This Apollodorus hailed for Artemita which was founded in the Hellenistic age. Despite having long been part of the Parthian Empire, by his lifetime (around 100 BC) Artemita had retained its character as a Greek polis under the rule of the pro-Greek early Arsacrids.
He wrote a work in the called Parthica (on the Parthians) which is referred to by Strabo (geographer 64- 21 BC) and by Athenaeus, who mentions the fourth book of his work.
Parthica is a book about history of Parthian empire comprising at least four volumes. The only surviving parts are a fragment handed down by Athenaeus and several references by Strabo, who in addition, emphasizes the accuracy of Apollodorus’s reports about the Parthian empire.
Inscriptions provided evidence of lectures given by an itinerant orator or philosopher, while a library housed specialist literature on philosophy.
Aside from his use of secondary sources (Alexander historians, early geographers), Apollodorus is a value informant because of his own local investigations, such as the study of the municipal archives of Artemita and Seleucia and the informant he personally collected from his Greek compatriots, as well as merchants and travelers.
The book of Parthica which has got lost dealt not only with Parthia, but also with Bactrian Greeks which had been cut off from the rest of the Hellenistic world since the third century and their invasion in India.
According to Apollodorus of Artemita, the fertility of Bactria’s soil created for the Graeco- Bactrians the power that led them to undertake the conquest of India.
Apollodorus of Artemita (130-87 BC)
Saturday, November 12, 2016
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