Diodotus of Bactria
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Gold coin of Diodotus c. 250 BC.

Diodotus, Seleucid satrap of Bactria, rebelled against Antiochus II (about 255 BC) and became the founder of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom (Trogus, Prol. 41; Justin xli. 4, 5, where he is called Theodotus; Strabo xi. 515). The name apparently is related to the title Soter he uses for himself. His power seems to have extended over the neighbouring provinces. Diodotus was a contemporary, a neighbour, and probably an ally of Andragoras, the satrap of Parthia, who at about the same time also proclaimed independence from the Seleucid Empire.

Independence and prosperity

Diodotus c. 250 BC.

Diodotus wrestled independence for his territory from the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II, who was embroiled in a war against Ptolemaic Egypt:

Diodotus, the governor of the thousand cities of Bactria (Latin: "Theodotus, mille urbium Bactrianarum praefectus"), defected and proclaimed himself king; all the other people of the Orient followed his example and seceded from the Macedonians. (Justin, XLI,4 ^[1])

The new kingdom, highly urbanized and considered as one of the richest of the Orient (opulentissimum illud mille urbium Bactrianum imperium "The extremely prosperous empire of the thousand cities of Bactria" Justin, XLI,1 ^[2]), was to further grow in power and engage into territorial expansion to the east and the west:

"The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Ariana, but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander... Their cities were Bactra (also called Zariaspa, through which flows a river bearing the same name and emptying into the Oxus), and Darapsa, and several others. Among these was Eucratidia, which was named after its ruler." (Strabo, XI.XI.I ^[3])

Conflict with Arsaces

"Pedigree" coin of Agathocles, with the effigy of Diodotus, qualified as "SOTIROS" ("Saviour").

Arsaces, the chieftain of the nomadic (Dahan) tribe of the Parni, fled before him into Parthia and there eliminated Andragoras, the former satrap and self-proclaimed king of Parthia, and became the founder of the Parthian Empire (Strabo l.c.). The Greco-Bactrians became cut from direct contacts with the Greek world. Overland trade continued at a reduced rate, while sea trade between Greek Egypt and Bactria developed. When Seleucus II in 239 BC attempted to subjugate the rebels in the east, it appears he and Diodotus united together against the Parthians (Justin xli. 4, 9).

Soon afterwards Diodotus died and was succeeded by his son Diodotus II, who concluded a peace with the Parthians (Justin l.c.). Diodotus was succeeded by his son Diodotus II, who allied himself with the Parthian Arsaces in his fight against Seleucus II:

"Soon after, relieved by the death of Theodotus [Justin uses a erroneous version of the name], Arsaces made peace and concluded an alliance with his son, also by the name of Theodotus; some time later he fought against Seleucus who came to punish the rebels, and he prevailed: the Parthians celebrated this day as the one that marked the beginning of their freedom" (Justin, XLI,4 ^[4])

At the All-India Oriental Conference held at Pune in 1993, Dr. Ranajit Pal has suggested that Diodotus I was the great Ashoka[1]. The bilingual Kandahar Edict shows Ashoka as the master of Arachosia but the coins point to Diodotus as the ruler. According to Dr. Pal the names Diodotus and Devanam (piya) are synonymous (‘nam’=’dat’=’law’). Significantly, while Diodotus has only coins but no inscriptions, his contemporary Ashoka has many inscriptions but no coins, which shows that they complement each other. Ashoka never refers to his neighbor Diodotus because he was Diodotus himself. Both were fierce warriors in their youth but later became saviors, sôtêr[2]. Diodotus II was subsequently killed by a usurper, Euthydemus, founder of the Greco-Bactrian Euthydemid dynasty (Polyb. xi. 34, 2).

Coinage

The founder of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, Diodotus I

Of Diodotus I we possess gold, silver and bronze coins, some of which are struck in the name of Antiochos. As the power of the Seleucids was weak and continually attacked by Ptolemy II, the eastern provinces and their Greek cities were exposed to the invasion of the nomadic barbarians and threatened with destruction (Polyb. xi. 34, 5); thus the erection of an independent kingdom may have been a necessity and indeed an advantage to the Greeks, and this epithet well deserved. Diodotus Soter appears also on coins struck in his memory by the later Graeco-Bactrian kings Agathocles and Antimachus. Cf. AV Sallet, Die Nachfolger Alexanders d. Gr. in Baktrien und Indien; Percy Gardner, Catal. of the Coins of the Greek and Scythian Kings of Bactria and India (Brit. Mus.).

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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