The Bactrian Silver Crisis and the Fall of the Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom

This episode dives into the economic collapse that doomed the Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom in the 2nd century BCE. Lucas and Luna explore how the silver crisis—triggered by the depletion of the Oxus Valley mines and the disruption of trade routes by nomadic invasions—led to a catastrophic debasement of Bactrian coinage. They discuss the reign of King Eucratides I, whose ambitious expansion overextended the treasury, and the subsequent invasion by the Yuezhi. The conversation also touches on the discovery of the Ai Khanoum treasure, the role of the Sogdian merchants in the silver trade, and how the crisis paved the way for the rise of the Kushan Empire. A stark lesson in how resource dependency can topple even the mightiest Hellenistic kingdoms. #GraecoBactrian #SilverCrisis #EucratidesI #Yuezhi #AiKhanoum #BactrianCoinage #Hellenistic #Oxus #Sogdian #Kushan #Numismatics #EconomicHistory #CentralAsia #SilkRoad #Debasement #TradeRoutes #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo