The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s6.178

c10.s6.178

We now have several questions to answer. How did it happen that, with Greek independence in the Paropamisadae so near its end, Hermaeus suddenly managed to extend his rule and his power in the way he did? Why did he give a relative in marriage to a barbarian, the contemporary Kushan chief? And why does there exist a suggestion of relations between him and China? Fortunately we have here, for the last time, the help of the written word. There is a story in the Ch’ien-han-shu, the story of the first and last intervention of the elder Han dynasty south of the Hindu Kush, which will answer all these questions, if it relates to Hermaeus; and the fact that it will explain Hermaeus’ situation and no other situation is very strong evidence that it does relate to him, for the story is dated.