Bactria and its Prophets

Ok, I'm ready to move on to the reign of one of the greatest kings of Antiquity, one that might put Alexander the Great to shame. Suffice to say he will boldly go where no Greek has gone before... :cool:

Btw, hope you've read the "intellectual history" part. It will be necessary to understand the times I'm trying to depict with maximum clarity.

I'm also expecting more feedback... Don't be shy!
 
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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.

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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.
 
Am I going too intellectual with this timeline? Unfortunately, I've designed most of the events 14 years ago, when I was in 7th grade, and it's one of my last links to my childhood. Therefore I'm kind of sentimental and serious when it comes to the Diodotid Dynasty...

Maybe someday I'll manage to write a novel set into this universe...
 
Given that the Tocharians would have been the immediate trading partners with the Helleno-Bactrians, and may even have been middle-men between them and the Chinese at one time, would they be granted a distinct role in this TL, or will their history be intertwined with the Bactrians themselves?
 
Alexandru H. said:
Am I going too intellectual with this timeline? Unfortunately, I've designed most of the events 14 years ago, when I was in 7th grade, and it's one of my last links to my childhood. Therefore I'm kind of sentimental and serious when it comes to the Diodotid Dynasty...
No no, I like intellectual. Besides, this has court intrigue amongst rival family members of a Greek dynasty based in Central Asia, and the promise of more to come; what more could you ask for? :)
 
Given that the Tocharians would have been the immediate trading partners with the Helleno-Bactrians, and may even have been middle-men between them and the Chinese at one time, would they be granted a distinct role in this TL, or will their history be intertwined with the Bactrians themselves?

The Tocharians will be essential to this timeline. I don't plan to rub out Kushans out of Bactria and certainly I'm interested in the Chinese connection...
 
Chapter 10. The Military Reforms

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The first three years of Demetrius’ reign were spent in Bactria organizing the royal armies. Unlike his predecessors, the young king had a vested interest in the creation of a specialized force that would enable Bactria to impose its hegemony over the whole region. While the basic scheme was completed by 222 BC, his lack of resources meant that his new army was to be reinforced after each victorious campaign with more corps. If by the beginning of the Indian campaign he could use only 15,000 soldiers, by 215 he had reached the magic number 50,000, which was to be for the next century the main tool of offense for the Bactrian Kingdom.

The limitations of the classical phalanx in Central Asian terrain were obvious since the times of Alexander. While a solid infantry line was still necessary, Demetrius believed that this should be bolstered by light troops in order for infantry to successfully resist all kinds of new challenges. Therefore, Demetrius created a mixed phalanx of Greek pikemen and Persian missile troops. Greeks occupied the first three and the rear rank of each deka (basic squadron of 12 men), while the twelve ranks between were filled out with Persians armed with bows or javelins. In the first army formed by these principles, the Persian missile troops numbered about 7,680 men (fifteen lochoi) while the number of Greek pikemen was 2,560 (five lochoi). The infantry was led by Timarchos.

Note: lochoi is a company formed of 512 soldiers.

The cavalry was organized into the ile (squadron) of 200 men divided into four tetrarchiai. Each fifty-man tetrarchia was arrayed in wedge formation, a fluid, non-linear line of battle so typical of steppe people, perfectly suited to the role of cavalry played in Demetrius’ battle plan. In his main army, cavalry was divided by nationality: 2,000 Bactrian heavily-armored horsemen and 2,000 Sogdian light horse-archers. The cavalry body was led by Heliocles, while Sapur took charge of the Bactrian cataphractes.

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The Companion Cavalry played the role of a royal bodyguard, entering the fray in the decisive moments of a clash. Headed by Alexandros, the 1,000 soldiers were easily recognized on the battlefield due to their golden armors and their perfect tactical prowess.

The beginning of the great adventure


After Asoka’s death in 232 BC, the Mauryan Empire was entrusted to Dasaratha and, later on, to Samprati (224-215 BC). But the relationship between the two realms would change overnight after the Cynic Xeniades of Alexandria would place a request in the hands of Antimah, urging him to free the Buddhists from Samprati’s rule, fallen under the influence of Jainism. There is a certain amount of irony in this request: Jainism was certainly closer to the original Cynism of Diogenes, but by that time the philosophy of Hegesias had become in Bactria too entrenched in its own importance and influence to resemble anything more than a mere ideology.

If Xeniades had hoped to see his protégée on the battlefield, scoring triumph after triumph, he was to be disappointed. Antimah had no intentions of leaving his seat of power until he was ready to move against the king. In a strange twist of fate, Xeniades made the same offer to young Demetrius, who accepted the challenge as a first sign of independence and as a way to bolster his armies and capabilities. In 222 BC he left Bactra, assured that his mother and allies would keep Antimah in check. It was the beginning of the great adventure.
 
My main problem is that I don't know the history of this era much. So I have no idea what is OTTL compared to what was twisted around in TTL. It looks like it's starting to change now after Asoka, but otherwise history except for Bactria seems to be pretty much the same.

So.... not much to say.
 
My main problem is that I don't know the history of this era much. So I have no idea what is OTTL compared to what was twisted around in TTL. It looks like it's starting to change now after Asoka, but otherwise history except for Bactria seems to be pretty much the same.

So.... not much to say.

History has already changed. In OTL, Diodotus II was overthrown by Eutydemos, who started his own dynasty. In my timeline, Diodotus II has a son named Demetrius.

Well, you should try to read at least the wikipedia entries about the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and Indo-Greek Kingdom. Not complete by any stretch of imagination, but enough to pick up the main elements of the era...
 
History has already changed. In OTL, Diodotus II was overthrown by Eutydemos, who started his own dynasty. In my timeline, Diodotus II has a son named Demetrius.

Well, you should try to read at least the wikipedia entries about the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and Indo-Greek Kingdom. Not complete by any stretch of imagination, but enough to pick up the main elements of the era...
Right, but I meant the world outside Bactria.


So far it doesn't seem to have effected the wider world much which, I gather it eventually will. So when it does, I'll have more to say. :)
 
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Right, but I meant the world outside Bactria.

Ah, got you... well, so far the world is pretty much the same... the big changes will begin happening after 215, first to the neighbours of Bactria, then butterflying all over the known world. At every 50 years I'll return to the main areas (Western Europe, Hellenistic World, India, China) and talk about the changes, the monarchs, the events...

I have an idea of the world I'm trying to build. Suffice to say Rome won't get the Eastern Hellenistic World, there will be no Arab expansion and we won't get Western Europe as the center of human civilization.
 
Any clues about the possible future expansion of the Turkics/Uyghers, and which civilization will wield the most cultural influence over them?

How does Hinduism fare in this TL?

And as the Tocharians have a big role in this TL, do they endure as a major demography in Central Asia, or will they survive in a cultural sense, such as literary works, ruralistic and nomadic clan-groups whom live on the fringe of Bactrian society whom claim descent, or locally insular religious denominations whom claim the Tocharian cultural identity as their own, and whose religious liturgy they employ during rituals and other services?
 
Any clues about the possible future expansion of the Turkics/Uyghers, and which civilization will wield the most cultural influence over them?

How does Hinduism fare in this TL?

And as the Tocharians have a big role in this TL, do they endure as a major demography in Central Asia, or will they survive in a cultural sense, such as literary works, ruralistic and nomadic clan-groups whom live on the fringe of Bactrian society whom claim descent, or locally insular religious denominations whom claim the Tocharian cultural identity as their own, and whose religious liturgy they employ during rituals and other services?

I'm a bit lost at this time. All I know is that Bactria will remain Greek in the civilizational sense: I plan to finish the timeline sometimes in the 4th century and by then we will probably see Bactria ruled by a foreign power/tribe/dynasty, but with a strong Greek individuality. I'm thinking a bit of Byzantium: religious, dark, all kinds of battles between doctrines and heresies...

The Tocharians will be BIG during Demetrius' reign. They will be essential in the success of one of his greatest acts. They will integrate in the Greek-Bactrian culture and, most importantly, they will forbid any turkish power to establish itself in the area.

I'd like to see Turks as taking the place of mongolians in the Russian steppes. I shall probably never tell that story in the proper sense, but I'll make sure to offer a proper ending to my timeline.
 
In regard to the OTL Turks, they had actually established a presence on the Russian Steppes centuries before the Mongols had done, anyway. Even the Golden Horde, a Mongol political creation, was mostly composed of Turkic Kypchaks and Volga Bulgars as its rank-and-file. That could be why Islam became its adopted religion by the early 1300's.

So I guess that your TL's prospects for Russia is to host a culturally Turkic nation, with a Hellenic-derived literary language, and practices a parallel creed of Zoroaster-Manicheaism? In case you change your mind later, that could be an interesting prologue for future events.
 
In regard to the OTL Turks, they had actually established a presence on the Russian Steppes centuries before the Mongols had done, anyway. Even the Golden Horde, a Mongol political creation, was mostly composed of Turkic Kypchaks and Volga Bulgars as its rank-and-file. That could be why Islam became its adopted religion by the early 1300's.

So I guess that your TL's prospects for Russia is to host a culturally Turkic nation, with a Hellenic-derived literary language, and practices a parallel creed of Zoroaster-Manicheaism? In case you change your mind later, that could be an interesting prologue for future events.

Well, my ideal timeline would be one that ended with the establishment of several centers, dominated by a different religion. So, if Bactria will have Christian Gnosticism, I'll try to think of what political constructions might accomodate Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Roman Polytheism, Greek Polytheism, Mainstream Christianity... I'd like to make them a little weird, but still realistic...

For example, Christianity won't be a Western Europe reality. Zoroastrianism will probably be adopted by Turks and brought to Eastern Europe. I'd like to see a Jewish-Berber state in North Africa, maybe even parallel versions of Mali-Songhai... Why not make Antioch this timeline's equivalent of Apostolic Rome? Zamolxis and his Getae conquering the Balcanic Peninsula in order to spread its teachings? Combining Pythagora and the Bactrian Neo-Platonists into some sort of a pseudo-Freemasonry with its center in Egypt? Slavic Gods in Hispania? British Huns?
 
Wow, British Huns:confused::confused:? I'm not too sure about that one. Can't picture Hunnic nomad landlubbers settling in Britain. Although I'm intrigued with the Jewish Berbers and the Zalmoxite Balkans scenarios. And an advanced form of Slavic Polytheism would realistically develop in eastern Europe, where it may compete with the southern Zalmoxites.
 
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