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Euthydemus I (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ????d?µ?? ??) was allegedly a native of Magnesia
Magnesia

Magnesia , deriving from the tribe name Magnetes, is the name of the southeastern area of Thessaly in central Greece. The modern prefecture was created in 1947 out of the Larissa prefecture....
 and possible Satrap
Satrap

Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Medes and Persian Empire empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic civilization empires....
 of Sogdiana
Sogdiana

Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian peoples and a province of the Achaemenid Empire Persian Empire, the eighteenth in the list in the Behistun Inscription of Darius I of Persia ....
, who overturned the dynasty of Diodotus of Bactria and became a Greco-Bactrian king in about 230 BCE according to Polybius
Polybius

Polybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his book called The Histories covering in detail the period of 220–146 BC....
. Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
, on the other hand, correlates his accession with internal Seleucid wars in 223/221 BCE.






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Euthydemusmedailles
Euthydemus I (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ????d?µ?? ??) was allegedly a native of Magnesia
Magnesia

Magnesia , deriving from the tribe name Magnetes, is the name of the southeastern area of Thessaly in central Greece. The modern prefecture was created in 1947 out of the Larissa prefecture....
 and possible Satrap
Satrap

Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Medes and Persian Empire empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic civilization empires....
 of Sogdiana
Sogdiana

Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian peoples and a province of the Achaemenid Empire Persian Empire, the eighteenth in the list in the Behistun Inscription of Darius I of Persia ....
, who overturned the dynasty of Diodotus of Bactria and became a Greco-Bactrian king in about 230 BCE according to Polybius
Polybius

Polybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his book called The Histories covering in detail the period of 220–146 BC....
. Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
, on the other hand, correlates his accession with internal Seleucid wars in 223/221 BCE. His kingdom seems to have been substantial, including probably Sogdiana
Sogdiana

Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian peoples and a province of the Achaemenid Empire Persian Empire, the eighteenth in the list in the Behistun Inscription of Darius I of Persia ....
 to the north, and Margiana and Ariana
Ariana

Arianna is a feminine name that comes from the italian root word "aria" which means song. . See Ariana .Other uses of Ariana include:...
 to the south or east of Bactria.

Little is known of his reign until 208 BCE when he was attacked by Antiochus III the Great
Antiochus III the Great

Antiochus III the Great, , younger son of Seleucus II Callinicus, became the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC....
, whom he tried in vain to resist on the shores of the river Arius
Arius

Arius was a Berber people Christian priest from Alexandria, Egypt in the early fourth century whose teachings, now called Arianism, were deemed heretical by the Church....
, the modern Herirud. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. He then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra, before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler, and to offer one of his daughters to Euthydemus's son Demetrius
Demetrius I of Bactria

Demetrius I or was a Buddhist Greco-Bactrian king . He was the son of Euthydemus I and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what now is eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan thus creating an Indo-Greek kingdom far from Hellenistic Greece....
 around 206 BCE .

Classical accounts also relate that Euthydemus negotiated peace with Antiochus III by suggesting that he deserved credit for overthrowing the original rebel Diodotus, and that he was protecting Central Asia from nomadic invasions thanks to his defensive efforts:
"...for if he did not yield to this demand, neither of them would be safe: seeing that great hords of Nomads were close at hand, who were a danger to both; and that if they admitted them into the country, it would certainly be utterly barbarised." (Polybius
Polybius

Polybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his book called The Histories covering in detail the period of 220–146 BC....
, ).


The war lasted altogether three years and after the Seleucid army left, the kingdom seems to have recovered quickly from the assault. The death of Euthydemus has been roughly estimated to 200 BCE-195 BCE, and the last years of his reign probably saw the beginning of the Bactrian invasion of India.

There exist many coins of Euthydemus, portraying him as a young, middle-aged and old man. He is also featured on no less than three commemorative issues by later kings, Agathocles
Agathocles of Bactria

Agathocles Dikaios , was a Buddhist Indo-Greek king, who reigned between around 190 and 180 BCE. He might have been a son of Demetrius I of Bactria and one of his sub-kings in charge of the Paropamisade between Bactria and India....
, Antimachus I
Antimachus I

Anthimachus I was one of the Buddhist Greco-Bactrian kings from around 185 BC to 170 BC.William Woodthorpe Tarn and most Western historians place Antimachus as a member the Euthydemid dynasty and probably as a son of Euthydemus I and brother of Demetrius I of Bactria....
 and one anonymous series. He was succeeded by Demetrius, who went on to invade northwestern India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
.

Preceded by:
Diodotus II
Diodotus II

Diodotus II was a Greco-Bactrian king, son of Diodotus of Bactria. He is known for concluding a peace treaty with the Parthian king Arsaces, in order to forestall the Seleucid Empire reconquest of both Parthia and Bactria:...
 Greco-Bactrian Ruler Succeeded by:
Demetrius I
Demetrius I of Bactria

Demetrius I or was a Buddhist Greco-Bactrian king . He was the son of Euthydemus I and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what now is eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan thus creating an Indo-Greek kingdom far from Hellenistic Greece....