Conflict: | Siege of Eucratideia |
Date: | c. 169 BC |
Place: | Eucratideia |
Result: | Indecisive
|
Combatant1: | Indo-Greek Kingdom |
Combatant2: | Greco-Bactrian Kingdom |
Commander1: | Demetrius II |
Commander2: | Eucratides I |
Strength1: | "60,000" |
Strength2: | 300 |
The siege of Eucratideia was a five-month-long siege of the city that occurred in around 169 BC. Demetrius II, a descendant of Euthydemus, besieged the usurper Eucratides although being repelled various times.
The year before, Eucratides had usurped the power in Greco-Bactria while one of its rulers, Demetrius II, was conquering parts of northern India. Demetrius then made his way back into Bactria and besieged Eucratides[1] at the site of Eucratideia. Demetrius had an army supposedly numbering 60,000 troops,[2] although this is unlikely. Eucratides however, against overwhelming odds, managed to repel various times the Indo-Greek forces with a small garrison of 300 men.[3] After the siege had endured five months, he managed to escape into India and subjugated most of the northwestern parts.[4]