1840.] from Bactrian and Indo- Scythian coins. 739 



authority ; (V. 4) ^^ Omnes praeterea gentes, quae inter Hydaspem 

 fluvium, et Indum jacent^ subegit Mithridates, ad Indiam quoque 

 cruentum extendit imperium/' Orosius was possessed of a laud- 

 able piety, of no great understanding, and rather of a passion for 

 rhetorical flourishes, than of any desire to attempt critical exact- 

 ness. What were the many nations between the Hydaspes 

 and the Indus, and what were they in comparison to the great 

 empires Mithridates possessed ? The only exact authority, 

 that of Trogus, certifies merely that Mithridates^ dominion ex- 

 tended to the Indian Caucasus. Justin xli. 6. ^^ Imperiumque 

 Parthorum a monte Caucaso, multis populis in ditionem redactis, 

 usque flumen Euphratem protulit.'^* 



If Mithridates had reigned to the south of the Hindookoosh, 

 coins of him would also have been discovered in the rich mine 

 at Beghram, moreover the continuance of the Grecian empires 

 in Cabul and about the Indus, discourages this opinion. 



We have above attributed to the Parthians the overthrow 

 of the Greco-Bactrian empire ; the time of this event may be 

 determined with tolerable exactness ; Justin xxxvi. i, says of 

 Demetrios Nicator. " Bellum Parthis inferre statuit, cujus ad- 

 ventum non inviti Orientis populi videre, et propter Arsacidse 

 regis Parthorum crudelitatem, et quod veteri Macedonum im- 

 perio assueti, novi populi superbiam indigne fere bant. Itaque 

 quum et Persarum, et Elymaeorum, Bactrianorumque, auxiliis 

 juvaretur, multis proeliis Parthos fudit. Ad postremum tamen, 

 pacis simulatione deceptus, capitur, etc." This captivity hap- 

 pened during the j^ear 140 b. c. and as Mithridates died only a 

 few years after this event, and as to him is expressly ascribed 

 the conquest of Bactria, this must have occurred about the year 

 139 B. c. In the foregoing passage, Bactria appears then, for 

 the last time, as an independent empire in alliance to the Seleu- 



* The same is stated in an account, which, though of a later date, is 

 derived from good authority. Acct. Sancct. ad XXX. Sept. vol. VIII. 3 20. 

 Ila^^oi £v evTv-^la jug-ytor^ ovreg Kai KparovvTsg rrig rtjv Hep- 

 (Ttjv (^aaiXeiag Kal Ap/neviuyv Kal 'Iv^wv tiuv yeiTViatovToyv TO^g 

 ewoig U^paaig, fre §£ t(uv (T/cXij/oorarwv Madaayfrwr. 



