Rome, Parthia and India: The Violent Emergence of a New World Order 150-140 BC

by John D. Grainger

Overview

Between 152 and 138 BC a series of wars from Africa to India produced a radically new geopolitical situation. In 150 Rome was confined to the western Mediterranean, and the largest state was the Seleukid Empire. By 140 Rome had spread to the borders of Asia Minor and the Seleukid Empire was confined to Syria. The new great power in the Middle East was Parthia, stretching from Babylonia to Baktria. These two divided the western world between them until the Arab conquests in the seventh century AD.

These wars have generally been treated separately, but they were connected. The crisis began in Syria with the arrival of the pretender Alexander Balas; his example was copied by Andriskos in Macedon, formerly in Seleukid service; the reaction of Rome to defiance in Macedon, Greece and Africa produced conquest and destruction. The preoccupation of Seleukid kings with holding on to their thrones allowed Mithradates I of Parthia to conquer Iran and Babylonia and in Judaea an insurrection was partly successful. Mithradates was able conquer in part because his other enemy, Baktria, was preoccupied with the nomad invasions which led to the destruction of Ai Khanum. One of the reasons for the nomad success in Baktria was the siphoning off of Greek strength into India, where a major expedition in these very years breifly conquered and sacked the old Indian imperial capital of Pataliputra.

In the process, the great cities of Carthage, Corinth, Ai Khanum, and Pataliputra were destroyed, while Antioch and Seleukeia-on-the-Tigris were extensively damaged. John Grainger's lucid narrative shows how these seismic events, stretching from India to the Western Meditteranean, interconnected to recast the ancient world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848848252
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	01/02/2014
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

John D. Grainger is a former teacher turned professional historian. He has over thirty books to his name, divided between classical history and modern British political and military history. His previous books for Pen & Sword are Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars; Wars of the Maccabees; Traditional Enemies: Britain’s War with Vichy France 1940-42; Roman Conquests: Egypt and Judaea; Rome, Parthia and India: The Violent Emergence of a New World Order: 150-140 BC; a three-volume history of the Seleukid Empire and British Campaigns in the South Atlantic 1805-1807.

Table of Contents

Maps vii

Introduction viii

Chapter 1 The World in 150Bc 1

Chapter 2 The Syrian Crisis 13

Chapter 3 Andriskos in Macedon 25

Chapter 4 Rome's Problems 37

Chapter 5 Baktrian Problems 51

Chapter 6 The Sack of Pataliputra 64

Chapter 7 The Dynastic War in Syria, 148-145 77

Chapter 8 The Destruction of Carthage 88

Chapter 9 The Sack of Corinth 99

Chapter 10 Roman Decisions 114

Chapter 11 Parthia 128

Chapter 12 The Burning of Antioch 141

Chapter 13 Fragmentation 157

Chapter 14 The Kingdom's Last Chance 170

Conclusion - The World in 140 BC 183

Notes and References 187

Appendix 198

Bibliography 199

Index 202