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1 results

  • 11 - The Greeks of Bactria and India

  • Edited by A. E. Astin, F. W. Walbank, M. W. Frederiksen, R. M. Ogilvie
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Ancient History
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    07 December 1989, pp 388-421

  • Summary

    In the Achaemenid period, when the Persian empire extended from Greece to Gandhara, a meeting between the east and the west had taken place. Indian soldiers in the Persian army fought on Greek soil, and Greeks such as Scylax made explorations in India for the Persians. The Greeks of Bactria under Diodotus gained their independence from the Seleucids as a result of open revolt or through a gradual transition to power. Diodotus I considered himself a saviour of the Greeks in Bactria, some of his coins include the title of Soter. On the other hand, coins of Pantaleon and Agathocles are rare in the western parts of Bactria. The policy initiated by Agathocles was followed by Menander. It is generally accepted that Menander was married to Agathocleia, probably a sister or daughter of Agathocles. After Menander there began the process of decline and fall of the Graeco- Bactrian and Graeco-Indian kings.