Apollodorus of Artemita

Apollodorus of Artemita(Ancient Greek:Ἀπολλόδωρος Ἀρτεμιτηνός) was aGreekhistorian who flourished between 130 and 87 BC. He hailed from the Greco-Parthian city ofArtemita in Apolloniatisand was a citizen of theParthian Empire.

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, theParthika(Ancient Greek:τὰ Παρθικὰ), in at least four books. He is quoted byStraboandAthenaeus.Strabo stated that he was very reliable. Apollodorus seems to have used the archives ofArtemitaandSeleucia on the Tigrisfor his work. Some information on theGreco-Bactriansare preserved in Strabo's work:

"The Greeks who causedBactriato revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only ofAriana,but also ofIndia,as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than byAlexander--byMenanderin particular (at least if he actually crossed theHypanistowards the east and advanced as far as theImaus), for some were subdued by him personally and others byDemetrius,the son ofEuthydemusthe king of theBactrians;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 theSeresand 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 inBabyloniais eight thousand stadia, as is stated by Apollodorus of Artemita, and the distance from there to the mouth of thePersian Seaanother eight thousand, and again eight thousand, or a little less, to the places that lie on the same parallel as the extremities ofEthiopia,there would remain of the above-mentioned breadth of the inhabited world the distance which I have already given,[14] from the recess of the Hyrcanian Sea to the mouth of that sea "(Strabo, Geographia,11.11.1)

Sources

• Chaumont, M. L. (1986)."APOLLODORUS OF ARTIMITA".Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 2.pp. 160–161.