Before the crossing the Parthian king Arsaces II had sent men to destroy the main wells along the route, but they were met and dispersed by 1000 Seleucid horsemen led by the commander Nicomedes.
[2] Antiochus seized Hecatompylos and made a brief stay, then set off in pursuit of Arsaces' much smaller Parthian army, which had retreated to find a more advantageous battle site.
[4] The Parthians constructed blockades and positioned groups of soldiers on the different high points in the pass, and adverse weather caused additional trees and rocks to fall and block the Seleucids' way.
The contest between the infantry forces was surprisingly close, with Diogenes again making a decisive contribution; he found an alternate route to the summit and panicked Arsaces' soldiers by appearing behind them.
Two decades later the Seleucids were defeated by the Roman Republic at the Battle of Magnesia and began a century-long decline, allowing the Parthians to regain their independence and become a dominant power in the Middle East.