Demetrius III Aniketos

Demetrios III Aniketos ("The Invincible")
Indo-Greek king
Portrait of Demetrius III.
Reign	c. 100 BCE

Demetrius III Aniketos (Greek: Δημήτριος Γ΄ ὁ Ἀνίκητος; epithet means "the Invincible") is an Indo-Greek king who reigned in the area of Gandhara and Punjab.

The coins of Demetrius III are few and rather crude. He copies some of his imagery from the renowned Bactrian king Demetrius I (c. 200–180 BCE). The two namesakes share the war-like epithet "The Invincible" and wear elephant-crowns, the symbol that Alexander the Great used to celebrate his conquest of the Indus Valley.

The historical sources of the Indo-Greek kingdom are very few, and the separation of kings with the same name is not an easy process. Numismatician Osmund Bopearachchi identifies three kings named Demetrius, placing the third around 100 BCE due to mintmarks and style of the coins. (See discussion under Demetrius II). R C Senior agrees with this reconstruction, even though their dates are somewhat different: according to Bopearachchi he ruled around 100 BCE, whereas R. C. Senior places him circa 70 BCE, in both cases as successor of Heliokles II.

However, Demetrius III is the only Demetrius to strike bilingual Greek/Indian (Kharoshti) coins, and is therefore a likely candidate to be identified with the "Demetrius, king of the Indians" mentioned by Roman historian Justin. This Demetrius is said to have fought with the Bactrian king Eucratides (c. 170–145 BCE) during the latter part of Eucratides' rule. Bopearachchi nevertheless identifies Justin's Demetrius with the king Demetrius II even though he only struck Greek coins and reigned c. 175–170 BCE, even before Eucratides. In addition, Bopearachchi's early dating of Demetrius II has been challenged (see discussion under Demetrius II.