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Diodotus I
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Diodotus I the Saviour
Diodotos I AV Stater 650684.jpg
Gold coinage of Diodotus I
Greco-Bactrian king
Reign c. 255 BC � c. 239 BC
Predecessor Position Established
Successor Diodotus II
Born c. 285 BC
Died c. 239 BC
Bactria
Spouse Apama of Syria
Issue
Diodotus II
Unnamed daughter
Dynasty Diodotid
Diodotus I Soter (Greek: ???d?t?? ?' ? S?t??; epithet means "the Saviour"; c. 285
BC � c. 239 BC) was Seleucid satrap of Bactria, rebelled against Seleucid rule soon
after the death of Antiochus II in c. 255 or 246 BC, and wrested independence for
his territory, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.[1] He died in 239 BC.

This event is recorded by 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.
[2] 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.

Contents
1 Independence and prosperity
2 Conflict with Arsaces
3 Coinage
4 References
5 External links
Independence and prosperity

Diodotus c. 250 BC.

Diodotus wrested independence for his territory after the death of the Seleucid
ruler Antiochus II Theos, who had been 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 [3])

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 [4]), 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 [5])

The newly declared King married a daughter, born c. 266 BC, of Antiochus II Theos
and wife Laodice I and had two children: Diodotus II and a daughter, born c. 250
BC, who married Euthydemus I.[6]

Conflict with Arsaces

Gold coin of Diodotus I c. 250 BC. The Greek inscription reads: ??S???OS ???????? -
"(of) King Diodotus".
Arsaces, the chieftain of the nomadic (Dahae) tribe of the Parni, fled before him
into Parthia and there defeated and killed Andragoras, the former satrap and self-
proclaimed king of Parthia, and became the founder of the Parthian Empire (Strabo
l.c.). As a result, the Greco-Bactrians were cut off 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).[2]

Soon afterwards Diodotus died and was succeeded by his son Diodotus II, who
concluded a peace with the Parthians[2] and later allied himself with 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 [7])

Diodotus II was subsequently killed by a usurper, Euthydemus, founder of the Greco-

Bactrian Euthydemid dynasty (Polyb. xi. 34, 2).

Gold stater of Diodotus in the name of the Seleucid emperor Antiochus I Soter, c.
250 BCE. Diodotus effectively declared his independence from Seleucid control by
placing his own portrait on the obverse of the coin, and replacing Antiochos's
preferred deity Apollo with the Zeus shown on this coin.
Coinage
Of Diodotus I we possess gold, silver and bronze coins, some of which are struck in
the name of Antiochus. 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.).[2]

References
"The Greek kingdoms of Central Asia," p. 100. P. Bernard in: History of
civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic
civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. Harmatta, J�nos, ed., 1994. Paris: UNESCO
Publishing. ISBN 92-3-102846-4
 One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now
in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Diodotus". Encyclop�dia
Britannica. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 281.
Justin XLI, paragraph 4
Justin XLI, paragraph 1
Strabo XI.XI.I
Tarn, William Woodthorpe (2010-06-24). The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge
University Press. p. 73. ISBN 9781108009416.
Justin XLI.4
External links
Coins of Diodotus
Preceded by
Antiochus II
(Seleucid Empire) Greco-Bactrian Ruler
c. 255 � c. 239 BCE Succeeded by
Diodotus II
Greco-Bactrian kings
Territories/
dates Dynastic lineage
Bactrian domain Expansion into India
280 BCE Foundation of the Hellenistic city of Ai-Khanoum in Bactria (280 BCE)
255 BCE Independence of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom from the Seleucid Empire
(255 BCE)
255�239 BCE House of Diodotus. Diodotus I
239�223 BCE Diodotus II
230�200 BCE House of Euthydemus. Euthydemus I
200�180 BCE Demetrius I Pantaleon
180 BCE Euthydemus II Agathokles
180�170 BCE Antimachus I Apollodotus I
170�145 BCE House of Eucratides Eucratides Demetrius II
145 BCE (Destruction of Ai-Khanoum by the Yuezhi in 145 BCE) (Succession
of
145�140 BCE Plato Eucratides II Indo-Greek kings
140�130 BCE Heliocles I to the
130 BCE Complete occupation of Bactria by the Yuezhi. 1st century CE)
vte
Hellenistic satraps
vte
Hellenistic rulers
Categories: Greco-Bactrian kings3rd-century BC rulersSeleucid satraps280s BC
births230s BC deaths
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