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.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781473830134
Publisert
2016
Utgiver
Vendor
Praetorian Press (ORIM)
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter