Hellenistic Toreutics from the Sarmatian Burial Mound near Volzhsky. Part IV

The final section of the article examines issues related to the dating, location, and circumstances of the manufacture of the kantharoi.When analyzing the paleography of the kantharoi inscriptions, one should first note the double use of the square sigma, which is completely uncharacteristic of the epigraphy of the Hellenistic world. The only exception is Greco-Bactria (late 3rd – early 2nd centuries BC). This allows us to conclude that the kantharoi were made in Bactra at the end of the reign of Euthydemus I (226 – c. 190 BC).Euthydemus I secured recognition of his royal title from Antiochus III in 206 BC and established his own dynasty. His son Demetrius, no later than 200 BC, began the conquest of the regions south of the Hindu Kush. Euthydemus I wished to commemorate such remarkable successes by producing a ceremonial service dedicated to the life of his most revered hero, Heracles.Given the peaceful relations between Euthydemus I and his immediate successors and the nomads on the northwestern borders of Greco-Bactria, the kantharoi could have come to them as a royal gift. However, the vessels could also have been seized by the nomads after the defeat of Bactria in 140–130 BC. Taking into account the data from written and archaeological sources about the resettlement of some of the Asii conquerors of Bactria to the Volga-Don interfluve, it can be assumed that the last owner of the kantharoi was one of the Asii leaders, with whom they were buried in a single burial mound on the left bank of the Volga.