The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India. Getzel M. Cohen

principality in Asia, both in the extent of its territory and the number and excellence of the men and also of the horses it produces. It supplies nearly the whole of Asia with these animals, the royal stud farms being entrusted to the Medes owing to the excellence of the pastures” (10.27.1–2, trans. Paton).⁸⁰ Not surprisingly, the region—both the frontier and the interior—was heavily settled by Alexander and his successors. Polybius observed (10.27.3–4) that Alexander the Great established a ring of “Greek cities”—except EKBATANA—around Media to protect it from neighboring barbarians (presumably he placed Ekbatana in a separate category because, as he notes [10.27.5], it had been the royal residence of the Medes). Interestingly, the mint mark of coins produced at Ekbatana was the forepart of a feeding horse.⁸¹ F. W. Walbank suggested that these settlements were needed in order to secure what would become “the central province of the Seleucid realm.”⁸² Strabo said (11.9.1) that Herakleia and APAMEIA were located in the vicinity of RHAGAI. Strabo also said (11.13.6) that among the Greek cities in Media that were founded by the Macedonians were LAODIKEIA, APAMEIA, the [city] near RHAGAI (κα? ? πρ?ς ‘Pάγαις), and Rhagai itself. We do not know the exact location of many of these settlements. Nevertheless, it is likely that many would have been located along the route from Syria to China.⁸³

      Hyrcania was located around the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea. Although no Hellenistic settlement is definitely attested for this region, Polybius does describe Sirynx (10.31.6) as the capital or royal residence (βασ?λειον) of Hyrcania. He also says that some Greeks lived there (10.31.11). An inscription found in the region of ancient Hyrcania records a sacral manumission that dates to the third century B.C.⁸⁴ The document provides evidence for a cult and sanctuary of Sarapis to whom the manumitted slave was dedicated on behalf of King Antiochos I Soter and his wife, Stratonike. Thus, the inscription indicates the presence of Greeks at a relatively early period in this area. Whether it also reflects the presence of a Greek colony, as Sherwin-White suggested, is less certain.⁸⁵

      Farther east—that is, in Parthia—there is evidence for at least five settlements—SOTEIRA, KALLIOPE, CHARIS, HEKATOMPYLOS, and ACHAIA—that Appian says were founded by Seleukos I Nikator (Syr. 57).⁸⁶ Aside from some information concerning Hekatompylos, little is known about any of the other foundations. In any event, the rise of the Arsacids and their assumption of control of Parthia (and Hyrcania) in the period after the mid-third century B.C. effectively ended the Seleucid presence there.⁸⁷

      

      In the southwest, in Susiana, Elymais, and Persis there were also a number of Seleucid settlements. In fact, one of the most important Hellenistic (re)foundations of the Iranian plateau was SELEUKEIA on the Eulaios, the former Susa.⁸⁸ Strabo (15.3.11) emphasized the extensive cultivation of grain in that region. He asserted that “Susis abounds so exceedingly in grain that both barley and wheat regularly produce one hundredfold, and sometimes even two hundred” (trans. Jones). Potts has expressd great skepticism regarding these claims. He noted that Strabo’s “account of the phenomenal yields achieved for wheat and barley crops strains all credulity.” He also doubted Strabo’s claim that it was the Macedonians who introduced viticulture there, since, as he pointed out, it is known that grapes were cultivated and wine manufactured in neighboring southern Mesoptamia from early times.⁸⁹ On the other hand, Diodorus (19.13.6) mentions that when they were in Susiana in c. 318/7 B.C. Eumenes and his men consumed rice, sesame, and dates, which grew in abundance in the region. Strabo also refers to the cultivation of rice there (16.1.18), but Potts cautioned that it is difficult to know whether Strabo was referring to conditions in his day (first century B.C./first century A.D.) or the late fourth century B.C., when Eumenes would have been marching through. Strabo also mentioned that liquid asphalt or naphtha was found in Susis (16.1.15). Finally, Le Rider has pointed out that the horse or the head of a horse on various bronze coins from Susa suggests that horse breeding was carried on there.⁹⁰ Susa was the site of a royal mint and, particularly after Antiochos III’s eastern campaign, a major commercial center for trade with the Persian Gulf region.

      I have discussed above the settlements along the Iranian littoral of the Persian Gulf.⁹¹

      BACTRIA

      It has long been noted that with the exception of ALEXANDROPOLIS in Thrace, ALEXANDREIA near Egypt, the Macedonian settlement at SAMAREIA, and ALEXANDREIA/Spasinou Charax, all the settlements that can arguably be claimed to have been founded by Alexander the Great were located in central Asia—that is, well east of the Tigris.⁹² ALEXANDROPOLIS in Thrace was, of course, a foundation of Alexander’s youth, established after a rebellion in the region. The military settlement at SAMAREIA was founded in response to a rebellion by the Samaritans. The other two settlements—both of which were called Alexandreia—were apparently established primarily for commercial and political rather than strategic or security reasons. ALEXANDREIA/Spasinou Charax at the head of the Persian Gulf provided an outlet for maritime trade with India. Similarly, ALEXANDREIA near Egypt provided access to the Mediterranean and served as a commercial transit point for goods traveling up and down the Nile from and to the Red Sea coast.

      In Bactria and the adjacent regions, Alexander the Great faced threats both from without and from within.⁹³ His concern with anchoring a Macedonian presence in this region both for security purposes and as a safeguard against nomadic tribes on the steppes to the north can be seen in the Alexandreias he allegedly founded there.⁹⁴ It is important to bear in mind that in Bactria and the adjacent regions Alexander and his successors faced a unique challenge that had not manifested itself elsewhere in the Middle East: resistance and opposition from the Greek settlers. Diodorus twice refers to this: he says that when a rumor spread that Alexander had died, “the Greeks who had been settled in Bactria and Sogdiana, who had long borne unhappily their sojourn among peoples of another race and now received word that the king had died of his wounds, revolted against the Macedonians” (17.99.5, trans. Welles).⁹⁵ He also says that, subsequently, “the Greeks who had been settled by Alexander in the upper satrapies, as they were called, although they longed for the Greek customs and manners of life and were cast away in the most distant part of the kingdom, yet submitted while the king was alive through fear; but when he was dead they rose in revolt” (18.7.1, trans. Geer).⁹⁶ I might add, incidentally, that there is no evidence for the same level of dissatisfaction among, for example, the Greeks who had been settled in Mesopotamia or Syria.

      As regards the native population, there are, of course, examples of opposition to Macedonian rule: consider what happened at SAMAREIA. But this was apparently the exception. There was native resistance to Macedonian conquest; one thinks, for example, of the resistance of the inhabitants of Tyre and Gaza. But, as far as we know, there was no organized or prolonged resistance to Macedonian rule in Syria or Mesopotamia in the early Hellenistic period. In short, it would appear that the newly established Macedonian presence in the Middle East was generally accepted without extensive or prolonged native opposition. It is worth noting that in these same regions we do not find evidence for a program of organized settlement foundings by Alexander.

      The situation in central Asia was quite different. There, Alexander faced fierce and prolonged resistance to Macedonian conquest and, subsequently, to Macedonian rule. To use a term that was widely (mis)used during the Vietnam War, the “pacification” of central Asia was far more challenging than anything Alexander had faced anywhere else. In short, the king’s task in central Asia was quite complex: he had to deal with opposition and resistance from settlers and natives as well as with various external threats. Furthermore, as Alexander advanced farther and farther east into central Asia, he was soon approaching the frontiers of the (former) Achaemenid empire, frontiers that would essentially form the border of his own empire. These geopolitical challenges may help explain Alexander’s decisions to establish settlements at various places in the region. Whether the settlements were a reaction to or a cause of native opposition and resistance may be debated.

      

      Alexandreias

      The literature on Alexander and on the number and purpose of his foundations is quite extensive.⁹⁷ The number of foundations attributed to Alexander reached a peak with