The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s1.81

c10.s1.81

The common belief that Euthydemus died about the time of the battle of Magnesia, 189 B.C., cannot be far wrong; his portrayal in old age on one of his coins, conjoined with the date of his marriage, shows that he cannot have died much earlier, and, had he lived longer, the city founded by Demetrius in Arachosia (see pp. 94, 471) must have been named Euthydemia and not Demetrias. After the departure of Antiochus III in 206 he began to develop his kingdom in such directions as were open to him without inviting a fresh attack by the Seleucid; the last phase prior to the invasion of India, the incorporation of some Seleucid provinces, did not take place till Antiochus’ power had been broken at Magnesia, and was due to Demetrius; but it may be taken that (India apart) such traces of expansion outside the Seleucid realm as exist belong to the reign of Euthydemus, for after Magnesia Demetrius’ hands were full with other matters. A connected story of Euthydemus’ reign is impossible; one can only take the kingdom as it existed when Demetrius crossed the Hindu Kush and go through the several provinces. It will be convenient to take the outlying parts first and leave Bactria itself, the kernel of the kingdom, to the end, for Bactria leads naturally to such account of the nature of Euthydemus’ rule as it may be possible to give.