Thundering Zeus

The Making of Hellenistic Bactria

Frank L. Holt

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780520211407
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780520920095
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

Thundering Zeus uses an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to resolve one of the greatest puzzles in all of Hellenistic history. This book explores the remarkable rise of a Greek-ruled kingdom in ancient Bactria (modern Afghanistan) during the third century B.C. Diodotus I and II, whose dynasty emblazoned its coins with the dynamic image of Thundering Zeus, led this historic movement by breaking free of the Seleucid Empire and building a strong independent state in Central Asia. The chronology and crises that defined their reigns have been established here for the first time, and Frank Holt sets this new history into the larger context of Hellenistic studies.

The best sources for understanding Hellenistic Bactria are archaeological, and they include a magnificent trove of coins. In addition to giving a history of Bactria, Thundering Zeus provides a catalog of these coins, as well as an introduction to the study of numismatics itself. Holt presents this fascinating material with the precision and acuity of a specialist and with the delight of an admirer, providing an up-to-date full catalog of known Diodotid coinage, and illustrating twenty-three coins.

This succinct, energetic narrative thunders across the history of Hellenistic Bactria, exhuming coins, kingdoms, and customs as it goes. The result is a book that is both a history and a history of discovery, with much to offer those interested in ancient texts, archaeology, and coins.


Thundering Zeus uses an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to resolve one of the greatest puzzles in all of Hellenistic history. This book explores the remarkable rise of a Greek-ruled kingdom in ancient Bactria (modern Afghanistan) during the

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents 1
• CHAPTER I
• SILENCE AT BABYLON
• HELLENISTIC BACTRIA
• CHAPTER 2
• THE SELEUCIDS AND CENTRAL ASIA
• MONETIZING THE EAST
• A TRAVELER’S TALE
• CHAPTER 3
• DOCUMENTS AND DEBRIS
• LITERARY SOURCES
• HISTORICAL PROCESSES
• CHAPTER 4
• EVERYTHING, AND NOTHING
• MISSING KINGS
• EXPANDING HORIZONS
• DIVISION IN THE RANKS
• CHAPTER 5
• SEVEN POUNDS OF THE PAST
• THE ELDER DIODOTUS
• THE YOUNGER DIODOTUS
• CHAPTER 6
• HERMES AND ZEUS
• PATTERNS OF EVERYDAY LIFE
• CHAPTER 7
• EUTHYDEMUS AND ANTIOCHUS
• SILENCE IN BACTRIA
• APPENDIX A
• APPENDIX B
• APPENDIX C
• APPENDIX D
• Glossary
• Abbreviations
• Select Bibliography
• Coin Index
• Author Index
• Subject Index