Greek Mercenary Revolts in Bactria: A Re-appraisal
2013; Franz Steiner Verlag; Volume: 62; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.25162/historia-2013-0009
ISSN2365-3108
Autores Tópico(s)Byzantine Studies and History
ResumoAccording to previous scholarship the main reasons which ignited these Greek settlers’ revolts of 326/325 and 323 BC in Bactria were the rebels’ desire to partake to the “Greek way of life” and their possible anti-Macedonian sentiments. This paper, without rejecting these arguments, shifts the focus to the rebels themselves; the majority of the Greek settlers, if not all, were previously mercenaries and we should continue to regard them as such. A thorough analysis of the relevant ancient texts demonstrates that the first revolt might have been more of an internal squabble between different factions of the Greek mercenaries-turned-colonists than a mass scale revolt. As far as the second revolt is concerned the paper discusses the possibility that there might have been no battle with the ‘rebels’ and that Peithon was there initially to negotiate employment terms.
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