Bactria in 218 B.C.

Bactria — 218 BC · The Greek Kingdom of a Thousand Cities.

Bactria — the great Greek kingdom of the far east, a fertile land of a thousand cities set between the snows of the Caucasus mountains and the broad stream of the Oxus. Since Alexander it has been settled with Greek colonists, who raised their cities, gymnasia and coined money in the heart of the inner satrapies. For a lifetime its kings have ruled apart: the satrap Diodotus broke from the Seleucid empire and took the diadem, and now Euthydemus, a Greek of Magnesia, has overthrown the line of Diodotus and reigns as king of Bactria and Sogdiana. It is a Hellenistic realm on the rim of the world, rich in irrigated grain and caravan gold, holding the long frontier of the Jaxartes against the Saka and Scythian nomads of the steppe — while far to the west the Seleucid king Antiochus the Great gathers his strength to come and reclaim the east.

Bactria is the farthest of the Greek kingdoms, a land Greek tongues call rich in everything but olive oil, studded with cities founded since the days of Alexander. Two generations ago its Seleucid satrap Diodotus, taking advantage of the distractions of the great kings, made himself an independent monarch over a thousand towns. But the Diodotid house did not hold the throne: Euthydemus, a Greek out of Magnesia, has destroyed the heir of Diodotus and reigns in his place over Bactria and Sogdiana. His is a wealthy realm of irrigated plains and busy caravan roads, with Greek garrisons strung along the Oxus and the Jaxartes to hold back the nomad peoples of the open steppe. Yet the danger is double. To the north press the Saka and Scythian hordes, ever ready to pour across the rivers; and to the west the Seleucid king Antiochus, who has sworn to recover all the lost provinces of his fathers, is bringing his army east — and Bactria, the last and richest of the rebel satrapies, lies at the end of his road.