The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s1.299

c10.s1.299

The Greek kings divided Bactria-Sogdiana into a number of satrapies,⁷ the satrapies being the Seleucid eparchies, a more manageable arrangement; and their example was followed by every Seleucid Succession state, including Parthia, and by states which, though never Seleucid, fell within the sphere of Seleucid or Parthian influence; the Greek kings of Bactria were in fact the originators of what became the almost universal organisation of Asia in the first century B.C. (pp. 2 sq.). It is possible that the new organisation in Bactria itself might date from Diodotus, but as it is not known for certain that he took the royal title this must be very doubtful. It certainly antedated the organisation of the Parthians, who copied it, but here again it cannot be said whether that organisation began with Mithridates I or was solely the work of Mithridates II; but even Mithridates I was later than Euthydemus, and the probabilities are that it was Euthydemus' work. The Bactrian satrapy-list, unlike those for Cappadocia, Armenia, and (to some extent) Parthia, has not been preserved; the only satrapy names known are Tapuria and Traxiane west of the Arius¹ and Bubacene somewhere in Sogdiana;² but it is possible that the name for Badakshan was Bandobene³ and that Bandobene in the Paropamisadae (p. 97) was taken from it.⁴ It is tolerably certain, from the analogy of India (p. 241), that the satrapies were governed by generals, *strategoi*, on the Seleucid model, and the administration, speaking generally, must have been modelled on that of the Seleucids; but of what modifications may have been introduced we know nothing.