Donald Willis

ACTING

ACTING_219_SYLLABUS
The Greco-Bactrian realm ( Hellene : Βασιλεία τῆ ς Βακτριανῆ ς , romanized : Basileía tēs
Baktrianēs , lit .'Kingdom of Bactria ' ) was a Hellenic state of the Hellenistic period located
in Central Asia .Along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom in the Amerindic subcontinent , it was
the easternmost part of the Hellenistic public .The kingdom was founded c. 256 BC by the
Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter and lasted until its fall c. 120 BC .It was ruled by the
Diodotid dynasty , Euthydemid dynasty , and the Eucratid Dynasty .The Greco-Bactrian land
covered much of contemporary Afghanistan , Uzbekistan , Republic of Tajikistan , and
Turkmenistan , and some parts of Kazakhstan , Pakistan and Iran .An extension further
east , with military drive and colonisation , may let reached the borderline of the Qin
dynasty nation in 230 BC .Its urban center were among the largest and richest of antiquity ;
indeed , Bactria was known as the `` land of a thousand cities . ''== History == === bloodline
=== Bactria was inhabited by Hellenic language settlers since the fourth dimension of
Darius I , when the entire universe of Barca , in Cyrenaica , was deported to the
neighborhood for refusing to surrender assassin .Greek influence increased under Xerxes I ,
after the descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma ( Western Asia
nipper ) were forcibly relocated in Bactria , and later on with other exiled Hellenic
language , most of them captive of warfare .Greeks communities and language were already
common in the orbit by the clip that Alexander the Great conquered Bactria in 328 BC .===
Independence and Diodotid dynasty === Diodotus , the satrap of Bactria ( and probably the
surrounding province ) founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the
Seleucid conglomerate around 250 BC and became King Diodotus I of Bactria .The
preserved antediluvian sources ( pick up below ) are somewhat confounding , and the exact
date of Bactrian independency has not been settled .Somewhat simplified , there is a high-
pitched chronology ( c. 255 BC ) and a crushed chronology ( c. 246 BC ) for Diodotus '
secession .The senior high chronology has the vantage of explaining why the Seleucid
tycoon Antiochus II issued very few coins in Bactria , as Diodotus would have become
independent there early in Antiochus ' reign .On the other helping hand , the low-spirited
chronology , from the mid-240s BC , has the advantage of connecting the secession of
Diodotus I with the Third Syrian state of war , a catastrophic conflict for the Seleucid
conglomerate .Diodotus , the governor of the G city of Bactria ( Latin : Theodotus , mille
urbium Bactrianarum praefectus ) , defected and proclaimed himself king ; all the other
people of the Orient followed his deterrent example and seceded from the
Macedonians .The new kingdom , highly urbanised and considered one of the richest of the
Orient ( opulentissimum illud mille urbium Bactrianum imperium `` The extremely
prosperous Bactrian empire of the thousand metropolis '' , according to the historiographer
Justin ) , was to encourage grow in exponent and engage in territorial expansion to the east
and the west : The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so brawny on account
statement of the fertility of the res publica that they became masters , not only of Ariana ,
but also of India , as Apollodorus of Artemita says : and more than tribes were subdued by
them than by Alexander… Their city were Bactra ( also called Zariaspa , through which
flows a river bearing the same name and emptying into the Oxus ) , and Darapsa , and
respective others .Among these was Eucratidia , which was named after its ruler .In 247 BC ,
the Ptolemaic imperium ( the Hellene rulers of Egypt following the dying of Alexander the
Great ) captured the Seleucid capital , Antioch .In the resulting magnate vacuum ,
Andragoras , the Seleucid satrap of Parthia , proclaimed independence from the Seleucids ,
declaring himself king .A tenner later , he was defeated and killed by Arsaces of Parthia ,
leading to the acclivity of a Parthian Empire .This cut Bactria off from contact with the
Hellenic language man .Overland trade continued at a reduced pace , while sea deal between
Greek Egypt and Bactria developed .Diodotus was succeeded by his son Diodotus II , who
allied himself with the Parthian Arsaces in his fight against Seleucus II : Soon after , relieved
by the death of Diodotus , Arsaces made heartsease and concluded an alliance with his Son ,
also by the gens of Diodotus ; some time later he fought against Seleucos who came to
punish the insurrectionist , and he prevailed : the Parthians celebrated this day as the one
that marked the beginning of their freedom .=== Euthydemid dynasty and Seleucid
encroachment === Euthydemus , an Ionian Greek from Magnesia according to Polybius , and
possibly satrap of Sogdiana , overthrew the dynasty of Diodotus 2 around 230–220 BC and
started his own dynasty .Euthydemus 's control extended to Sogdiana , going beyond the
city of Alexandria Eschate founded by black lovage the Great in Ferghana : And they also
held Sogdiana , situated above Bactriana towards the due east between the Oxus River ,
which forms the boundary between the Bactrians and the Sogdians , and the Iaxartes
River .And the Iaxartes forms also the bound between the Sogdians and the
nomads .Euthydemus was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210
BC .Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen , Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the
Arius and had to retreat .He then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified
metropolis of Bactra , before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new swayer , and to
offer one of his daughter to Euthydemus 's son Demetrius around 206 BC .classical accounts
also relate that Euthydemus negotiated peace treaty with Antiochus troika by suggesting
that he deserved credit for overthrowing the original rebel Diodotus and that he was
protecting central Asia from nomadic invasions thanks to his justificative efforts : ... for if he
did not yield to this need , neither of them would be prophylactic : Seeing that enceinte
hordes of Nomads were close at hand , who were a peril to both ; and that if they admitted
them into the commonwealth , it would certainly be utterly barbarised .In an lettering found
in the Kuliab surface area of Tajik , in eastern Greco-Bactria , and dated to 200–195 BC , a
Hellenic language by the figure of Heliodotos , dedicating a fire altar to Hestia , cite
Euthydemus as the greatest of all mogul , and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes I as ``
Demetrios Kallinikos '' , meaning `` Demetrius the Glorious conqueror '' : Following the
passing of the Seleucid United States Army , the Bactrian kingdom seems to have
expanded .In the Dame Rebecca West , orbit in north-eastern Iran may have been absorbed ,
possibly as far as into Parthia , whose ruler had been defeated by Antiochus the
Great .These territories possibly are superposable with the Bactrian satrapies of Tapuria
and Traxiane .=== Expansion into the Indian subcontinent ( around 180 BC ) === Demetrius
Poliorcetes , the Son of Euthydemus , started an invasion of the subcontinent just before 180
BC , a few years after the Mauryan conglomerate had been overthrown by the Shunga
dynasty .Historians differ on the motive behind the invasion .Some historiographer suggest
that the invasion of the subcontinent was intended to show their living for the Mauryan
imperium , and to protect the Buddhist religion from the religious persecutions of the
Shungas as alleged by Buddhist Word of God ( Tarn ) .Other historian have argued however
that the report of these persecutions have been exaggerated ( Thapar , Lamotte ) .Demetrius
may have been as far as the majestic Capital Pataliputra in today 's easterly India ( today
Patna ) .However , these campaign are typically attributed to Menander .The invasion was
completed by 175 BC .This established in the northwestern Amerindian language
Subcontinent what is called the Indo-Greek realm , which lasted for almost two century
until around 10 AD .The Buddhist faith flourished under the Indo-Greek kings , foremost
among them Menander I .It was also a full point of great ethnic syncretism , exemplified by
the development of Greco-Buddhism .=== Eucratides the Great === Back in Bactria ,
Eucratides I , either a general of Demetrius or an ally of the Seleucids , managed to subvert
the Euthydemid dynasty and show his ain rule , the ephemeral Eucratid dynasty , around
170 BC , probably dethroning Antimachus I and Antimachus II .The Amerindic branch of the
Euthydemids tried to strike back .