The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s3.86

c10.s3.86

It is possible, but not certain, that Demetrius himself was in the Middle Country in India when Eucratides arrived (App. 5), and that during the campaigning season of 168 Eucratides only had to deal with sub-kings. Wherever Demetrius was, he ordered Menander to abandon Pāṭaliputra and all the Middle Country south of Mathurā (p. 227) and he himself hurried to Bactria to meet Eucratides, for it is clear from Justin and from the Yuga-purāṇa that their duel was fought out west of the Hindu Kush and that Eucratides did not invade India till later;¹ whether Demetrius was able to take the field in 168 or not, 167 was the critical year. Justin may show that the struggle was not without its vicissitudes, but his one story²—that Demetrius with 60,000 men besieged Eucratides with 300 and the latter after frequent sorties broke out—has little chance of being true as it stands. The figure 300 is probably correct, as it is the normal figure for the *agema* (bodyguard) of one in Eucratides’ position;³ and the story presumably means that at one point Demetrius cut off Eucratides from his army, but the latter got away. The figure 60,000 is naturally untrustworthy; but if Demetrius was really able to employ a large force it *might* mean that he brought and used Indian troops. The end of course was the death of Demetrius;⁴ otherwise it would not have been the end. Presumably Antimachus was also killed, though all that there really is to go upon here is that by the time Eucratides died there was no one left who could seriously challenge Menander’s rule in India, and Menander was not a Euthydemid.