in 208 BC. The author comes to the conclusion that Antiochus managed to defeat Arshak II and restore his power in Parthia and Hyrcania.
Key words: Antiochus III, Arshak II, Parthiene, Hyrkania.
In 209 BC, after the suppression of the Achaean revolt in Asia Minor and the subjugation of Sophene (Polyb. VIII. 17-23, 25), Antiochus III began to restore Seleucid power in the east in full. The first goal of his campaign was to be Parthia. But before describing the course and results of the Parthian-Seleucid war, it is necessary to determine which territories were in the hands of the Parthian ruler Arshak II at the beginning of it.
I'll start with the east. Polybius reports (Polyb. X. 49. 1) that after the end of the Parthian campaign, during the war with Euthydemus of Bactria in 208 BC, Antiochus besieged a city three days ' march 2 west of the Arius River (Gerirud-Tejen). This circumstance does not allow us to agree with those authors who believe that the border of Parthia and Bactria passed along this river [Walbank, 1967, p. 265; Koshelenko and Gaibov, 2012, p.26]. If we take into account that Aria, which was part of Greco-Bactria (Walbank, 1967, p. 232), included the Keshefrud Valley and bordered Parthiena along the Binalud ridge (Balakhvantsev, 2005, p. 183), then the latter should also be considered the eastern limit of Arshak I's conquests.
What was the state of affairs in Nesaya, a region located in the region of modern Ashgabat? I have already had occasion to refer to the discovery of two lead tetradrachms of Antiochus III of local coinage on the Old Nisa [Balakhvantsev, 2005, pp. 185-186]. Judging by the fact that the portrait of the king on these coins belongs to the so-called type A, which was used in 223-211 BC [Houghton and Lorber, 2002, p. 466], and lead was used for minting only in the most extreme circumstances, we can conclude that the Old Nisa up to the campaign In 209 BC, it remained loyal to the Seleucids, but the Parnians were threatened from the wes ...
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