DECAPOLIS ~ HELLENISM IN ANCIENT JUDEA AND PALESTINE

In c.333 BCE, the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great defeated his opponent Darius III Codomannus at Issus. The main consequence of his victory was that all land west of the river Euphrates, already part of a gradually intensifying trade network surrounding the eastern Mediterranean, become increasingly exposed to Greek civilization. However, Hellenism could also meet with resistance. The Maccabaean Revolt in Judaea is the best-known example, although it did not prevent the rise of two Hellenistic dynasties (the Hasmonaeans and the Herodians). The Nabataean Arabs, who lived in the south of modern Jordan, were more efficient. In c.312 BCE, they managed to survive two attacks by Greek armies, and in 64-62, when the Roman general Pompey the Great reorganized the Near East, they managed to stay outside the Roman system: recognized as allies, they retained some independence.

Raphana ( identified with the site of Abila )

Damascus

Yet, west of the Euphrates, the spread of Hellenism was an irreversible process, and the most remarkable form of expression was urbanism. The descendants of Alexander's generals, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, founded many cities.


When Pompey reorganized the Near East and made an end to the Seleucid Empire, he also awarded some kind of independence to a group of Hellenized cities, which was called the Decapolis. They were not as independent as the Nabataeans, but were not a province either, although they had to deal with an official, a prefect, who was responsible to the governor of Syria. The date on the coins of these towns was based on an era that started in 64/63, but in other aspects, they had almost nothing in common: the Decapolis appears not to have been a league of cities with institutions of its own. Urban autonomy was left intact, and the non-demanding nature of its membership can also be deduced from the fact that the number of members varied.


Writing in c. 75 CE, Pliny the Elder offers a list of precisely ten member cities. He visited the land during the Jewish Revolt (66-70), so he knows what he's talking about: 

Next to Judaea is the Decapolis, which is so named after the number of its cities, but not all authorities agree about their names. Most writers, however, agree that Damascus is one of the ten. This town is on the banks of the river Chrysorroös, which is eagerly used to irrigate its meadows; the cities of Philadelphia and Rhaphana are in the direction of Arabia; Scythopolis - which Father Liber (Dionysus) used to call Nysa, after he had buried his nurse on this place - owes, its present name from a Scythian colony that was once established there; Gadara, on the banks of the river Hieromix; Hippo; Dion; Pella, rich with its waters; and finally Galasa and Canatha. 

-Pliny the Elder, Natural History 

Gerasa 

"Galasa" is better known as Gerasa. Other cities that have been reckoned among the Decapolis are Abila and Capitolias. Writing a century later, Ptolemy names no less than eighteen cities.note
Most of these cities were new foundations, others were ancient towns with new names. For example, the capital of the Ammonites was renamed Philadelphia, and although there were many new monuments, it retained older characteristics.

Pella

City of Hippos 

Philadelphia ( modern-day Amman )

 Yet, whatever their origins, the cities shared an important sentimental tie: they were Greek towns, not Jewish or Nabataean. During the Jewish War, they were loyal supporters of Rome. Their Greekness was shown with elaborate foundation myths, like Scythopolis' claim to have been founded by Dionysus. This Greekness, on the other hand, did not exclude the possibility of religious syncretism. Ancient Semitic deities could survive under new names; for instance, yahweh could be renamed Dionysos or Zeus - much to the horror of pious Jews of course.

Scythopolis 

Capitolias 

Canatha 

If there had been any political significance to the lose confederation, it was finally abandoned in 106 CE, when the Roman emperor Trajan annexed Nabataea. The provinces were reorganized, and the towns of the Decapolis were divided: some became part of Judaea, others of Nabataea, still others were added to Syria. Yet, there may have remained shared cultural activities, sentiments, and ties, and the name did not immediately vanish, as we can deduce from the use of the word "Decapolis" by Ptolemy.


SOURCE:  Livius

ANTHEMION ~ GREEK DECORATIONS IN BACTRIA AND INDIA

Painted flame palmettes

The flame palmette ( in Greek ανθέμιον, anthemion ) is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. Anthemia are different from regular palmettes in that, traditionally, palmettes tended to have sharply splaying leaves. From the 4th century BCE however, the end of the leaves tend to turn in, forming what is called the anthemion design.

Greek stele anthemion, 4th c.B.C.E. ,Athens.

The first appearance of anthemia seems to occur with the stand-alone floral akroteria of the Parthenon (447-432 BCE), and slightly later at the Temple of Athena Nike. Anthemia were then introduced into friezes of floral motifs in replacement of the regular palmette. According to Boardman, although lotus friezes or palmette friezes were known in Mesopotamia centuries before, the unnatural combination of various botanical elements which have no relationship in the wild, such as the palmette, the lotus and sometimes rosette flowers, is a purely Greek innovation, which was then adopted on a very broad geographical scale.

Mosaic detail, ancient Pella 

In Asia Minor, some of the earliest designs of anthemia can be found in the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and are dated to 350 BCE. They are also extensively used at the 3rd century BCE Ionic Temple of Didyma.

Anthemion on frieze fragment, from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, 350 B.C.E.

The anthemion design was adopted in Hellenistic architecture and became very popular on a wide geographical scale, especially following the conquests of Alexander the Great. In the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum, founded circa 280 BCE, the antefixae display an anthemion design, as do floral mosaics.

Anthemia as architectural elements from Ai- Khanoum

Greek and Indian anthemia. Left: Anthemion at Didyma, Ionia, c.300 BCE. Middle: Pataliputra capital, India, 3rd c.BCE. Right: Ashoka's Diamond throne, Bodh Gaya, India, 250 BCE.

This is the design that was adopted by India in the 3rd century BCE for some of its sculptural friezes, such as on the abaci of the Pillars of Ashoka, or the central design of the Pataliputra capital, probably through the Seleucid Empire or Hellenistic cities such as Ai - Khanoum.

Kushan anthemion

The Pataliputra capital, with a central and a lateral anthemion design, 3rd century BCE.

Edited from : Wikipedia 

RHODAX ~ AGELESS FLOWERS ~ THE GREEK ROSETTE IN ANCIENT ART

A rhodax  is a Greek round, stylized flower design. It comes from the natural shape of the botanical rosette, formed by leaves radiating out from the stem of a plant and visible even after the flowers have withered.

Frieze from the Rotunda of Arsinoe, Samothrace ( c. 288-281 B.C.E. )

History

Funerary Hellenistic stele, from Smyrna ( moden-day Izmir )

The rhodax design is used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity, appearing  in funeral steles' decoration in Ancient Greece. It was  also common in the art of Central Asia, spreading as far as India where it is used as a decorative motif in Greco-Buddhist art.

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Rhodax  at the bottom of a Buddha statue (circa 1st c.C.E.) Greco- Buddhist art, found in Gandhara. 

One of the earliest appearances of the rhodax in ancient Greece  is a design that comes from Minoan Crete; Among other places, the design appears on the Phaistos Disc, recovered from the eponymous archaeological site in southern Crete.

Rhodax at the center of the Phaistos Disc. Minoan Crete, 2nd millennium B.C.E. 

They appear to be solar symbols, or more precisely represent the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and thus indicate the passages from one state of existence to another.

The Sun of Vergina, the famous emblem of the Macedonian dynasty, has a rhodax at its centre. The flower symbolized strength and creation .The 12-spiked Sun represents the main 12 Greek Gods, whereas the 16 spikes symbolize the Pantheon, along with the four points of the horizon.  

Rhodax on the Macedonian Sun

Gold urn of  King Phillip the 2nd, father of Alexander the Great.

EDITED FROM:Wikipedia

SPHINX OF NAXOS~ THE GREEK PROTOTYPE FOR THE ASHOKA PILLARS

The Sphinx of Naxos, also called Sphinx of the Naxians, now in the Archaeological Museum of Delphi, is a colossal 2.22- meter tall marble statue of a sphinx; a mythical creature with the head of a woman, the chest and wings composed of the impressive feathers of a prey bird turned upward, and the body of a lioness. The Sphinx stood on a 10- meter column that culminated in one of the first Ionic capitals, and was erected next to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, the religious center of Ancient Greece, in 560 BCE.
 It was originally set up on a stele around 560 BCE as an offering to the Temple of Apollo by Naxos, one of the richest Cycladic islands at the time. The overall height of the statue, the column and its base topped 12.5 meters.

Illustration showing the imposing position of the Sphinx at Delphi.

The Greek sphinx, a lion with the face of a human female, was considered as having ferocious strength, and was thought of as a guardian, often flanking the entrances to temples. Sphinxes are generally associated with architectural structures such as royal tombs or religious temples.
 This column may have been the oldest Ionic construction project in the site of the Oracle of Delphi. It had been set up close to the Halos, the most sacred spot of Delphi, where Apollo had killed the python. It was carved from a large piece of Naxian marble. The solid construction combined elements that gave the statue a character of motion and vitality, such are the details that depict the hair, chest, and wings. The monument created awe to the visitors and constituted a typical example of Naxian sculpture in its peak period, i.e. in the 6th century BCE.

Other columns

Many more similar columns crowned by sphinxes were discovered in ancient Greece, as in Sparta, Athens or Spata, and some were used as funerary steles.

 6th century BCE Greek columns, such as the Sphinx of Naxos have been an inspiration for the pillars of Ashoka in 3rd century BCE India, following the contacts initiated by Alexander the Great in 320 BCE, and continued by the Greco-Bactrians and the Indo-Greeks.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GREEK PRESENCE IN INDIA

The northwest of India has always been a place where the presence of foreigners has been strong.The first among them were the Bactrian Greeks, known in earlier Indian literature as Yavanas; the word was derived from the Old Persian 'Yauna', signifying originally Ionian Greeks but later all people of Greek nationality.
 The Greeks of Bactria ,or Bactrian Greeks, who were later called the Indo-Greeks, invaded India in the early 2nd century B.C.E. The history of the Indo-Greeks has been recon­structed mainly on the evidence of their coins bearing legends in Greek and later in Brahmi as well.

Demetrius, son of Euthydemus, King of Bactria was perhaps the first foreign (Indo-Greek) king after Alexander the Great ,who carried Greek arms to the interior of India. He reduced to submission a considerable portion of Afghanistan, the Punjab and Sind.

The most remembered of the Indo-Greek kings was Menander, (165-145 D C.) who, as Milinda, attained fame in the Buddhist text Milindapanho or 'The Question of Milinda' -a catechismal discussion in Buddhism, conducted by Menander and the Buddhist philosopher Nagasena, resulting in Menander’s conversion to Buddhism.
Menander stabilised Indo-Greek power, in addition to extending his frontiers in India.

He had his capital at Sakala (modern Sialkot) in Punjab. He may well have attacked the Sungas in the Yamuna region. A Brahmi inscription engraved on a Garuda Pillar found near Bhilsa records that Antialkidas of Taxila sent an ambassador, named Heliodorus, to the court of Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, identified with the last but one Sunga, Bhagavata.

Effects of the Indo-Greek presence in India 

Coinage

The coinage of Agathocles (circa 180 BCE) incorporated the Brahmi script and several deities from India, which have been variously interpreted as Vishnu, Shiva, Vasudeva, Balarama or the Buddha. 1. Zeus standing with goddess Hecate.Greek: "King Agathokles". 2. Deity wearing a long himation with a volume on the head, arm partly bent, and contrapposto pose. Greek: "King Agathokles".[7] This coin is in bronze. 3. Hindu god Balarama-Samkarshana with attributes. Greek: "King Agathokles". 4. Hindu god Vasudeva-Krishna with attributes Brahmi: “Rajane Agathukleyasa”, "King Agathokles". 5Goddess Lakshmi, holding a lotus in her right hand.Brahmi: “Rajane Agathukleyasa”, "King Agathokles".

The Indo-Greeks were the first to issue coins which can be definitely attributed to the Kings. They were the first to issue gold coins in India; gold coins increased in number under the Kushans.

Before the Greeks, the Indian coins from the Achaemenid empire were rough and punch-marked. These coins were not cast in moulds and only one side bore any inscription. The Indians learnt  the art of moulding coins from the Greeks and they began stricking beautiful coins bearing inscriptions on both sides. The gold coins of Kanishka were also beautiful and attractive, with artistic images of Gods and Goddesses on them.

Military organisation

The Greeks also introduced the practice of military governorship called strategos for maintaining the power of the new rulers over the conquered people.

Arts

 The Greek rule introduced features of Hellenistic art in the North-west frontier of India. The Gandhara art school was largely Hellenistic.The idea of representing the Buddha as a human being originated from the Greeks.

The Gandhara School of Art was developed as a result of interaction between the Greeks and the Indians. But during the Kushan rule, the Gandhara Art reached its zenith. This art had developed on the north-western regions of India known as Gandhara. It was therefore called the Gandhara School of Art or the Indo-Greek Art. The Gandhara artists built beautiful large-size images of the Buddha, Budhisatvas and the Kushan rulers.

They depicted scenes from the life of the Buddha in stone. Most of the specimens of the Ghandara Art relating to this period are executed in stone. But some of the specimens founded at Taxila are in stucco (lime), cement, terracota (baked clay) and clay. The Gandhara Art greatly influenced other schools of Indian sculpture.

Also, the Greeks contributed to the development of the Indian theatre by the use of curtains (known as Yavanika, Sutradhara (stage manger), Nepathya (back stage, etc.)

Astrology 

 Indian astrology came to be influenced by Greek ideas, and from the Greek term horoscope was derived the term horasastra used for astrology in Sanskrit. Some scholars even believe that the Indians learnt from the Greeks the entire science of casting horoscopes.

Astronomy

The Indians also learnt a lot from the Greeks in the field of astronomy. They honoured the learned Greek astronomers and were impressed by their knowledge in this field. The renowned Indian treatise on astronomy ‘Gargi Samhita’ asserts, “The Yavanas are barbarians yet the science of astronomy originated with them and for this they must be revered like Gods”. Of the different principles of astronomy, the Indians borrowed many from the contemporary Greeks. Several of the Greek terms are still prevalent in Indian astronomy. 

Architecture 

The Greek influence is discernible even in the field of temple and palace architecture. Some of the walls and pillars of the Sun Temple at Taxila are executed in the Greek Style. Moreover, stupas such as the one in Sanchi, have a lot of Greek architectural elements. The Indians also learnt the art of cutting rock caves. In Maharashtra, there are several rock-cut caves.

Botany and Medicine

In the field of botany, chemistry and medicine, the Greek contribution to India is significant along with Indian knowledge, as India in these fields, had already made sufficient progress. Charka, the great Indian physician of this time, wrote ‘Charka Samhita’ which deals with various diseases and the effective herbs (aushadhis) to cure them. The fact that these medical practices continue to this day, shows the effectiveness of the Greek knowledge. 

Conclusion

The above account would suffice to conclude that the Indians learnt many things from the Greeks. They adopted the new knowledge in the context of the indigenous conditions.

THRASON ~ INDO GREEK KING

Thrason (Greek: Θράσων), was an Indo-Greek king in Central and Western Punjab, unknown until the 1982 discovery of one of his coins by R. C. Senior in the Surana hoard. The coin is in a style similar to those of Menander I, has the same type of Athena, and shares one of Menander's mint marks. On the coin, the title of Thraso is Basileus Megas ("Great King"), a title which only Eucratides the Great had dared take before him and which is seemingly misplaced on the young boy Thraso, whose single preserved coin indicates a small and insignificant reign.

Osmund Bopearachchi suggests a preliminary dating of 95–80 BCE, but Senior himself concludes that Thraso was the son and heir of Menander (c. 155–130 BCE), since his coin was not worn and was found in a hoard with only earlier coins.

It seems as though the child was briefly raised to the throne in the turmoil following the death of Menander, by a general who thought the grandiloquent title might strengthen his case.

SOURCE : Wikipedia 

HERACLES ~ THE FOREFATHER OF SCYTHIANS

 Scythia was filled with Greek colonies and Herodotus has recorded a fascinating story about the origin of Scythians.  He says: "According to them, Heracles, when he was carrying off the cows of Geryon, arrived in the region which is now inhabited by the Scyths, but which was then a desert. Geryon lived outside the Pontus, in an island called by the Greeks Erytheia, near Gades, which is beyond the Pillars of Heracles upon the Ocean.

  "Heracles came from there into the region now called Scythia, and, being overtaken by storm and frost, drew his lion’s skin about him, and fell fast asleep. While he slept, his mares, which he had freed from his chariot to graze, by some wonderful chance disappeared."

 " Upon waking, he went in quest of them, and after wandering over the whole country, came at last to the district called ‘the Woodland’, where he found in a cave a strange being, between a maiden and a serpent, whose form from the waste upwards was like that of a woman, while all below was like a snake. He looked at her wonderingly; but nevertheless inquired, whether she had chanced to see his strayed mares anywhere.

  "She answered him, 'Yes', and they were now in her keeping but never would she consent to give them back, unless he took her for his mistress.

  "So Heracles, to get his mares back, agreed, but afterwards she put him off and delayed restoring the mares, since she wished to keep him with her as long as possible. He, on the other hand, was only anxious to secure them and to get away.

  "At last, when she gave them up, she said to him, ‘When thy mares strayed hither, it was I who saved them for thee: now thou has paid their salvage; for lo! I bear in my womb three sons of thine. Tell me therefore when thy sons grow up, what must I do with them? Wouldst thou wish that I should settle them here in this land, whereof I am mistress, or shall I send them to thee? Thus questioned, they say, Heracles answered, ‘When the lads have grown to manhood, do thus, and assuredly thou wilt not err. Watch them, and when thou sees one of them bend his bow as I now bend it, and gird himself with this girdle thus, choose him to remain in the land. Those who fail in this trial, send away. Thus wilt thou at once please thyself and obey me.


  "Hereupon he strung one of his bows – up to that time he had carried two – and showed her how to fasten the belt. Then he gave both bow and belt into her hands. Now the belt had a golden goblet attached to its clasp. So after he had given them to her, he went his way; and the woman, when her children grew to manhood, first gave them severally their names.

  "One she called Agathyrsus, one Gelonus, and the other, who was the youngest, Scythes. Then she remembered the instructions she had received from Heracles, and, in obedience to his orders, she put her sons to the test. Two of them, Agathyrsus and Gelonus, proving unequal to the task enjoined, their mother sent them out of the land; Scythes, the youngest, succeeded, and so he was allowed to remain.

  "From Scythes, the son of Heracles,  the kings of Scythia descend; and from the incident of the goblet which hung from the belt, the Scythians to this day wear goblets at their girdles. This was the only thing that the mother of Scythes did for him. Such is the tale told by the Greeks who dwell around the Pontus. According to the account that the Scythians themselves give, they are the youngest of all nations. Their tradition is as follows. A certain Targitaus was the first man who ever lived in their country, which before his time was a desert without inhabitants. He was a child of Zeus.

 This event may have taken place soon after the Great War (of Mahabharata). These people must have multiplied over a period of time and with many kings before entering India and founding Taxila.The entire tribe most probably may not have migrated to Taxila and a large part of it must still have continued to live in Scythia.

  These people after a time may have made second inroad into India of which Herodotus is speaking here. Those who penetrated many countries like Baktria, Sogdiana, etc. and then India must have belonged to a second wave of penetration. This process must have  continued for many years, as the Scythians reached Samarkand.
 These people settled at Taxila, Samarkand, Bokhara, Bactria, Kabul, Kandahar, Sind, and Punjab.


  Herodotus says: "It appears likewise that the Cimmerians, when they fled into Asia to escape Scyths, made a settlement in the peninsula where the Greek City of Sinope was afterwards built. The Scyths pursued them, and missing their road, poured into Media (Media is identified with Azerbaijan). For the Cimmerians kept the line which led along the sea-shore, but the Scyths in their pursuit held the Caucasus upon their right, thus proceeding inland, and falling upon Media. This accounts one that is common both to Greeks and barbarians ( Scythians).”

 Strabo mentions that Heracles travelled to the East and the West, reaching the extremities of the known world.Alexander the Great took pride in belonging to the mortal bloodline of Heracles- the Greek hero who roamed the world and His achivements made Him a God in Greece, India, and other countries. 



  



Edited from: Indian People's Congress

ANTIMACHUS ~ KING OF BACTRIA

Anthimachus I Theos was one of the Greco-Bactrian kings, generally dated from around 185 BCE to 170 BCE.

Antimachus was a member of the Euthydemid dynasty and probably a son of Euthydemus and brother of Demetrius. Other historians, like A.K. Narain, mark him as independent of Euthydemid authority, and probably a scion of some relation to the Diodotid dynasty. He was king of an area covering parts of Bactria and probably also Arachosia in southern Afghanistan. Antimachus I was either defeated during his resistance to the usurper Eucratides, or his main territory was absorbed by the latter upon his death.

"In the reign of Antimachos Theos and Eumenes and Antimachos... the fourth year, month of Olous, in Asangorna, the guardian of the law being... The tax collector Menodotus, in the presence of... who was also sent out by Demonax, the former... , and of Simus who was... by the agency of Diodorus, controller of revenues, acknowledges receipt from... the son of Dataes from the priests... the dues relating to the purchase."

That Antimachus would list his own associate kings argues strongly against the suggestion that he was appointed as a Northern associate ruler of Euthydemus and Demetrius, an idea that anyway is more or less unprecedented among Hellenistic kings. Eumenes and Antimachus could be his heirs; it was standard for Ptolemaic and Seleucid kings to include their sons as joint regents, with variable formal or actual power. While Eumenes never issued any coins, a king named Antimachus II Nikephoros later appeared in India. It seems plausible that the Indian Antimachus was the son of Antimachus I, but it is unclear whether his reign in India overlapped with his father's reign in Bactria.

Antimachus I issued numerous silver coins on the Attic standard, with his own image in a flat Macedonian kausia hat, and on the reverse Poseidon with his trident. Poseidon is the God of the ocean and great rivers - some scholars have here seen a reference to the provinces around the Indus River, where Antimachus I may have been a governor - but also the protector of horses, which was perhaps a more important function in the hinterland of Bactria.

On his coinage, Antimachus called himself Theos, "The God", a first in the Hellenistic world. Just like his colleague Agathocles, he issued commemorative coinage, in his case silver tetradrachms honouring Euthydemus I, also called "The God", and Diodotus I, called "The Saviour". This indicates that Antimachus I might have been instrumental in creating a royal state cult.

Antimachus I also issued round bronzes depicting an elephant on the obverse, with a reverse showing the Greek goddess of victory Nike holding out a wreath. The elephant could be a Buddhist symbol. These coins are reminiscent of those of Demetrius I, as well as Apollodotus I.

Other bronzes, square and rather crude, also portray a walking elephant, but with a reverse of a thunderbolt. These have been attributed by Bopearachchi (as well as older scholars) to Arachosia. They are Indian in their design, but the legend is only in Greek.

SOURCE : Wikipedia