Seleucid Empire
The
Seleucid Empire was a
Hellenistic successor state of
Alexander the Great's dominion.
There were over 30 kings of the Seleucid dynasty from
323 to
60 BC.
Alexander the Great had conquered the
Persian Empire within a short time-frame and died young, leaving an expansive empire of partly Hellenized culture without an adult heir. Therefore his generals (the
Diadochi) jostled for supremacy over portions of his empire.
Seleucus, one of his generals, established himself in
Babylon in
312 BC, used as the foundation date of the Seleucid Empire. He ruled over not only Babylonia, but the entire enormous eastern part of Alexander's Empire. Following his and
Lysimachus' victory over
Antigonus Monophthalmus at the
Battle of Ipsus in
301 BC, Seleucus took control over eastern
Anatolia and northern
Syria. In the latter area he founded a new capital at
Antioch on the Orontes, a city he named after his father. An alternative capital was established at
Seleucia on the Tigris, north of Babylon. Seleucus' empire reached its greatest extent following his defeat of his erstwhile ally, Lysimachus, at
Corupedion in
281 BC. Seleucus expanded his control to encompass western Anatolia. He hoped further to take control of Lysimachus' lands in Europe - primarily
Thrace and even
Macedonia itself, but was assassinated by
Ptolemy Ceraunus on landing in Europe. His son and successor,
Antiochus I Soter, proved unable to pick up where his father had left off in conquering the European portions of Alexander's empire, but was left, nevertheless, with an enormous realm consisting of nearly all of the Asian portions of the Empire. His competitors were
Antigonus II Gonatas in
Macedonia and
Ptolemy II Philadelphus in
Egypt.
The Seleucid empire's geographic span, from the
Aegean Sea to
Afghanistan, brought together a multitude of races:
Greeks,
Persians,
Medes,
Jews,
Indians, to mention only some. Its rulers were in the position of having a governing interest to implement a policy of racial unity initiated by Alexander. By
313 BC, Hellenic ideas had begun their almost 250-year expansion into the Near East, Middle East, and Central Asian cultures. It was the empire's governmental framework to rule by establishing hundreds of cities for trade and occupational purposes. Many of the existing cities began to adopt Hellenized philosophic thought, religious sentiments, and politics. Synthesizing Hellenic and indigenous cultural, religious, and philosophical ideas met with varying degrees of success -- resulting in times of simultaneous peace and rebellion in various parts of the empire.
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Seleucid empire shown in yellow |
Nevertheless, even before Seleucus' death, the vast eastern domains of the Seleucids were proving difficult to assert control over. Seleucus invaded
India (modern
Punjab Pakistan) in
304 BCE, but was defeated by
Chandragupta Maurya (
Sandrokottos), founder of the
Maurya empire. It is said that Chandragupta fielded an army of 100,000 men and 9,000 war elephants, and forced Seleucus to cede territories in eastern and southern present-day
Afghanistan. The peace was strengthened by an alliance guaranteed by Chandragupta's marriage with Seleucus' daughter. In exchange Chandragupta gave him no less than 500 elephants, an addition to his army that was to play a prominent part in his victory at Ipsus.
Seleucus sent an ambassador named
Megasthenes to Chandragupta's court, who repeatedly visited
Pataliputra (modern
Patna in Bihar state), capital of Chandragupta. Megasthenes wrote detailed descriptions of India and Chandragupta's reign, which have been partly preserved to us through
Diodorus Siculus.
Other territories lost before Seleucus' death were
Gedrosia in the south-east of the Iranian plateau, and, to the north of this,
Arachosia on the west bank of the
Indus River. Antiochus I (reigned
281-
261 BC) and his son and successor
Antiochus II Theos (reigned
261-
246 BC) were faced with challenges in the west, including repeated wars with
Ptolemy II and a Celtic invasion of Asia Minor -- distracting attention from holding the eastern portions of the Empire together. Towards the end of Antiochus II's reign, the eastern provinces of
Bactria and
Parthia simultaneously asserted their independence.
Greco-Bactrian secession (250 BC)
Diodotus, governor for the
Bactrian territory, asserted independence in
250 BC to form the
Greco-Bactrian kingdom. This kingdom was characterized by a rich
Hellenistic culture, and was to continue its domination of Bactria until around 125 BC, when it was overrun by the invasion of northern nomads. One of the Greco-Bactrian kings,
Demetrius I of Bactria, invaded India around 180 BC to form the
Greco-Indian kingdom, lasting until 1 BC.
Parthian secession (250 BC)
A Parthian tribal chief called
Arsaces took over the
Parthian territory from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BC to form the
Arsacid Dynasty -- the starting point of the powerful Parthian Empire.
By the time Antiochus II's son
Seleucus II Callinicus came to the throne around
246 BC, the Seleucids seemed to be at a low ebb indeed. Aside from the secessions of Parthia and Bactria, Seleucus II was soon dramatically defeated in the
Third Syrian War against
Ptolemy III of Egypt, then had to fight a civil war against his own brother
Antiochus Hierax. In Asia Minor too, the Seleucid dynasty seemed to be losing control -- Gauls had fully established themselves in
Galatia, semi-independent semi-Hellenized kingdoms had sprung up in
Bithynia,
Pontus, and
Cappadocia, and the city of
Pergamum in the west was asserting its independence under the
Attalid Dynasty.
But a revival would begin when Seleucus II's younger son,
Antiochus III the Great, took the throne in
223 BC. Although initially unsuccessful in the
Fourth Syrian War against Egypt, which led to an embarrassing defeat at the
Battle of Raphia (
217 BC), Antiochus would prove himself to be the greatest of the Seleucid rulers after Seleucus I himself. Following his defeat at Raphia, he spent the next ten years on his
Anabasis through the eastern parts of his domain -- restoring rebellious vassals like
Parthia and
Bactria to at least nominal obedience, and even emulating Alexander with an expedition into India.
When he returned to the west in
205 BC, Antiochus found that with the death of
Ptolemy IV, the situation now looked propitious for another western campaign.
Antiochus and
Philip V of Macedon then made a compact to divide the Ptolemaic possessions outside of Egypt, and in the
Fifth Syrian War, the Seleucids ousted
Ptolemy V from control of
Coele-Syria. The
Battle of Panium (
198 BC) definitively transferred these holdings from the Ptolemies to the Seleucids. Antiochus appeared, at the least, to have restored the Seleucid Kingdom to glory.
But Antiochus' glory was not to last for long. Following his erstwhile ally Philip's defeat at the hands of Rome in
197 BC, Antiochus now saw the opportunity for expansion into Greece. Encouraged by the exiled
Carthaginian general
Hannibal, and making an alliance with the disgruntled
Aetolian League, Antiochus invaded Greece. Unfortunately, this decision led to his downfall: he was defeated by the Romans at
Thermopylae (
191 BC) and
Magnesia (
190 BC), and was forced to make peace with the Romans by the embarrassing
Treaty of Apamia (
188 BC) -- which forced him to abandon all European territories, ceded all of Asia Minor north of the
Taurus Mountains to Pergamum, and set a large indemnity to be paid. Antiochus died in
187 BC on another expedition to the east, where he sought to extract money to pay the indemnity.
The reign of his son and successor
Seleucus IV Philopator (
187-
175 BC) was largely spent in attempts to pay the large indemnity, and Seleucus was ultimately assassinated by his minister
Heliodorus. Seleucus' younger brother,
Antiochus IV Epiphanes, now seized the throne. He attempted to restore Seleucid prestige with a successful war against Egypt; but despite driving the Egyptian army back to
Alexandria itself, he was forced to withdraw by the Roman envoy
Popilius Laena, who famously drew a circle in the sand around the king and told him he had to decide whether or not to withdraw from Egypt before leaving the circle. Antiochus chose to withdraw.
The latter part of his reign saw the further disintegration of the Empire. The Eastern areas remained nearly uncontrollable, as Parthians began to take over the Persian lands; and Antiochus' aggressive Hellenizing (or de-Judaizing) activities led to armed rebellion in
Judaea -- the
Maccabee revolt. Efforts to deal with both the Parthians and the Jews proved fruitless, and Antiochus himself died during an expedition against the Parthians in
164 BC.
After the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid Empire became increasingly unstable. Frequent civil wars made central authority tenuous at best. Epiphanes' young son,
Antiochus V Eupator, was first overthrown by Seleucus IV's son,
Demetrius I Soter in
161 BC. Demetrius I attempted to restore Seleucid power in Judea particularly, but was overthrown in
150 BC by
Alexander Balas first supporting Balas' son
Antiochus VI, then the usurping general
Diodotus Tryphon -- held out in
Antioch.
Meanwhile, the decay of the Empire's territorial possessions continued apace. By
143 BC, the Jews had fully established their independence. Parthian expansion continued as well. In
139 BC, Demetrius II was defeated in battle by the Parthians and was captured. By this time, the entire Iranian Plateau had been lost to Parthian control. Demetrius Nicator's brother,
Antiochus VII, was ultimately able to restore a fleeting unity and vigour to the Seleucid domains, but he too proved unequal to the Parthian threat: he was killed in battle with the Parthians in
129 BC, leading to the final collapse of the Seleucid hold on Babylonia. After the death of Antiochus VII, all effective Seleucid rule collapsed, as multiple claimants contested control of what was left of the Seleucid realm in almost unending civil war.
By 100 BC, the once formidable Seleucid Empire encompassed little more than
Antioch and some Syrian cities. Despite the clear collapse of their power, and the decline of their kingdom around them, nobles continued to play kingmakers on a regular basis, with occasional intervention from
Ptolemaic Egypt and other outside powers. The Seleucids existed solely because no other nation wished to absorb them -- seeing as they constituted a useful buffer between their other neighbours. In the wars in Anatolia between
Mithridates VI of
Pontus and
Sulla of Rome, the Seleucids were largely left alone by both major combatants.
Mithridates' ambitious son-in-law,
Tigranes the Great, king of
Armenia, however, saw opportunity for expansion in the constant civil strife to the south. In
83 BC, at the invitation of one of the factions in the interminable civil wars, he invaded Syria, and soon established himself as ruler of Syria, putting Seleucid rule virtually at an end.
Seleucid rule was not entirely at an end, however. Following the Roman general
Lucullus' defeat of both Mithridates and Tigranes in
69 BC, a rump Seleucid kingdom was restored under
Antiochus XIII. Even now, civil wars could not be prevented, as another Seleucid, Philip II, contested rule with Antiochus. After the Roman conquest of
Pontus, the Romans became increasingly alarmed at the constant source of instability in Syria under the Seleucids. Once Mithridates was defeated by
Pompey in 63 BC, Pompey set about the task of remaking the Hellenistic East, by creating new client kingdoms and establishing provinces. While client nations like
Armenia and
Judea were allowed to continue some degree of autonomy under local kings, Pompey saw the Seleucids as too troublesome to continue; and doing away with both rival Seleucid princes, he made
Syria into a Roman province.
*
Seleucus I Nicator (
Satrap 311–
305 BC, King
305 BC–
281 BC)
*
Antiochus I Soter (co-ruler from
291, ruled
281–
261 BC)
*
Antiochus II Theos (
261–
246 BC)
*
Seleucus II Callinicus (
246–
225 BC)
*
Seleucus III Ceraunus (or Soter) (
225–
223 BC)
*
Antiochus III the Great (
223–
187 BC)
*
Seleucus IV Philopator (
187–
175 BC)
*
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (
175–
164 BC)
*
Antiochus V Eupator (
164–
162 BC)
*
Demetrius I Soter (
161–
150 BC)
*
Alexander I Balas (
154–
145 BC)
*
Demetrius II Nicator (first reign,
145–
138 BC)
*
Antiochus VI Dionysus (or Epiphanes) (
145–
140 BC?)
*
Diodotus Tryphon (
140?–
138 BC)
*
Antiochus VII Sidetes (or Euergetes) (
138–
129 BC)
*
Demetrius II Nicator (second reign,
129–
126 BC)
*
Alexander II Zabinas (
129–
123 BC)
*
Cleopatra Thea (
126–
123 BC)
*
Seleucus V Philometor (
126/
125 BC)
*
Antiochus VIII Grypus (
125–
96 BC)
*
Antiochus IX Cyzicenus (
114–
96 BC)
*
Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nicator (
96–
95 BC)
*
Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator (
95–
92 BC or
83 BC)
*
Demetrius III Eucaerus (or Philopator) (
95–
87 BC)
*
Antiochus XI Epiphanes Philadelphus (
95–
92 BC)
*
Philip I Philadelphus (
95–
84/
83 BC)
*
Antiochus XII Dionysus (
87–
84 BC)
*(
Tigranes I of Armenia) (
83–
69 BC)
*
Seleucus VII Kybiosaktes or Philometor (
70s BC–
60s BC?)
*
Antiochus XIII Asiaticus (
69–
64 BC)
*
Philip II Philoromaeus (
65–
63 BC)
*The Seleucid Empire is one of a number of factions in the
2004 PC game
Rome: Total War. The Seleucid Empire main military force is similar to that of the Macedonians (another faction in the game), containing the same powerful Macedonian phalangites and shock cavalry (including Companion Cavalry).
*The Jewish
Maccabees, who expelled the Seleucid, are the name of a
beer and several sports teams (including
basketball and
football) in
Israel as of 2006.
*
Hellenistic Greece*
Parthian Empire*
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom*
Indo-Greek Kingdom*
Hasmonean Dynasty*
Livius,
The Seleucid Empire by Jona Lendering
*
Seleukids.org: An Online Sourcebook for the History, Numismatics, Epigraphy, Art and Archaeology of the Seleukid Empire, by Oliver D. Hoover
