Chapter 9. The Education of Prince Demetrius
Demetrius, the only son of King Diodotus II, was born in 245 BC. If during childhood he had proven to be a feeble and sick child, constantly requiring attention from his parents and tutors, he changed remarkably during adolescence when he acquired the fame of being a skilled horseman, as well as a highly intelligent young man. But this did not come easy.
First of all, we should point out that his father was totally dominated by the imposing figure of his brother, Antimah, leader of the armies of Bactra and governor of Sogdiana. Venerated by the Cynics, who saw in him the proper man to lead the kingdom, venerated by the old caste of Greek noblemen, who respected his leadership during the Saka War, Antimah had reduced Diodotus to a puppet figure. Later accusations spoke about his hidden desire of becoming king, yet we can only say for certain that he intended to remain the power behind the throne for as long as he lived. And if that meant the isolation of his nephew, so much the better.
Second of all, Demetrius had been stripped of all potential friends he could have made with the sons of Greek nobility. Antimah had learned the lessons of Alexander the Great and knew he couldn’t trust the prince in forging dangerous friendships. So, in 233 Demetrius is sent to Prodicos of Apollonia as a student in his Platonic School. At that time the old philosopher was considered a second-rate teacher and his institution only good for second-rate minds; the Cynics monopolized what we call now the education of the elites and did not felt threatened by the “common knowledge” shared with masses as if it was “chicken feed” (Xeniades of Alexandria, Different Notes). Ironic or not, here Demetrius was to find true knowledge and true allies.
Unlike other biographers, that tried to emphasize the role of Platonism during the course of his extraordinary career, Arcesilaos of Pattala, writer of “Demetriada” (147 BC), showed that Demetrius’ study years (233-227) had attached no definite philosophical direction; Prodicos preferred to have open-minded disciples, with a large knowledge base, which the more complex notions could be later build upon. He also taught the young prince the Bactrian language, the tongue of the majority of his subjects.
At the same school, Demetrius encountered several people that would decisively shape his reign, his campaigns, even the cultural and scientific output of the “Bactrian Renaissance”:
Heliocles (b. 251), the greatest cavalry general of his age; twin brothers
Alexandros and
Timarchos (b. 247), his best friends and companions;
Theophilos (b. 248), the creator of Neo-Platonism;
Diocles (b. 250), physicist and physician; and, finally,
Sapur (b. 254), the Bactrian noble.
In the same time, the relationship between father and son had begun to deteriorate. Unhappy with the lack of decisiveness in his father’s actions regarding the status of Antimah, Demetrius found himself at odds with Diodotus’ favorites. Rather than force a showdown, the young prince fled in 226 to Massaca, a town ruled by Sapur, wanting nothing more than to spend his life hunting, riding or discussing philosophy with his closest friends. But history had other plans.
The death of King Diodotus II
In 225 BC, the 43 year-old king died unexpectedly in his Bactrian palace. Because the succession law did not require that Diodotus’ direct descendant rise to the throne, it seemed for a while that Antimah might become the next ruler. But his party did not count on the violent opposition of the late king’s wife, Arsinoe, who took control of the palace and called her son out of his self-imposed exile. In front of the Greek nobles, Demetrius I was crowned King of Bactria, while Antimah received eternal jurisdiction over Sogdiana for him and his descendants, as well as large powers in the administration of the kingdom. The two opposing camps had seemingly made up with the help of an understanding that would not last beyond the next decade.