Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

XXVI THE SELEUCID EMPIRE 327
Tigris or on the Iranian plateau. Even so there was
undoubtedly rapid degeneration, partly owing to the fact
that the Greeks were settled among peoples whom they
used as servants, and who probably did all the work. As
a consequence, the Greeks of Hellas despised the Greeks
of Syria, just as a so-called " Country-bred " is sometimes
looked down upon by Englishmen bred in Great Britain.
Posidonius of Apamea (^circa 135-51 b.c.) depicts the
life led by the Greek colonists, and shows clearly how
luxury had ruined their manhood. *' The people of these
cities," he says, " are relieved by the fertility of their soil
from a laborious struggle for existence. Life is a continual
series of social festivities. ... In the public eating-halls
they practically live, filling themselves there for the better
part of the day with rich foods and wine. The cities are
filled from end to end with harp-playing." ^
If this was the case in Syria, which maintained constant
intercourse with Hellas, the degeneracy must have been
still greater in cities where there was no chance of regular
intercourse ; and it is a remarkable tribute to the vitality
of Hellenism that, even when Bactria was cut off by
Parthia from the empire, it survived for several generations
as a centre of Greek culture.
1 Posidonius ap. Athen. vol. 210 f. and xii. 527 c. Quoted from Bevan, p. 224.