Jump to content

Seleucid Empire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Per Honor et Gloria (talk | contribs) at 00:25, 8 July 2004 (List of Seleucid rulers). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Seleucid Empire was one of several political states founded after the death of Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over the division of Alexander's empire.

The partition of Alexander's empire

Alexander the Great left a huge empire of Persio-Greek culture to his successors (the Diadochi or Diadochoi), who jostled for supremacy over portions of his empire.

The empire was divided into three major portions, controlled by the descendants of Ptolemy Soter in Egypt, Antigonus Monopthalmos (literally "One-eyed") in Greece, and Seleucus in the Mideast. By about 281 BC, only two dynasties remained in Alexander's old empire — the Seleucid dynasty in the east and the Ptolemaic dynasty in the south.

The Seleucid empire

The Seleucid Empire, was founded in 323 BC by Seleucus I Nicator and had it capital at Babylon. It controlled a large region including modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Bactria (eastward to the Indus River).

The invasion and loss of India

Seleucus I invaded India (modern Punjab in northen Inida and Pakistan) in 304 B.C., which was then the Mauryan empire ruled by Chandragupta Maurya. It is said that Chandragupta put an army of one 100,000 men and 9,000 war elephants and forced Seleucus to conclude an alliance and to give him his daughter in marriage.

Seleukos sent an ambassador named Megasthenes to Chandragupta's court, who repeatedly visited Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state), capital of Chandragupta. Megasthenes has written detailed descriptions of India and Chandragupta's reign.

The death of Seleucus I

Other territories were lost (Gedrosia on the coast of the Arabian Sea and Arachosia on the west bank) until Seleukos was assasinated in 281 B.C. The Seleucid empire desintegrated soon after into Parthia (Arsaces as King), Syria (Antiochus I as king) and Bactria (Diodotus as king).

The Greco-Bactrians

Diodotus, who was 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 B.C. when it was overrun by the invasion of northern nomads. One of the Greco-Bactrian kings Demetrius I of Bactria invaded India from 180 B.C. to form the Greco-Indian kingdom, which was to last until 1 B.C.

The Arsacids

A Parthian tribal chief called Arsaces toof over the Parthia territory of the Seleucid Empire around 250 B.C. as well, to form the Arsacid dynasty.

Anthiochian Syria

In the West, the Syrian was governed by Antiochus I.

The Greece campaigns

Antiochus III the Great is considered the greatest of the Seleucid monarchs, but his campaigns in Greece in 192 BC attracted the attention of the Roman Republic, who exacted punitive war indemnities.

The Seleucids subsequently declined, and the Seleucid dynasty itself eventually vanished in the mid-1st century BC.


Seleucid rulers

There were over 30 Seleucid kings from 323 to 60 B.C.

See also:

Seleucid Dynasty

Greco-Bactrians

Greco-Indians

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seleucid_Empire&oldid=4540284"