157: The Seleucid Civil War

[SPEAKER_00]: This show is a hopeful media podcast production. [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, everyone. [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the history of Persia. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Trevor Kully, and this is episode 157, The Seleucid Civil War. [SPEAKER_00]: right at the top today, just a reminder that I will be presenting on February 28th, 2026, as one of the keynote speakers at Intelligent Speech Online.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am joined by Matt Mitrovich, the alternate historian, and Robin Jamie from Totales Rankium, as this year's keynote speakers, [SPEAKER_00]: We also have a long lineup of additional speakers coming this year and you can go to Intelligent Speech Online.com to get your early bird tickets for the price of $20 before they go up at the beginning of next year and you can get an additional 10% off when you use my promo code Persia. [SPEAKER_00]: easy enough to remember.

[SPEAKER_00]: Intelligent speech online.com early bird tickets on sale right now, promo code Persia for an additional 10% off. [SPEAKER_00]: I will be presenting, then doing the Q&A, the theme is on companions and rivalries we hope to see you there. [SPEAKER_00]: On to the podcast, [SPEAKER_00]: Last time, we covered the third Syrian war, which is also, at least partially called the Lauticaian War. [SPEAKER_00]: After Antiochus, the second died, the Salukid Empire was primed for conflict.

[SPEAKER_00]: Queen Lautica and her adult sons with the late King Antiochus were there when the King passed. [SPEAKER_00]: and they were surrounded by Laudique's brothers, uncles, and cousins in Anatolia, while Queen Baranique was with her own infant son Antiochis in the Salukis, a district of Syria surrounding the capitals of Celucaia and Antioch. [SPEAKER_00]: Baranique and her son were killed by pro-Laudique assassins.

[SPEAKER_00]: Tollamy III arrived in person under diplomatic pretenses, but the situation quickly escalated to open warfare, as Tollamyic forces seized control of Syria almost uncontested and proceeded to invade Babylon. [SPEAKER_00]: Potentially sending emissaries to assert their authority as far east as Susiana. [SPEAKER_00]: However, Talimie was forced to return to Egypt when bread riots turned into outright rebellion.

[SPEAKER_00]: That gave the recently proclaimed King Salukus II, the opportunity to rally his forces and retake that conquered land. [SPEAKER_00]: Not only that, but he began pushing Talimie at forces back into Mascus and Phoenicia. [SPEAKER_00]: Despite the early setbacks, Salukus was winning, but he needed more manpower to hold the offensive. [SPEAKER_00]: He had earned the title Kalinicus, the beautifully triumphant, and he wanted to hold that. [SPEAKER_00]: So naturally, it fell apart.

[SPEAKER_00]: The King's younger brother, Antioch's high racks, had been left with their mother and uncles to manage Anatolia as a vice-roy. [SPEAKER_00]: Not unlike Cyrus the younger, on behalf of his father and brother, generations earlier. [SPEAKER_00]: And much like Cyrus, the queen mother favored her younger son. [SPEAKER_00]: We don't know who planted the seeds of revolt.

[SPEAKER_00]: Laldique, Antiochis himself, one of their relatives, what we do know is that hyrax claimed to the throne for himself and refused his brother's call for aid with maternal support. [SPEAKER_00]: Salukus was forced to abandon the campaign in Syria, turn his army around, and march north to confront Antiochis.

[SPEAKER_00]: To secure his position in Anatolia, [SPEAKER_00]: Antiochus finalized a marriage to the princess of Pontus, almost as soon as his brother marched to war, in exchange for King Mithredate's the second marrying their sister, another loudly gay. [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile the father and son duo of Ariarminis and Ariarithis in Capodokia.

[SPEAKER_00]: saw which way the wind was blowing in their corner of the world, with most of Arriarithes saluted in laws to their west and the Pontic Kingdom to their north, siding with Antiochus. [SPEAKER_00]: They were joined here by Arsamese I of Armenia, who wasn't about to be a proxy for the other side when both of his immediate western neighbors backed Antiochus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Further needing to bolster his armies with experienced warriors and counteract the veteran fighting force that Salukus now commanded in Syria, high racks poured money into the mercenary armies of Galatia to fill his ranks in the field. [SPEAKER_00]: He was all but uncontested in Anatolia now, but his core of local support still came from Alexander. [SPEAKER_00]: a royal uncle and currently the sattrap of Lydia.

[SPEAKER_00]: So just like Cyrus the younger again, and Tyakus Highracks made his capital at Sardis. [SPEAKER_00]: Unlike Cyrus though, and Tyakus took a lesson from that Persian history and would force his brother to march against him rather than trying to go to the capital district himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, [SPEAKER_00]: for all my comparisons to Cyrus the Younger, because these situations are pretty similar politically, the a caminid war of the brothers is all but unique in antiquity, especially pre-Roman antiquity. [SPEAKER_00]: For those events, I could be painstakingly detailed. [SPEAKER_00]: We had two eyewitnesses, one on either side, and xenophon even documented the whole March to the ultimate confrontation.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not only do we not have a xenophon, or even a TCS, for the Salukid Civil War in the mid-third century, we don't have any contemporary sources to speak of. [SPEAKER_00]: For that matter, we barely have sources, period. [SPEAKER_00]: The entire conflict is known primarily through brief references in ancient chronicles, just briefly listing and describing the events, rather than proper histories.

[SPEAKER_00]: case in point, we don't have a single source to explain what happened for the first several years after Salukus Calinicus withdrew from Phoenicia in 242. [SPEAKER_00]: For all we know he withdrew back to Antioch and just sat around trying to negotiate with his brother for almost half a decade. [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that's what happened, but it seems likely that there were significant stretches of downtime for negotiations.

[SPEAKER_00]: The first conflict we can sort of guess at in this fraternal war, [SPEAKER_00]: came at Sardis. [SPEAKER_00]: Justin mentions that Salukus besieged the city, but he also places that in the context of trying to evict Tolami from Anatolia. [SPEAKER_00]: Tolami never took Sardis, it was Salukus's acting capital while Antioch was under Egyptian occupation. [SPEAKER_00]: If the colonies had taken Sardis, the third Syrian war would have effectively ended in wholesale saluted defeat.

[SPEAKER_00]: The later chronicler UCBS is probably correct, placing that siege in the context of the fraternal war. [SPEAKER_00]: And just to get to Sardis, we should assume that there were some kind of skirmishes or even a smaller battle between Antioch and Lydia for Salukus' forces to even get there. [SPEAKER_00]: But none of that is documented. [SPEAKER_00]: Whether Antiochis Hi-Rax was actually in Sardis at the time or not, we don't know.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was the regional capital, but Laudique and her family had many strongholds across the region. [SPEAKER_00]: And in the early stages of the war, Antiochis' personal attention would have been demanded in securing their eastern alliances. [SPEAKER_00]: However, the rebellious younger brothers most important ally ruled from Sardis, that was Uncle Alexander, son of a chius, and grandson of the original Salukus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Initially, Salukus' army and Alexander's face-to-off in a pitched field battle. [SPEAKER_00]: And the veteran host that had just finished fighting in Syria, routed Alexander's local levies and mercenaries. [SPEAKER_00]: They fled back to Sardis, where Alexander beat back his least favorite nephew's assault on the ancient Lydian city, early in the war, and Salukus had to withdraw.

[SPEAKER_00]: Salukus may also have tried to retake Ephesus from the tallamies around this time with little success. [SPEAKER_00]: Part of me wonders if he may have left his siege engines in the south, hoping to return [SPEAKER_00]: If that was the original plan, it backfired spectacularly. [SPEAKER_00]: It would also explain why he struggled to conquer any cities when he first arrived in Anatolia. [SPEAKER_00]: Another potential skirmish came indirectly from King Ziailus of Bethinia.

[SPEAKER_00]: Always the petty kingdom of Anatolia that was most at odds with the Salukids in general. [SPEAKER_00]: It's not clear whether Ziailus sided with Salukus, probably hoping that it would help him in any regional conflicts when his neighbors chose Antiochus. [SPEAKER_00]: or if Bethanya was nominally neutral and just saw an opportunity to seize Saluca territory while the royal brothers were distracted by one another.

[SPEAKER_00]: Either way, Antiochus joined his own army on a march across inland Anatolia, forcing the cities and settlements there to pay tribute to him. [SPEAKER_00]: both as a way to legitimize his role, and get the money needed to fund this war. [SPEAKER_00]: As Antiochis approached Bethanya, Ziailus attacked, was defeated, and fled back to Nicomedia to brace for a possible invasion by the younger Silucid King.

[SPEAKER_00]: Salukis Kalinakis and his army, apparently working from a base in Korea, marched east across the southern edge of Anatolia and cut north to intercept the rebel forces somewhere in Galatia. [SPEAKER_00]: The two armies finally met near the Galic capital of Ankira, coincidentally, also the modern Turkish capital. [SPEAKER_00]: This was the climactic battle of the war, or at least this stage of the war, and we know very little about it other than that happened, and the outcome.

[SPEAKER_00]: If I had to guess, based on all of the various ancient sources that reference participants in this battle, Antiochus and his allies lured Salukus into a trap. [SPEAKER_00]: that, or Salukus, was attempting to intercept entire Kisses Army as it marched east before they could link with their Galatian, Pontic, Capodokian, and possibly Armenian allies.

[SPEAKER_00]: Despite any superior original plans, Salukus wound up in the middle of Galatia facing an army [SPEAKER_00]: backed by local Galatian armies, as well as forces from their other allies. [SPEAKER_00]: It was a slaughter. [SPEAKER_00]: According to some accounts, as many as 20,000 Salukid loyalist soldiers were killed or captured by Antiochus, who suffered minimal casualties. [SPEAKER_00]: Salukus himself went missing in the aftermath of this battle.

[SPEAKER_00]: Initially, the king was presumed dead, and Tyakis seized the opportunity, likely genuinely mourning the loss of a brother, and seeing the political strength of publicly acting that way. [SPEAKER_00]: He ordered cities across Anatolia to hold elaborate funeral celebrations, and dress in morning clothes for weeks after his victory at Ankira. [SPEAKER_00]: the morning celebration was short-lived.

[SPEAKER_00]: Celucus had escaped with a few of his personal retainers and traveled in disguise back to his base camp in Korea, only when he returned to friendly territory did the king reveal himself and announced that news of his demise had been greatly exaggerated. [SPEAKER_00]: Salukus' wife, Queen loudly gave a second, probably wasn't with him. [SPEAKER_00]: She had just recently given birth to their second son, a little boy, uncomfortably named Antiochus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Likewise, even though he was now a young adult, their elder son, Alexander, appears to have stayed [SPEAKER_00]: However, one member of the King's household was captured at Enkira, a concubine named Mista. [SPEAKER_00]: She was caught up when the baggage train was sacked by high-racks' forces, and mistaken for a common camp follower to be sold into slavery.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometime after Siluca's revealed himself, Mr. was sold to a rodian slave trader who she was able to explain herself to. [SPEAKER_00]: The island of Rhodes, not wanting to anger a king, got her back to Antioch right away. [SPEAKER_00]: Alive or not, Salukus' army had been all but destroyed at Ankira and Salukus' remaining forces quietly withdrew back across the Taurus mountains to the relative safety of Antioch.

[SPEAKER_00]: From there, Salukus, the beautifully triumphant, sued for peace. [SPEAKER_00]: At least temporarily allowing his brother to set up shop, [SPEAKER_00]: as an independent king in Anatolia, while Celucus turned his attention eastward to try and hold what little remained of his empire together. [SPEAKER_00]: After the Battle of Ankira, both brothers set to work, consolidating their kingdoms.

[SPEAKER_00]: But since Antioch is high-racks, is more self-contained within Anatolia, I will focus on him first. [SPEAKER_00]: One of his first actions after evicting Salukus was to settle the last of his eastern borders, and form an alliance with Ziailus of Bithinia. [SPEAKER_00]: Despite the Bethanyan's recent attack on HiRax's army, the younger King offered a marriage pact. [SPEAKER_00]: HiRax officially committed to marrying Ziailus's daughter as his second wife.

[SPEAKER_00]: With that, all of the notable kingdoms around HiRax's were allies except for one. [SPEAKER_00]: Hergamon, the Iolian city state on the northwest coast that had successfully revolted for independence from Antiochis the first so tear. [SPEAKER_00]: As it happens, just as war between the Salukid brothers kicked off, the sitting ruler of [SPEAKER_00]: He was succeeded by his adopted son and actual nephew, Adelis the first.

[SPEAKER_00]: The single most important and famous event in Adelis's reign came early on. [SPEAKER_00]: And even though it was quite a famous conflict in its time, we don't have a ton of detail to explain how it came to be. [SPEAKER_00]: A large Galatian army approached Pergamon's borders and Adelis led his troops out to meet them in battle. [SPEAKER_00]: The question here is, how and why did a Galatian army get to Pergamon in the early two thirties?

[SPEAKER_00]: Sure, Galatian raiders and bandits had been an [SPEAKER_00]: But for the most part, the Anatolian Gauls were based out of Galatia, far to the east of Purgamon, with a significant span of Salukid territory in between, and Gaulic warriors wouldn't have been hurting for work at this particular moment in time, and Tyakus Highracks had just hired all of them.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's possible that these were the Thracian Gauls, who crossed over the hell of spawned and raided somewhere in Anatolia, but even then we're talking about a large number, not just a coastal raid, alternatively, hierarchs had just hired them. [SPEAKER_00]: whether the Galatians that attacked Adelis were sent by Antiochis high racks intentionally, or were just mercenaries that he hired going rogue, and looking for plunder after the Battle of Ankara, who knows?

[SPEAKER_00]: That said, based on what came next, I kind of suspect the former. [SPEAKER_00]: The Galation Army met the Pergamines on the banks of the Kikos River, the modern Farkache in Turkey. [SPEAKER_00]: Adelis's Army beat them soundly. [SPEAKER_00]: Overwhelmingly, driving off the invasion and earning Adelis immense popularity within his own territory.

[SPEAKER_00]: Whether he engineered the popular outcry himself, or the outpouring of support was genuine, Adalis received two new titles for his achievements. [SPEAKER_00]: First, he was compared to Antiochis the first and declared so tear, the savior. [SPEAKER_00]: And with that, as so many had done before him when receiving semi-divine titles after a victory in battle, Atalus was declared Bassalaius, the king of Purgamon.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes the Battle of the Kikos River is framed as part of the Galic migration into Anatolia. [SPEAKER_00]: But that doesn't make sense chronologically. [SPEAKER_00]: Honestly, I think it's mostly just that Adelis commissioned the famous statue of the dying gall to commemorate these events. [SPEAKER_00]: And that is the most common artistic touchstone for ancient Galatia.

[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of authors try to present the conflict that followed as a Galatian war, with an Thai kiss high racks along for the ride, which I suppose it could have been, but a more mutual arrangement is just much more likely. [SPEAKER_00]: Through this alliance with high racks, the Galatians were boxed in. [SPEAKER_00]: They were suddenly allies with all of their neighbors. [SPEAKER_00]: but hierarchs was effectively paying them tribute to retain mercenary services.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the Galatians wouldn't want to upset their new alliance and get cut off. [SPEAKER_00]: However, they still wanted to raid and pillage wealthy Greek cities. [SPEAKER_00]: And the last holdouts that weren't already paying them tribute and bribes were in pergamon. [SPEAKER_00]: Simultaneously, Antiochus wanted royal legitimacy, and could hardly be expected to let this petty tyrant and pergamon claim titles even grander than his own, while also dominating trade along his coast.

[SPEAKER_00]: So together, the Galatian tribes and Antiochus' high racks launched a war against pergamon. [SPEAKER_00]: It went spectacularly poorly. [SPEAKER_00]: We don't know much about the war, but an inscription from Adelis in Pergamon did record a list of victories all over Anatolia. [SPEAKER_00]: Antiochus' alliance seems to have launched the first attack, assaulting a fortress town called Aprodision, just outside the walls of Pergamon itself, only to be repelled.

[SPEAKER_00]: from there, Adelis went on the offensive, and he recorded victories in Central Frigia, Korea, and Kuloway. [SPEAKER_00]: The latter now known as Lake Marmara. [SPEAKER_00]: In order, Frigia, especially if he means he'll respond to in Frigia, was the region where hyrax controlled the largest concentration of coinage [SPEAKER_00]: and securing those would mean both wealth and legitimacy for Adelis.

[SPEAKER_00]: Going all the way South to Korea was really just showing off, but also served the practical purpose of keeping Antiochist on the move and pressing the advantage. [SPEAKER_00]: Finally, Callaway was in Lydia, the heart of the Imperial Political Power in Anatolia. [SPEAKER_00]: So far as we can tell, Sartis itself did not fall at this time, but that would have left Sattrap Alexander alone on an urban island in a sea of purgamine control.

[SPEAKER_00]: After the battle of Cold Away, the would-be king and Taya-Kis high-racks fled to the east, going all the way to the court of Arsamese in Armenia, to seek refuge from the purgamine [SPEAKER_00]: By the end of the two thirties, Adelis and Pergamon, effectively controlled all of Salukid Anatolia. [SPEAKER_00]: Silucous calyticus's trajectory after the Battle of Ankira is a bit harder to track because he went east.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as we know, the imperial east is basically a black hole that consumes all written records never to be seen again. [SPEAKER_00]: But we can piece together a slight chronology from some of the events referenced in this period and the archaeological materials. [SPEAKER_00]: The exact chronology just depends a bit on when you place Ankira.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen basically every option from 242-237 in modern research and which end of that spectrum you choose basically determines whether the king went to the far east and returned to Mesopotamia or went to Mesopotamia and then continued east.

[SPEAKER_00]: Personally, I'm going with John D. Granger's interpretation, at least loosely, and I am going to accept a later date for Ankira, because I think diminishing Salukus' army as much as possible first, better explains the rest of the story. [SPEAKER_00]: One of the only events we can firmly date here is another revolt in Babylon. [SPEAKER_00]: This time in May or June of 237 BC, according to an astronomical diary written in the city.

[SPEAKER_00]: That diary briefly references fighting inside the city again, this time right up to the gates of the Sattraps Palace. [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, Salukus II arrived shortly after the fighting started, or was even already in residence when the revolt broke out, because the direst referenced the King's personal guard, joining the palace Garrison to suppress the rebels.

[SPEAKER_00]: Much like the revolts against Antiochus II at the beginning of his reign, this does not [SPEAKER_00]: but Babylon itself did rebel. [SPEAKER_00]: We might even wonder if some Tlamayic supporters were still in the city after its brief occupation a few years earlier. [SPEAKER_00]: Regardless of cause, some dissatisfied Babylonians saw this moment of Imperial chaos as their time to strike, and Salukus had to intervene and put an end to the rebellion.

[SPEAKER_00]: From there, he turned north and marched into media, to deal with a crisis in the northeast. [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, this is a crisis I planted the seeds for several episodes ago in 152. [SPEAKER_00]: The Parni Saka, under their greatest warlord Arsaki's, had grown from a sporadic band of raiders, [SPEAKER_00]: operating across the central step of the Caspian Sea to a legitimate threat, and they had conquered the city of Osteuene around 247.

[SPEAKER_00]: When I first covered that event, I inaccurately said he was proclaimed Vasileus, the Greek word for king. [SPEAKER_00]: That isn't quite right. [SPEAKER_00]: Arsaki's probably was declared king, Shah, or at least something close to that word in his own language, but in Greek, at this stage, he used the title, Otocratore. [SPEAKER_00]: The Otocratore was somewhere between military dictator and elected general.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was used in Hellenistic states to describe a particularly important military leader, and it was the favorite title of Androgorus and deodotus, the pseudo-independent satraps of [SPEAKER_00]: was probably just copying the format familiar to him at that time and place. [SPEAKER_00]: So personally, I favor placing the fall of Astoine in 247 or year 1 of the new Arsakid era. [SPEAKER_00]: The new King's subjects would use to date documents after he was fully established.

[SPEAKER_00]: a mimicry of the more popular saluted era. [SPEAKER_00]: However, while I'm going to stick to that in the future, I feel obligated to explain just how little we understand of this time period. [SPEAKER_00]: I've done my best to present things as a narrative so far based on the order of events that make sense to me. [SPEAKER_00]: That's how roughly half of our circuit history writers approach things. [SPEAKER_00]: The other half spent way more time doing what I will do today.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometime between 260 and 2208 BCE in the reigns of Antiochist II and Salukist II, the following events happened in some sort of order. [SPEAKER_00]: Arsaki's invaded silucid margiana, parthia, and bacteria at different points. [SPEAKER_00]: The satraps of parthia and bacteria, Androgorus and deodotus, became increasingly independent. [SPEAKER_00]: Androgorus may have preceded, or been accompanied by two other local governors referenced in this period as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: and, or the local forces of Marjiana, successfully repelled the Parni invasion. [SPEAKER_00]: Arsakis invaded Parthia and took control of Astoene, renaming it Arsak in his own name. [SPEAKER_00]: During the third Syrian war and the Salukid Civil War, Androgoris and Diodotis stopped participating in Salukid affairs altogether. [SPEAKER_00]: effectively placing both of their provinces in revolt as far as saluted taxes were concerned.

[SPEAKER_00]: Arsaki's proceeded to campaign against Androgoris, in particular for years, eventually conquering the Parthian capital, Haka Tompelos, and killing Androgoris. [SPEAKER_00]: He proceeded to expand his power into Hirkania to the north and west of Parthia. [SPEAKER_00]: He also turned east and invaded Bactria, more on that in a minute. [SPEAKER_00]: At some point in all of this, Selucid II marched on Parthia at least once.

[SPEAKER_00]: But to me it seems more likely that there were at least two battles between Selucus and the Parthians, and therein lies the confusion. [SPEAKER_00]: Arsaki's tribe of Saka are no longer a relevant name. [SPEAKER_00]: Once they had conquered Parthia, the rest of history would remember Arsaki's his people and their state as the Parthians. [SPEAKER_00]: There are good reasons for this that I will explore in future episodes, but just having that context is what's important now.

[SPEAKER_00]: All of our sources for this event were written much later by authors looking back on this as the genesis of a Perthian Empire, and their terminology can get quite confusing. [SPEAKER_00]: We aren't sure whether or not Salukus first marched against Andrew Gaurus, treating him as a rebel, or if he only arrived after Arsaki's had conquered the territory.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's equally possible that Androgoris had allied temporarily with Arsaki's to fend off the Salukid Royal Army, and then those two went back to fighting one another. [SPEAKER_00]: All we know is this. [SPEAKER_00]: After their first encounter, Arsaki's and his army withdrew into the territory of another [SPEAKER_00]: However, Justin and the progression of history in general is firm that Arsaki's was ultimately victorious.

[SPEAKER_00]: And all accounts agree that Salukus ultimately withdrew from Partia all together. [SPEAKER_00]: He was never able to make it to bacteria at all. [SPEAKER_00]: We don't have a timeline for these events. [SPEAKER_00]: So we don't understand the context for this clash or clashes as it may have been. [SPEAKER_00]: It's entirely possible that the so-called withdrawal was some sort of faint retreat, a tactic that Parthian armies in later centuries became famous for.

[SPEAKER_00]: Or it may be as simple as just going to an ally [SPEAKER_00]: Regardless, the ultimate outcome for Celucus was decisive. [SPEAKER_00]: The northeastern satrapies were entirely lost as King Arsaki's settled into the throne of a Parthian kingdom. [SPEAKER_00]: Over in bacteria, satrap deodotus died around 235 BC, and was succeeded by his son deodotus the second.

[SPEAKER_00]: Most of what we know about bacteria after it's slipped from saluted control comes from a complex chronology with lots of arguments based on the coinage minted by their rulers. [SPEAKER_00]: This study of coinages is called numismatics and I'll cover that another day too. [SPEAKER_00]: It's just one of those episodes this time.

[SPEAKER_00]: For now, what you need to know is that Dia did as the first, despite being remembered as the first, never proclaimed himself King as far as we know. [SPEAKER_00]: His coinage was initially stamped with his own portrait and the label King Antiochus, during the reign of Antiochus, they us. [SPEAKER_00]: After that King died, or at least around that time, [SPEAKER_00]: Bacterian coins switched to the label of Diodotus, claiming authority for himself but not the royal title.

[SPEAKER_00]: After repelling the arsecid invasion, he added the title so tear, a typical Hellenistic royal choice, but the word Vasileo still never appears on the coins. [SPEAKER_00]: Diodotus II had no such qualms. [SPEAKER_00]: His coinage was clearly marked of King Deodotus, and with that, the infamous Greco-Bacterian Kingdom was fully up and running as an independent state. [SPEAKER_00]: Deodotus II quickly made an alliance with Arsakeys.

[SPEAKER_00]: probably a mutual defense agreement to maintain their shared independence, but we don't know if he contributed troops to the battle with Celucus II or just stayed out of it and promised not to attack Partia himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Additionally, another Babylonian astronomical diary references another round of riots or combat in the streets of the ancient city amidst all of this Iranian action, possibly [SPEAKER_00]: There is some good evidence to suggest that at least one of Salukis's confrontations with the Parthians came at the end of our vague 238 to 228 timeframe because that's when the war with his brother briefly resumed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Antiochus Highracks, who had fled to Armenia after losing all of Western Anatolia to Adelis and Purgamon, eventually recouped his strength, probably borrowing some money for mercenaries and some soldiers from his allies in the region, Antiochus struck out again. [SPEAKER_00]: He, or at least one of his allies, briefly took over a mint in Solicia, and put out new coins featuring hi-racks' portrait.

[SPEAKER_00]: But this was short-lived, quashed either by Tala-Me or Adelis, or a combination of both since they were allies at the time. [SPEAKER_00]: Antiochus himself marched south from Armenia and launched an invasion of northern Mesopotamia, apparently in a bid to take the Salukid corps around Babylon and Syria, while his brother was in Iran. [SPEAKER_00]: This might have been in response to yet another round of Babylonian riots, referenced by the astronomical diaries in 229.

[SPEAKER_00]: Salukis did not face down his brother personally this time. [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, two generals and brothers led the defense of Mesopotamia. [SPEAKER_00]: These were Akiyos and Andromakis. [SPEAKER_00]: The sons of the royal uncle also named Andromakis.

[SPEAKER_00]: We know that it was a son and not the uncle himself, primarily because uncle Andromakis was a prisoner [SPEAKER_00]: They fought a battle in the foothills of the Armenian mountains right at the northern edge of Assyria, and Antiochus Hierax was wounded, fleeing into the mountains again with his army, making camp at the foothills. [SPEAKER_00]: Hierax intentionally circulated a rumor that he had died and ordered his mercenary generals to negotiate with Antrimoccus.

[SPEAKER_00]: and Ramakas wanted HiRax's body as proof of the rebel prince's death and to prepare for a state funeral. [SPEAKER_00]: HiRax's generals claimed that they couldn't find the corpse, but offered to let Saluca troops into their camp and prepared to be taken as prisoners. [SPEAKER_00]: Andrew Mock is agreed to this, sent 4,000 soldiers expecting to be prison guards, who were then ambushed as high racks revealed he was still alive.

[SPEAKER_00]: This ambush was not enough to restart the rebellion, but it was enough for entire kiss to make his escape. [SPEAKER_00]: He and a small band of retainers and loyal soldiers managed to flee East and find passage on a ship bound for Thrace. [SPEAKER_00]: One of his generals was from Lissima Kaya, and he may have been headed there, or potentially to the court of Dmitrius in Macedon as a royal exile.

[SPEAKER_00]: But on the road in Thrace, they were ambushed by one of the local Gallic Bandit tribes, and Antiochis was killed. [SPEAKER_00]: And that's where I'm going to leave things for now. [SPEAKER_00]: The Saluca Empire was well and truly shattered, and atolia, with the exception of a few individual cities, was gone, Partia's gone, Vatria's gone, the status of central in southern Iran was up in the air, but that's a story for another day.

[SPEAKER_00]: For all intents and purposes, the Saluca [SPEAKER_00]: That's all that was left. [SPEAKER_00]: Make your bets on whether or not they can pull out of this nose dive now. [SPEAKER_00]: Until then, if you want more information about this podcast, you can go to HopfulMedia.com. [SPEAKER_00]: That's where you'll find things like my bibliography, episode imagery, and additional resources.

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