the eastern Punjab, such as Strato I, Apollodotus II, and sometimes Apollophanes and Dionysios. Furthermore, the monogram is often identical on their coins, indicating that the moneyer, or the place of mint, were the same.

Coin types of Zoilos II:
Zoilos II has three main types of coins: "King in profile, with Athena and trident", "Apollo, with tripod and small elephant", "Elephant and tripod".

Image:ZoilosII-534.jpg|Zoilos II with Athena.
Image:ZoilosII-545.jpg|Apollo holding arrow, with small elephant on the left. Tripod on reverse.
Image:ZoilosII-546.jpg|Elephant and tripod.

Monograms
The coins of Zoilos II combine Greek monograms with Kharoshthi ones, indicating that some of the celators may have been native Indians. The Kharoshthi monograms are the letters for: sti, ji, ra, ga, gri, ha, stri, ri, bu, a, di, stra, and śi. The "Apollo and tripod" and "Elephant and tripod" types only have Kharoshthi monograms, while the portrait types usually have combinations of Greek and Kharoshthi monograms.

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See also