During the siege of Sardis in 213, Bôlis betrays Sôsibios, counsellor of Ptolemy IV, and delivers the usurper Achaios to Antiochos III. The traditional image of the Cretan mercenary that has been traditionally attached to him must be qualified. In fact Bôlis was also a military expert, sent on a special mission, who knew how to analyze the political situation and context. This issue reveals the secret diplomacy of States, its agents and means, and also the official and symbolic expression of the power that shows itself during the punishment of Achaios. In the Greco-Anatolian context, it is clear that the myth of the silenus Marsyas, punished by Apollo for his hybris, was used by the Seleucid power.