Hermaeus

Who is Hermaeus?

Hermaeus Soter was a Western Indo-Greek king of the Eucratid Dynasty, who ruled the territory of Paropamisade in the Hindu-Kush region, with his capital in Alexandria of the Caucasus. Bopearachchi dates Hermaeus to circa 90–70 BCE and R. C. Senior to circa 95–80 BCE but concedes that Bopearachchi's later date could be correct.

Hermaeus seems to have been successor of Philoxenus or Diomedes, and his wife Kalliope may have been a daughter of Philoxenus according to Senior. Judging from his coins, Hermaeus' rule was long and prosperous, but came to an end when the Yuezhi, coming from neighbouring Bactria overtook most of his Greek kingdom in the Paropamisade around 70 BCE. According to Bopearachchi, these nomads were the Yuezhi, the ancestors of the Kushans, whereas Senior considers them Sakas.

Following his reign, it is generally considered that Greek communities remained under the rule of these Hellenized nomads, continuing rich cultural interraction. Some parts of his kingdom may have been taken over by later kings, such as Amyntas Nikator.

The coinage of Hermaeus was copied widely, in increasingly barbarized form by the new nomad rulers down to around 40 CE.