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The Battle of the Arius was an engagement that was fought in 208 BC between the
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 ...
and the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic-era Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world in Central Asia and the Ind ...
. The Seleucids were led by
Antiochus III the Great Antiochus III the Great (; grc-gre, Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας ; c. 2413 July 187 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 222 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the res ...
, 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 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 D ...
(now known Hari River). The river flows through the parts of modern-day
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
and
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...
. It flows through the
Hindu Kush Mountains The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...
. It forms the border between
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
and
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 Turkmeni ...
at one of its points.


Prelude

Antiochus III the Great Antiochus III the Great (; grc-gre, Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας ; c. 2413 July 187 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 222 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the res ...
was a ruler of the
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 ...
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 in Bactria, moving to restore his ancestor's realm in the far east and himself gain much more territory. He faced the rebel Euthydemus, a ruler of Bactria who had himself usurped the original usurpers descendants. Antiochus had gained successes in his conquest but then prepared to meet him in battle.


The Battle

The Battle of Arius was fought in 208 BC and took place near the
Arius River 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 D ...
at daybreak. The Seleucids had advanced into the Greco-Bactrian territory as part of an expedition to gain back the land they had lost after Antiochus II's death. Getting wind of this, Euthydemus was soon on hand leading 10,000 cataphracts, after marching for three days from Tapuria to meet the Seleucid army. Antiochus had received word that the Bactrians would guard the river throughout the day, but when it became night, they retired to a city twenty stadia off. He then used this to his advantage and crossed the majority of his army under the cover of night. Upon learning of this, Euthydemus and his cataphracts began riding to the Arius to meet the Seleucid army. Upon learning of the impending Greco-Bactrian charge, Antiochus rallied 2,000 of his best horsemen to meet the charge. In the engagement, Antiochus is described as having fought with the most gallantry in his entire army. There were severe losses on both sides, when Antiochus's horsemen defeated the advance guard, two more squadrons of cavalry arrived and inflicted heavy losses on the Seleucids. One of Antiochus' officers, Panaetolus, upon noticing that the 2,000 cavalrymen were nearly all dead, ordered his peltasts to relieve Antiochus and inflicted losses on the Bactrians. Meanwhile, as Panaetolus countered the Bactrians, Antiochus regrouped what remained of his cavalry and took many prisoners, later withdrawing to the other side of the river. As they were withdrawing, Antiochus had a horse killed under him, losing some of his teeth by a blow to the mouth. After seeing his losses, Euthydemus retreated back to his capital, Bactra.


Aftermath

Although Antiochus may have won this battle, he later besieged the Bactrians at Bactria for 3 years, later signing a peace with Euthydemus and obtaining war elephants in exchange for the hand of his daughter to Euthydemus's son,
Demetrius Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dumi ...
.


References

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References

*
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 ...
: '' The Histories'' 10.49. *"Bactria." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (April 2016): 1. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 8, 2016). *"Balkh." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (April 2016): 1. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 8, 2016). *"Antiochus (III) the Great." ''Hutchinson's Biography Database'' (July 2011): 1. ''History Reference Center'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed November 8, 2016). *Holt, Frank Lee. 1999. ''Thundering Zeus : The Making of Hellenistic Bactria''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. ''eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed December 14, 2016).


See also

* Siege of Bactra 208 BC Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
Arius Arius (; grc-koi, Ἄρειος, ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaic presbyter, ascetic, and priest best known for the doctrine of Arianism. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead in Christianity, which emphasized God the Father's ...
Arius Arius (; grc-koi, Ἄρειος, ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaic presbyter, ascetic, and priest best known for the doctrine of Arianism. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead in Christianity, which emphasized God the Father's ...
Arius Arius (; grc-koi, Ἄρειος, ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaic presbyter, ascetic, and priest best known for the doctrine of Arianism. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead in Christianity, which emphasized God the Father's ...