Kalliope (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Καλλιόπη) was an Indo-Greek queen and wife of Hermaeus, who was a Western Indo-Greek king of the Eucratid Dynasty. Hermaeus ruled the territory of Paropamisade in the Hindu-Kush region, with his capital in Alexandria of the Caucasus (near today's Kabul, Afghanistan). Their reign dates from the first quarter of the first century BC.[1]
Kalliope and Hermaeus jointly issued silver, Indian-Standard Drachms. The obverse featured diademed and draped busts of them both.[2] The reverse shows the king on a prancing horse, which is characteristic motif of the contemporary Greek kings in the eastern Punjab such as Hippostratos. It has been suggested that the coin represented a marital alliance between the two dynastic lines.[3] Coins have been found in Peshawar and near Mohmand.[4] They were also part of the assemblage of the Sarai Saleh hoard and 928 were found in the first Mir Zakah deposit.[5] Some of these coins are found overstruck with dies in the name of Artemidoros.[6] The depiction of the wife on Indo-Greek coins is otherwise not common, so that it can be assumed that Calliope played a special role (perhaps in the marriage policy of the Indo-Greek states).[7]
Whilst Kalliope has been referred to as Hermaeus' wife by W W Tarn and A K Narain, S K Dikshit suggested that Kalliope appeared older in her portrait and as such perhaps was Hermaeus' mother.[8]