NOTE: This may be one of my last posts for a while. Hopefully, I'll find the time this fall to continue.

Book VI: A Son of Convenience
After a season of siege, the Saka
Launched their attack upon Orthospana.
The Uparisena leader, known as
Yazdâbân, sallied forth from the city
But the forces of Apollodotos
Swarmed his army and crushed it utterly.
The Saka horsemen sacked Orthospana,
Focusing their destruction on the shrine
Of Dionysos, who was worshipped much
Throughout Baktra and neighboring kingdoms.
The gold and silver of the temple was
Carried north by victorious nomads
And the wealth found its way to tax coffers.
Now the Saka could afford a full war
Against the kingdom of the Pahlavâns.
A nomad horde soon surrounded the town
Of Antiocheia Margiane.
The ranks of this army was bolstered by
Veterans who had fought in the mountains
And eastern deserts against the Yuezhi.
They were proud of their recent victory
Against the chieftain called Hippostratos.
His rotting body now dangled from the
Wooden palisades of Yuezhi Sulek.
Chastana was sent to the settlement
But a Pahlavân force intercepted
His army and routed the Saka horde.
The commanders of the enemy host,
Were confident Hârâsp ê Dahâën
And the veteran warrior Dârmân
Also from the Dahae federation.
They marched to their kingdom’s besieged city
And drove the Saka army from that place.
Fortunately, Zeionises managed
To defeat the headstrong Alantae tribes
And slay their chieftain, Asparung, with aid
From Alantae who pledged fealty to the
Growing nomadic confederation.
Now Zeionises could march south to fight
The Pahlavâns in their own grazing lands.

Apollodotos continued to win
Countless battles into the former realms
Of the once mighty Chorsari empire
This time assaulting the Haravautish,
Victoriously slaying Dorushâb,
Their king, while his army fled from battle.
Their new ruler, Tirâvand, fortified
Alexandropolis against the horde
Looming closer on the horizon line.
From the governor’s palace of Khiva,
Aryandes was pleased at his expanding
Kingdom, but feared the influence of the
Popular victor Apollodotos.
He filled his quarters with loyal soldiers,
Oversaw the administration of
His expanding empire, to ensure that
No disloyal wrench would try to rebel.
The former Khivan satrapal palace
Was outfitted with new stone taken
From the buildings of conquered regions, so
All in Khiva could know who was Rrudi.
When he received word that the Baktran had
Taken Alexandropolis and killed
The notorious Yavanas warlord
Nessos Apamenes Syriakos,
He thought, “It is better to have this man
Close to my side at all times than far off
Plotting some nefarious stratagem
Against my rule. Should he try to kill me
Then I may learn of his scheme beforehand
If his manservants are available
A couple of coins can buy any man.”
He declared that he now regarded the
Baktran as his very own son, and found
A noble Saka family loyal
To his rule willing to give their fair daughter,
Pishpasia, to Apollodotos.
Should he try to betray the King of Kings
The Saka Rauka would hunt that swine down.
The Baktran was honored by the offer.
With great felicity, the Yavanas
And the fair Saka maiden were married.