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## Cretan Soldiers at the Seleucid Court and the Enigmatic Case of Lasthenes: from μισθοφόρος to ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων?

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Paoletti Lorenzo. Cretan Soldiers at the Seleucid Court and the Enigmatic Case of Lasthenes: from μισθοφόρος to ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων?. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 48, n°2, 2022. pp. 131-151.

DOI : 10.3917/dha.482.0131

www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_2022_num_48_2_5255

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DHA, 48/ 2, 2022 – CC-BY Dialogues d’ histoire ancienne, 48/ 2, 2022, 131‑151 – CC-BY

Cretan Soldiers at the Seleucid Court and the Enigmatic Case of Lasthenes: from μισθοφόρος to ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων?

Lorenzo Paoletti ORCID : 0000-0002-9256-4975 Universität zu Köln, Deutschland/ Università di Bologna, Italia lorenzo. paoletti@ studio. unibo. it

### I- Introduction

When looking at the Seleucid kingdom in the middle of the second century, 1

one sees a very complex political and institutional situation. Since the end of the third century, the Iranian satrapies began to escape Seleucid control and the efforts of the sovereigns to reconquer them were partial or unsuccessful, as was the case in Bactria (208-206) for Antiochus III. Later, from the death of Antiochus IV (175-164), the dynastic strife added to the many internal and external adversaries (e. g. the Parthians, the Hasmonaeans and several usurpers) of what was still the most powerful of the Hellenistic kingdoms. After the troubled reign of Antiochus V (164-162), Demetrius I (162-150) faced the conflicts against the Jews and the uprising of satraps and usurpers,

e. g. Timarchus in the Upper Satrapies and Alexander Balas (150-145). At this time, mercenaries played a major role, as demonstrated by the case of the Cretan Lasthenes, a mercenary leader who, supporting Demetrius II (145-138/ 129-125), rose to the core of the Seleucid kingdom. Lasthenes’ ascent to power could be interpreted as a symptom of the growing transformation of Seleucid institutions in the second century. The army of Macedonian tradition and its highest officers drawn from court aristocracy of Macedonian descent gradually gave way to “ new men”, such as this Cretan commander. Despite these ongoing changes, the Graeco-Macedonian core of the army remained the pivot of the monarchy at least until Antiochus VII (138-129).

1 All dates must be understood as BCE, when not specified.