Apollodorus of Artemita ( grc, Ἀπολλόδωρος Ἀρτεμιτηνός) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

historian who flourished between 130 and 87 BC. He hailed from the Greco-Parthian city of Artemita in Apolloniatis and was a citizen of the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conque ...

Biography

Appollodorus's dates of birth and death are unknown. He is generally assumed to have flourished in 130-87 BC, but 99-66 BC and 66-44 BC have also been proposed as options. Apollodorus wrote a history of the Parthian Empire, the ''Parthika'' ( grc, τὰ Παρθικὰ), in at least four books. He is quoted by Strabo and

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

. Strabo stated that he was very reliable. Apollodorus seems to have used the archives of Artemita and Seleucia on the Tigris for his work. Some information on the Greco-Bactrians are preserved in Strabo's work: :"The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of

Ariana Ariana was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia and the Indus River, comprising the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire that covered the ...

, but also of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

--by Menander in particular (at least if he actually crossed the Hypanis towards the east and advanced as far as the

Imaus Mount Imeon () is an ancient name for the Central Asian complex of mountain ranges comprising the present Hindu Kush, Pamir and Tian Shan, extending from the Zagros Mountains in the southwest to the Altay Mountains in the northeast, and linked t ...

), for some were subdued by him personally and others by

Demetrius Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dumi ...

, the son of Euthydemus the king of the Bactrians; and they took possession, not only of Patalena, but also, on the rest of the coast, of what is called the kingdom of Saraostus and Sigerdis. In short, Apollodorus says that Bactriana is the ornament of Ariana as a whole; and, more than that, they extended their empire even as far as the

Seres Seres are the people of Serica, one of the easternmost countries of Asia known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Seres may also refer to: People * * * Brands and enterprises * See also * Celes (disambiguation) Celes may refer to: * ...

and the Phryni." (Strabo, Geographia
11.11.1
He is also quoted for his general geographical knowledge of Central Asia: :"Accordingly, if the distance from Hyrcania to Artemita in Babylonia is eight thousand stadia, as is stated by Apollodorus of Artemita, and the distance from there to the mouth of the Persian Sea another eight thousand, and again eight thousand, or a little less, to the places that lie on the same parallel as the extremities of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, there would remain of the above-mentioned breadth of the inhabited world the distance which I have already given, 4from the recess of the Hyrcanian Sea to the mouth of that sea" (Strabo, Geographia
11.11.1

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Apollodorus Of Artemita Ancient Greek writers 1st-century BC Greek people 1st-century BC historians People from the Parthian Empire 130s BC births 87 BC deaths 2nd-century BC Greek people 2nd-century BC historians