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Battle Of The Arius
The Battle of the Arius was an engagement that was fought in 208 BC between the Seleucid Empire and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. The Seleucids were led by Antiochus III the Great, who launched an invasion of Bactria to recover his ancestor's past dominions. He would go on to be victorious in this battle, and would later go on to besiege the Bactrians at their capital of Bactra for three years. Location The location of the Arius was near the Arius River (now known Hari River). The river flows through the parts of modern-day Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. It flows through the Hindu Kush Mountains. It forms the border between Afghanistan and Iran at one of its points. Prelude Antiochus III the Great was a ruler of the Seleucid Empire whose ancestor and namesake, Antiochus II, originally ruled much of the area that would then make up the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in 255 BC. He had been reconquering past dominions until he moved into Bactria in the year 209 BC. The year had seen Antiochus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hari River, Afghanistan
The Hari River ( or prs, هری رود, translit=Harī Rōd; ps, د هري سیند) or Herat River is a river flowing from the mountains of central Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, where it forms the Tejend oasis and disappears in the Karakum Desert. In its lower course, the river forms a northern part of the border between Afghanistan and Iran, and a southeastern part of the border between Turkmenistan and Iran. In Turkmenistan it is known as the Tejen or Tedzhen river and passes close to the city of Tedzhen. To the Ancient Greeks it was known as the Arius. In Latin, it was known as the Tarius. History Western non Hindu writers claim that Rigveda is said to have recorded the Harirud as the River Sarayu. However, the actual Sarayu is in Uttar Pradesh state of India and arises in Tibetan glaciers near Mt Kailash. It flows through Nepal, before entering India . The river Haroyu is also mentioned in the Avesta. A Buddhist monastery hand-carved in the bluff of the river Harirud ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antiochus II
Antiochus II Theos ( grc-gre, Ἀντίοχος Θεός, ; 286 – July 246 BC) was a Greek king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire who reigned from 261 to 246 BC. He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter in the winter of 262–61 BC. He was the younger son of Antiochus I and princess Stratonice, the daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes. Antiochus II was a forceful personality who in his lifetime largely succeeded to hold the sprawling Seleucid realm intact. However his fateful decision to repudiate his first wife Laodice and marry a Ptolemaic princess Berenice as part of a peace treaty led to a succession struggle after his death that would shake the empire's foundations and cause large territorial losses. Early life Antiochus II was the younger son of Antiochus I Soter and his famous queen Stratonice. Antiochus was initially not expected to inherit the throne, but in 267 BC his father had his elder brother Seleucus executed on charges of rebellion. Reign He inherited last ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battles Involving The Seleucid Empire
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engagement with only limited commitment between the forces and without decisive results is sometimes called a skirmish. The word "battle" can also be used infrequently to refer to an entire operational campaign, although this usage greatly diverges from its conventional or customary meaning. Generally, the word "battle" is used for such campaigns if referring to a protracted combat encounter in which either one or both of the combatants had the same methods, resources, and strategic objectives throughout the encounter. Some prominent examples of this would be the Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of Britain, and Battle of Stalingrad, all in World War II. Wars and military campaigns are guided by military strategy, whereas bat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
208 BC
__NOTOC__ Year 208 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Crispinus (or, less frequently, year 546 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 208 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Republic * The Romans under Publius Cornelius Scipio defeat the Carthaginians under their commander Hasdrubal Barca at Baecula ( Bailen) in Baetica. As a result, Hasdrubal Barca decides to cross the Pyrenees with his remaining troops into Transalpine Gaul, with the intention of joining his brother Hannibal in Italy. * The Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus is killed in battle while fighting Hannibal inconclusively near Venusia, Apulia. * Hannibal destroys a Roman force at the Battle of Petelia. Seleucid Empire * Antiochus III advances into Bactria, which is ruled by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Histories (Polybius)
Polybius’ ''Histories'' ( grc-gre, Ἱστορίαι ''Historíai'') were originally written in 40 volumes, only the first five of which are extant in their entirety. The bulk of the work was passed down through collections of excerpts kept in libraries in the Byzantine Empire. Polybius, a historian from the Greek city of Megalopolis in Arcadia, was taken as a hostage to Rome after the Roman victory in the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC), and there he began to write an account of the rise of Rome to a great power. Content Polybius' ''Histories'' begin in the year 264 BC and end in 146 BC (Polybius was born around 200 BC and died around 117 BC). He is primarily concerned with the 53 years in which Ancient Rome became a dominant world power. This period, from 220–167 BC, saw Rome subjugate Carthage and gain control over Hellenistic Greece. Books I through V cover the affairs of important states at the time (Ptolemaic Egypt, Hellenistic Greece, Macedon) and deal extensiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed constitution or the separation of powers in government, his in-depth discussion of checks and balances to limit power, and his introduction of "the people", which influenced Montesquieu's ''The Spirit of the Laws'', John Locke's ''Two Treatises of Government'', and the framers of the United States Constitution. The leading expert on Polybius for nearly a century was F. W. Walbank (1909–2008), who published studies related to him for 50 years, including a long commentary of his ''Histories'' and a biography. Early life Polybius was born around 200 BC in Megalopolis, Greece, Megalopolis, Arcadia (region), Arcadia, when it was an active member of the Achaean League. The town was revived, along with other Achaean states, a century before he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demetrius I Of Bactria
Demetrius I Anicetus ( grc, Δημήτριος Ἀνίκητος, Dēmētrios Anikētos, "the unconquered"), also called Damaytra was a Greco-Bactrian and later Indo-Greek king (Yona in Pali language, "Yavana" in Sanskrit) (reigned c. 200–167 BC), who ruled areas from Bactria to ancient northwestern India. He was the son of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom's ruler Euthydemus I and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what is now southern Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and India. He was never defeated in battle and was posthumously referred to as "the Unconquered" (''Aniketos'') on the pedigree coins of his successor Agathocles. Demetrius I may have been the initiator of the Yavana era, starting in 186–185 BC, which was used for several centuries thereafter. "Demetrius" was the name of at least two and probably three Bactrian kings. The much debated Demetrius II was a possible relative, whereas Demetrius III (), is known only from numismatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Bactra
The siege of Bactra was a siege of the Hellenistic period that lasted from 208 to 206 BC. It was a siege of the city of Bactra by the Seleucid Empire after they defeated the Greco-Bactrians at the Battle of the Arius. The Seleucids besieged the capital of Bactria until concerning news from the west of his dominions and lack of progress against the city led the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III to negotiate a peace treaty with the Bactrian king Euthydemus and lift the siege. It was agreed that Antiochus would recognize Euthydemus as an ally, and he gave one of his daughters as a wife to Demetrius, Euthydemus' heir. Siege and peace The Greco-Bactrians had recently been defeated at the Battle of the Arius by Antiochus III. After this defeat, Euthydemus retreated to Zariaspa, a district of Bactra. The Greco-Bactrians were able to hold out long enough against Antiochus until his fortunes in the west deteriorated. After two years' laying siege to Bactra, Antiochus' fortunes to the west o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapuria
Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. It corresponded to the present-day province of Mazandaran, which became the predominant name of the area from the 11th-century onwards. Pre-Islamic era Tabaristan was named after the Tapurians, who had been deported there from Parthia by the Parthian king Phraates I (). At the advent of the Sasanians, the region, along with Gilan and Daylam, was part of the Padishkhwargar kingdom of king Gushnasp, who is mentioned in the Letter of Tansar. He submitted to the first Sasanian King of Kings () Ardashir I () after being guaranteed to keep his kingdom. His line would continue ruling Padishkhwargar until the second reign of Kavad I (), who removed the dynasty from power and appointed his son Kawus in its stead. Under the Sasanians, Taba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diodotus II
Diodotus II Theos (Greek: , ''Diódotos Theós''; died c. 225 BC) was the son and successor of Diodotus I Soter, who rebelled against the Seleucid empire, establishing the Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom. Diodotus II probably ruled alongside his father as co-regent, before succeeding him as sole king around 235 BC. He prevented Seleucid efforts to reincorporate Bactria back into the empire, by allying with the Parthians against them. He was murdered around 225 BC by the usurper Euthydemus I, who succeeded him as king. Diodotus’ career was recounted by Apollodorus of Artemita in the ''Parthian History'', but this text is lost, and surviving literary sources only mention him in passing. Thus, most details of Diodotus' life and career have to be reconstructed from numismatics. Background and co-regency The Seleucid empire gained control of Bactria and the surrounding regions between 308 and 305 BC and made it a satrapy (province) of their empire. Diodotus' father, Diodotus I ruled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of , making it the 17th-largest country. Iran has a population of 86 million, making it the 17th-most populous country in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East. Its largest cities, in descending order, are the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz. The country is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, in the seventh century BC, and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire originally founded by Alexander the Great. After receiving the Mesopotamian region of Babylonia in 321 BC, Seleucus I began expanding his dominions to include the Near Eastern territories that encompass modern-day Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, all of which had been under Macedonian control after the fall of the former Persian Achaemenid Empire. At the Seleucid Empire's height, it had consisted of territory that had covered Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, and what are now modern Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and parts of Turkmenistan. The Seleucid Empire was a major center of Hellenistic culture. Greek customs and language were privileged; the wide varie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
