The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s4.280

c10.s4.280

One little item in the first part of the Milinda is illuminating here. The number of Menander’s Yonakas, *i.e.* his Council, is given as 500. As history, the number is absurd; the *comitatus* of Alexander has been estimated at something over 100²—it is rather guesswork—and certainly no other Hellenistic king can have had more, or even as many; probably the number was usually far smaller. But the Buddha, when he moved from one place to another, had (in Buddhist literature) invariably been accompanied by 500 Arhats,³ and legend had also made 500 the number of Asoka’s ministers, *i.e.* of his Council;⁴ and the intention of the author of the first part of the Milinda, therefore, when he gave Menander a Council of 500, was that his hero should not fall behind either Buddha or Asoka; the number has been transferred to Menander from their respective legends. Perhaps it is worth adding one more parallel between Menander and Buddha: both in fact were born commoners, but legend soon made them both descendants of a line of kings.⁵