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who fled again with the same friend but was caught almost within the boundaries of his own kingdom. He was led again to Phraates, who refused to see him but returned him to his wife and children. To keep Demetrius amused and make him ashamed, the Parthian king presented him with a pair of golden dice.[1]
In the meantime Antiochus VII Sidetes (139/38–129 b.c.),[2] having disposed of Tryphon, his rival to the Syrian throne, and defeated the Jews, prepared to secure his brother Demetrius and so remove him as a potential menace to his throne.[3] He set out in 130 {{sc|b.c.]] with a large force, the size of which made a great impression upon later historians.[4] The Parthian army, whose strength was likewise greatly exagger-
- ↑ Justin xxxviii. 9. 2–10.
- ↑ See the account of Seleucid history in this period by E. R. Bevan in CAH, VIII, chap. xvi.
- ↑ Cf. Trog. Pomp. xxxv: "Repetit inde superioris Asiae motus factos per Araetheum et Arsacem Parthum." The problem of who Araetheus was appears to have been neglected. In addition to the sources cited below for this campaign, see Euseb. Chron., ed. Karst, p. 120; [[Author:Livy}} Epit. lix; Orosius v. 10. 8; Val. Max. ix. 1 ext. 4; cf. also J, II C, pp. 166 f.
- ↑ Justin xxxviii. 10. 2 says 80,000 foot and 300,000 others, most of whom were noncombatants; Diod. Sic. xxxiv. 17. 1 says that 300,000 exclusive of camp followers were killed; Orosius v. 10. 8 numbers the fighting force at 100,000 and supernumeraries at 200,000. Bevan, House of Sel., II, 242, speaks of the army as numbering 80,000, but on his p. 247 mentions the loss of 300,000 men! Rawlinson, Sixth Mon., pp. 98 f., is incorrect in his statement that Orosius gives the camp followers as one-third the fighting men. Even the smallest figures given above are absurdly large. The campaign is mentioned by Posidonius Hist. xiv. fr. 9 (J, II A, p. 227) in Athen. Deip. xii. 540 and by Josephus Bell. i. 50 and 62.
