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The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state
in Western Asia that existed from 312 to 63. It was founded by Seleucus I
Nicator following the division of the Macedonian Empire established by
Alexander the Great. After receiving Babylonia in 321 , Seleucus expanded his
dominions to include much of Alexander's near-eastern territories, establishing
a dynasty that would rule for over two centuries. At its height, the empire
spanned Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and what are now Kuwait,
Afghanistan, and parts of Turkmenistan. The Seleucid Empire was a major center
of Hellenistic culture, privileging Greek customs and language while generally
tolerating the wide variety of local traditions. An urban Greek elite formed
the dominant political class, and was reinforced by steady immigration from
Greece. The empire's western territories were repeatedly contested with
Ptolemaic Egypt, a rival Hellenistic state. To the east, conflict with
Chandragupta of the Maurya Empire in 305 led to the cession of vast territory
west of the Indus and a political alliance. In the late second century,
Antiochus III the Great attempted to project Seleucid power and authority into
Hellenistic Greece, but his attempts were thwarted by the nascent Roman
Republic and its Greek allies; the Seleucids were forced to pay costly war
reparations and relinquish territorial claims west of the Taurus Mountains,
marking the gradual decline of their empire.
Mithridates I of Parthia conquered much of the remaining eastern lands of the
Seleucid Empire in the mid second century , while the independent
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom continued to flourish in the northeast. The Seleucid
kings were thereafter reduced to a rump state in Syria, until their conquest by
Tigranes the Great of Armenia in 83 and ultimate overthrow by the Roman general
Pompey in 63.
Name:
Contemporary sources, such as a loyalist decree honoring Antiochus I from
Ilium, in Greek language define the Seleucid state both as an empire (arche)
and as a kingdom (basileia). Similarly, Seleucid rulers were described as kings
in Babylonia. Starting from the 2nd century , ancient writers referred to the
Seleucid ruler as the King of Syria, Lord of Asia, and other designations; the
evidence for the Seleucid rulers representing themselves as kings of Syria is
provided by the inscription of Antigonus son of Menophilus, who described
himself as the "admiral of Alexander, king of Syria". He refers to
either Alexander Balas or Alexander II Zabinas as a ruler.
Partition of Alexander's empire:
Main article: Diadochi:
Alexander, who quickly conquered the Persian Empire under its last Achaemenid
dynast, Darius III, died young in 323 , leaving an expansive empire of partly
Hellenised culture without an adult heir. The empire was put under the
authority of a regent in the person of Perdiccas, and the territories were
divided among Alexander's generals, who thereby became satraps, at the
Partition of Babylon, all in that same year.
Rise of Seleucus:
Alexander's generals (the Diadochi) jostled for supremacy over parts of his
empire. Ptolemy, a former general and the satrap of Egypt, was the first to
challenge the new system; this led to the demise of Perdiccas. Ptolemy's revolt
led to a new subdivision of the empire with the Partition of Triparadisus in
320 . Seleucus, who had been "Commander-in-Chief of the Companion
cavalry" (hetairoi) and appointed first or court chiliarch (which made him
the senior officer in the Royal Army after the regent and commander-in-chief
Perdiccas since 323, though he helped to assassinate him later) received
Babylonia and, from that point, continued to expand his dominions ruthlessly.
Seleucus established himself in Babylon in 312 , the year used as the
foundation date of the Seleucid Empire.
Babylonian War (311–309 ):
Main article: Babylonian War:
The rise of Seleucus in Babylon threatened the eastern extent of Antigonus I
territory in Asia. Antigonus, along with his son Demetrius I of Macedon,
unsuccessfully led a campaign to annex Babylon. The victory of Seleucus ensured
his claim of Babylon and legitimacy. He ruled not only Babylonia, but the
entire enormous eastern part of Alexander's empire, as described by Appian:
Always lying in wait for the neighboring nations, strong in arms and persuasive
in council, he [Seleucus] acquired Mesopotamia, Armenia, 'Seleucid' Cappadocia,
Persis, Parthia, Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria, Sogdia, Arachosia, Hyrcania, and
other adjacent peoples that had been subdued by Alexander, as far as the river
Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in Asia
after that of Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to the Indus was subject
to Seleucus.
Seleucid–Mauryan War (305–303)
Main article: Seleucid–Mauryan war
In the region of Punjab, Chandragupta Maurya (Sandrokottos) founded the Maurya
Empire in 321. Chandragupta conquered the Nanda Empire in Magadha, and
relocated to the capital of Pataliputra. Chandragupta then redirected his
attention back to the Indus and by 317 he conquered the remaining Greek satraps
left by Alexander. Expecting a confrontation, Seleucus gathered his army and
marched to the Indus. It is said that Chandragupta himself fielded an army of
600,000 men and 9,000 war elephants.
Mainstream scholarship asserts that Chandragupta received, formalized through a
treaty, vast territory west of the Indus, including the Hindu Kush, modern day
Afghanistan, and the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Archaeologically,
concrete indications of Mauryan rule, such as the inscriptions of the Edicts of
Ashoka, are known as far as Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. According to
Appian: He [Seleucus] crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus
[Maurya], king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until
they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage
relationship.
Marriage "Chandra Gupta Maurya entertains his bride from Babylon": a
conjectural interpretation of the "marriage agreement" between the
Seleucids and Chandragupta Maurya, related by Appian It is generally thought
that Chandragupta married Seleucus's daughter, or a Macedonian princess, a gift
from Seleucus to formalize an alliance. In a return gesture, Chandragupta sent
500 war elephants, a military asset which would play a decisive role at the
Battle of Ipsus in 301. In addition to this
treaty, Seleucus dispatched an ambassador, Megasthenes, to Chandragupta, and
later Deimakos to his son Bindusara, at the Mauryan court at Pataliputra
(modern Patna in Bihar state). Megasthenes wrote detailed descriptions of India
and Chandragupta's reign, which have been partly preserved to us through
Diodorus Siculus. Later Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt
and contemporary of Ashoka the Great, is also recorded by Pliny the Elder as
having sent an ambassador named Dionysius to the Mauryan court. The Indians
occupy [in part] some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly
belonged to the Persians: Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and
established there settlements of his own. But Seleucus Nicator gave them to
Sandrocottus (Chandragupta Maurya) in consequence of a marriage contract, and
received in return five hundred elephants. Other territories ceded 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.
Westward expansion:
Nicator Following his and Lysimachus' victory over Antigonus Monophthalmus at
the decisive Battle of Ipsus in 301 , 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's
empire reached its greatest extent following his defeat of his erstwhile ally,
Lysimachus, at Corupedion in 281, after which Seleucus
expanded his control to encompass western Anatolia. He hoped further to take
control of Lysimachus's 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, was left with an enormous
realm consisting of nearly all of the Asian portions of the Empire, but faced
with Antigonus II Gonatas in Macedonia and Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Egypt, he
proved unable to pick up where his father had left off in conquering the
European portions of Alexander's empire.
Breakup of Central Asian territories:
In Bactria, the satrap Diodotus asserted independence to form the
Greco-Bactrian kingdom c. 245.
Antiochus I (reigned 281–261 ) and his son and successor Antiochus II
Theos (reigned 261–246 ) 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, various provinces
simultaneously asserted their independence, such as Bactria and Sogdiana under
Diodotus, Cappadocia under Ariarathes III, and Parthia under Andragoras. A few
years later, the latter was defeated and killed by the invading Parni of
Arsaces – the region would then become the core of the Parthian Empire.
Diodotus, governor for the Bactrian territory, asserted independence in around
245 , although the exact date is far from certain, 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 when it was overrun by
the invasion of northern nomads. One of the Greco-Bactrian kings, Demetrius I
of Bactria, invaded India around 180 to form the Indo-Greek Kingdoms.
The rulers of Persis, called Fratarakas, also seem to have established some
level of independence from the Seleucids during the 3rd century , especially
from the time of Vahbarz. They would later overtly take the title of Kings of
Persis, before becoming vassals to the newly formed Parthian Empire. The
Seleucid satrap of Parthia, named Andragoras, first claimed independence, in a
parallel to the secession of his Bactrian neighbour. Soon after, however, a
Parthian tribal chief called Arsaces invaded the Parthian territory around 238
to form the Arsacid dynasty, from which the Parthian Empire originated.
Antiochus II's son Seleucus II Callinicus came to the throne around 246 .
Seleucus II was soon dramatically defeated in the Third Syrian War against
Ptolemy III of Egypt and then had to fight a civil war against his own brother
Antiochus Hierax. Taking advantage of this distraction, Bactria and Parthia
seceded from the empire.
In Asia Minor too, the Seleucid dynasty seemed to be losing control: the 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.
The Seleucid economy started to show the first signs of weakness, as Galatians
gained independence and Pergamum took control of coastal cities in Anatolia.
Consequently, they managed to partially block contact with the West.
Revival (223–191):
The Seleucid Empire in 200 (before expansion into Anatolia and Greece). A
revival would begin when Seleucus II's younger son, Antiochus III the Great,
took the throne in 223 . Although initially unsuccessful in the Fourth Syrian
War against Egypt, which led to a defeat at the Battle of Raphia in 217,
Antiochus would prove himself to be the greatest of the Seleucid rulers after
Seleucus I himself. He spent the next ten years on his anabasis (journey)
through the eastern parts of his domain and restoring rebellious vassals like
Parthia and Greco-Bactria to at least nominal obedience. He gained many
victories such as the Battle of Mount Labus and Battle of the Arius and
besieged the Bactrian capital. He even emulated Seleucus with an expedition
into India where he met with King Sophagasenus (Sanskrit: Subhagasena)
receiving war elephants, perhaps in accordance of the existing treaty and
alliance set after the Seleucid-Mauryan War.
Actual translation of Polybius 11.34 (No other source except Polybius makes any
reference to Sophagasenus): He [Antiochus] crossed the Caucasus Indicus
(Paropamisus) (Hindu Kush) and descended into India; renewed his friendship
with Sophagasenus the king of the Indians; received more elephants, until he
had a hundred and fifty altogether; and having once more provisioned his
troops, set out again personally with his army: leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus
the duty of taking home the treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to
him. Having traversed Arachosia and crossed the river Enymanthus, he came
through Drangene to Carmania; and as it was now winter, he put his men into
winter quarters there. When he returned to the west in 205 , 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 pact 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 ) definitively transferred these holdings from the Ptolemies to the
Seleucids. Antiochus appeared, at the least, to have restored the Seleucid
Kingdom to glory.
Expansion into Greece and war with Rome:
Further information: Roman–Seleucid War:
The reduced empire (titled: Syria, Kingdom of the Seleucids) and the expanded
states of Pergamum and Rhodes, after the defeat of Antiochus III by Rome. Circa
188 .
Following the defeat of his erstwhile ally Philip by Rome in 197, Antiochus saw
the opportunity for expansion into Greece itself. Encouraged by the exiled
Carthaginian general Hannibal, and making an alliance with the disgruntled
Aetolian League, Antiochus launched an invasion across the Hellespont. With his
huge army he aimed to establish the Seleucid empire as the foremost power in
the Hellenic world, but these plans put the empire on a collision course with
the new rising power of the Mediterranean, the Roman Republic. At the battles
of Thermopylae in 191 and Magnesia in 190, Antiochus's forces suffered
resounding defeats, and he was compelled to make peace and sign the Treaty of
Apamea in 188, the main clause of which saw the Seleucids agree to pay a large
indemnity, to retreat from Anatolia and to never again attempt to expand
Seleucid territory west of the Taurus Mountains. The Kingdom of Pergamum and
the Republic of Rhodes, Rome's allies in the war, gained the former Seleucid
lands in Anatolia. Antiochus died in 187 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 ) 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
power and prestige with a successful war against the old enemy, Ptolemaic
Egypt, which met with initial success as the Seleucids defeated and drove the
Egyptian army back to Alexandria itself. As the king planned on how to conclude
the war, he was informed that Roman commissioners, led by the Proconsul Gaius
Popillius Laenas, were near and requesting a meeting with the Seleucid king.
Antiochus agreed, but when they met and Antiochus held out his hand in
friendship, Popilius placed in his hand the tablets on which was written the
decree of the senate and told him to read it. When the king said that he would
call his friends into council and consider what he ought to do, Popilius drew a
circle in the sand around the king's feet with the stick he was carrying and
said, "Before you step out of that circle give me a reply to lay before
the senate." For a few moments he hesitated, astounded at such a
peremptory order, and at last replied, "I will do what the senate thinks
right." He then chose to withdraw rather than set the empire to war with
Rome again. The latter part of his reign saw a further disintegration of the
Empire despite his best efforts. Weakened economically, militarily and by loss
of prestige, the Empire became vulnerable to rebels in the eastern areas of the
empire, who began to further undermine the empire while the Parthians moved
into the power vacuum to take over the old Persian lands. Antiochus' aggressive
Hellenizing (or de-Judaizing) activities provoked a full scale armed rebellion
in Judea—the Maccabean Revolt.
Efforts to deal with both the Parthians and the Jews as well as retain control
of the provinces at the same time proved beyond the weakened empire's power.
Antiochus died during a military expedition against the Parthians in 164 .
Civil war and further decay:
Further information: Seleucid Dynastic Wars:
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. Demetrius I attempted to restore
Seleucid power in Judea particularly, but was overthrown in 150 by Alexander
Balas – an impostor who (with Egyptian backing) claimed to be the son of
Epiphanes. Alexander Balas reigned until 145 when he was overthrown by
Demetrius I's son, Demetrius II Nicator. Demetrius II proved unable to control
the whole of the kingdom, however. While he ruled Babylonia and eastern Syria
from Damascus, the remnants of Balas' supporters – 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 , the Jews in the form of the Maccabees had fully established
their independence. Parthian expansion continued as well. In 139 , 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 Sidetes, took the throne after his brother's capture. He
faced the enormous task of restoring a rapidly crumbling empire, one facing
threats on multiple fronts. Hard-won control of Coele-Syria was threatened by
the Jewish Maccabee rebels. Once-vassal dynasties in Armenia, Cappadocia, and
Pontus were threatening Syria and northern Mesopotamia; the nomadic Parthians,
brilliantly led by Mithridates I of Parthia, had overrun upland Media (home of
the famed Nisean horse herd); and Roman intervention was an ever-present
threat. Sidetes managed to bring the Maccabees to heel and frighten the
Anatolian dynasts into a temporary submission; then, in 133, he turned east
with the full might of the Royal Army (supported by a body of Jews under the
Hasmonean prince, John Hyrcanus) to drive back the Parthians. Sidetes' campaign
initially met with spectacular success, recapturing Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and
Media. In the winter of 130/129 , his army was scattered in winter quarters
throughout Media and Persis when the Parthian king, Phraates II,
counter-attacked. Moving to intercept the Parthians with only the troops at his
immediate disposal, he was ambushed and killed at the Battle of Ecbatana in 129
. Antiochus Sidetes is sometimes called the last great Seleucid king. After the
death of Antiochus VII Sidetes, all of the recovered eastern territories were
recaptured by the Parthians. The Maccabees again rebelled, civil war soon tore
the empire to pieces, and the Armenians began to encroach on Syria from the
north.
Collapse (100–63):
Seleucid Kingdom in 87
By 100, 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 , 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 the Seleucid Empire virtually at an end. Seleucid rule was not entirely
over, however. Following the Roman general Lucullus' defeat of both Mithridates
and Tigranes in 69 , a rump Seleucid kingdom was restored under Antiochus XIII.
Even so, 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 , 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 with some degree of autonomy under local kings,
Pompey saw the Seleucids as too troublesome to continue; doing away with both
rival Seleucid princes, he made Syria into a Roman province.
Culture:
Bagadates I was the first native Seleucid satrap to be appointed. The Seleucid
empire's geographical span, from the Aegean Sea to what is now Afghanistan and
Pakistan, created a melting pot of various peoples, such as Greeks, Armenians,
Georgians, Persians, Medes, Assyrians and Jews. The immense size of the empire,
followed by its encompassing nature, encouraged the Seleucid rulers to
implement a policy of ethnic unity—a policy initiated by Alexander. The
Hellenization of the Seleucid empire was achieved by the establishment of Greek
cities throughout the empire. Historically significant towns and cities, such
as Antioch, were created or renamed with more appropriate Greek names. The
creation of new Greek cities and towns was aided by the fact that the Greek
mainland was overpopulated and therefore made the vast Seleucid empire ripe for
colonization. Colonization was used to further Greek interest while
facilitating the assimilation of many native groups. Socially, this led to the
adoption of Greek practices and customs by the educated native classes in order
to further themselves in public life, and at the same time the ruling
Macedonian class gradually adopted some of the local traditions. By 313 ,
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—or were compelled by
force—to adopt Hellenized philosophic thought, religious sentiments, and
politics although the Seleucid rulers did incorporate Babylonian religious
tenets to gain support.[37] 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. Such was the case with the Jewish population of the
Seleucid empire; the Jews' refusal to willingly Hellenize their religious
beliefs or customs posed a significant problem which eventually led to war.
Contrary to the accepting nature of the Ptolemaic empire towards native
religions and customs, the Seleucids gradually tried to force Hellenization
upon the Jewish people in their territory by outlawing Judaism. This eventually
led to the revolt of the Jews under Seleucid control, which would later lead to
the Jews achieving independence from the Seleucid empire.
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