ABSTRACT
In the mid-third century BC, Diodotos, satrap of Bactria, seceded from the Seleukid Empire. However, many details about this process are unknown, including the exact chronology. In this paper, it is suggested that Diodotos may have become king in 246/5 BC, and that his independence was not a gradual process. This is based on new numismatic evidence and analyses of the Seleukid and Diodotid coinages in Bactria, and a new inscription confirming the existence of a contemporary Seleukid child-king. Strabo’s and Justin’s accounts are critically discussed, as well as Polyaenus and the Adoulis inscription.
