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{{Short description|Hellenistic state in West Asia (312–63 BC)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Seleucid Empire
| common_name            = Seleucid Empire
| era                    = [[Hellenistic period]]
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]
| life_span              = 312–63&nbsp;BC
| year_start             = 312 BC
| year_end               = 63 BC
| event_start            = [[Wars of the Diadochi]]
| event_end              = [[Roman Syria|Annexed by Rome]]
| event2                 = [[Battle of Ipsus]]
| date_event2            = 301 BC
| event3                 = [[Roman–Seleucid war]]
| date_event3            = 192–188 BC
| event4                 = [[Treaty of Apamea]]
| date_event4            = 188 BC
| event5                 = [[Maccabean Revolt]]
| date_event5            = 167–160 BC
| event6                 = [[Seleucia]] taken by [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]]
| date_event6            = 141 BC
| event7                 = [[Battle of Ecbatana]]
| date_event7            = 129 BC
| p1                     = Macedonian Empire
| s1                     = Parthian Empire
| s2                     = Maurya Empire
| s3                     = Roman Syria{{!}}Province of Syria
| s4                     = Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
| s5                     = Hasmonean kingdom
| s6                     = Osroene
| stat_year1             = 303 BC
| stat_area1             = 3000000
| ref_area1              = <ref name="size">{{Cite journal |last=Taagepera |first=Rein |date=1979 |title=Size and Duration of Empires: Growth–Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D. |journal=Social Science History |volume=3 |issue=3/4 |page=121 |jstor=1170959}}</ref>
| stat_year2             = 301 BC
| stat_area2             = 3900000
| ref_area2              = <ref name=size/>
| stat_year3             = 240 BC
| stat_area3             = 2600000
| ref_area3              = <ref name=size/>
| stat_year4             = 175 BC
| stat_area4             = 800000
| ref_area4              = <ref name=size/>
| stat_year5             = 100 BC
| stat_area5             = 100000
| ref_area5              = <ref name=size/>
| stat_pop2              = 30,000,000+
| ref_pop2               = <ref name="grant">{{cite book |last=Grant |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Grant (author) |date=1990 |title=The Hellenistic Greeks: From Alexander to Cleopatra |series=History of Civilisation |location=London |publisher=[[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]] |pages=21–24, 48 |isbn=0-297-82057-5 }}</ref>
| image_map              = Seleucid_Empire_alternative_map_edited.jpg
| image_map_caption      = Seleucid territory in 281 BC, on the eve of the murder of [[Seleucus I Nicator]]
| capital                = {{Plainlist|
* [[Seleucia]] (305–240 BC)
* [[Antioch]] (240–63 BC)
}}
| common_languages       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] (official)<ref name="Frye">Richard N. Frye, ''The History of Ancient Iran'', (Ballantyne, 1984), 164;"''Greek was the official and dominant written language of the Seleucid empire, but Aramaic continued in use..''"</ref>
* [[Old Persian]]
* [[Middle Aramaic]]<ref name="Frye" />
}}
| image_coat             = 201209071746a Berlin Pergamonmuseum, Tetradrachme Seleukos' I, Silber, Pergamon, 281-280 v.u.Z.jpg
| symbol_type            = Inscribed [[tetradrachm]] of Seleucus I with symbols of the Seleucid monarchy{{efn|The horned horse, the elephant, the anchor, and the goddesses [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] and [[Tyche]] were common Seleucid symbols.<ref>Cohen, Getzel M; ''The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa'', p. 13.</ref><ref>Lynette G. Mitchell; Every Inch a King: Comparative Studies on Kings and Kingship in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, pp. 123–124.</ref>}}
| coa_size               = 220px
| religion               = {{Plainlist|
* [[Ancient Greek religion|Olympianism]] / [[Hellenistic religion|Hellenism]]
* [[Babylonian religion]]<ref>Julye Bidmead, ''The Akitu Festival: Religious Continuity and Royal Legitimation in Mesopotamia'', (Gorgias, 2004), 143.</ref>
* [[Hellenistic Judaism]]
* [[Zoroastrianism]]
* [[Hinduism]]<ref>Primer of Hinduism, p. 81, J. N. Farquhar, Asian Educational Services</ref>
* [[Greco-Buddhism]]}}
| leader1                = [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus I]] (first)
| leader2                = [[Philip II Philoromaeus|Philip II]] (last)
| year_leader1           = 305–281 BC
| year_leader2           = 65–63 BC
| title_leader           = [[List of Seleucid rulers|Basileus]]
}}

The '''Seleucid Empire''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ɪ|ˈ|lj|uː|s|ɪ|d}} {{respell|sih|LEW|sid}}<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', {{nowrap|1st ed}}. "Seleucid, ''n.'' and ''adj.''" Oxford University Press, 1911.</ref>) was a [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] state<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Niknami |first1=Kamal-Aldin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FDTnDwAAQBAJ |title=Archaeology of Iran in the Historical Period |last2=Hozhabri |first2=Ali |date=2020 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-41776-5 |page=viii |quote=Most of the Asiatic occupations of Alexander, Iran as the core of them, were given to Seleucus I at first. Thus, Iran came under the ruling of the Seleucid. The Seleucid was a Greek state that commanded Western Asia between 312 and 64 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by Seleucus I.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Eckstein |first=Arthur M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=magwDwAAQBAJ |title=Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome |date=2009 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-25992-8 |pages=106 |quote=By 201–200 it appeared that the old structure would be replaced by a  expansion in the power of two already formidable Greek states–Antigonid Macedon and the Seleucid Empire–or perhaps even that one of these two formidable powers would emerge the sole victor.}}</ref> in [[West Asia]] during the [[Hellenistic period]]. It was founded in 312&nbsp;BC by the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian]] general [[Seleucus I Nicator]], following the [[Partition of Triparadisus|division]] of the [[Macedonian Empire]] founded by [[Alexander the Great]],<ref name="Jones, Kenneth Raymond 2006 174">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Kenneth Raymond |title=Provincial reactions to Roman imperialism: the aftermath of the Jewish revolt, A.D. 66–70, Parts 66–70 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-542-82473-9 |page=174 |quote=... and the Greeks, or at least the Greco-Macedonian Seleucid Empire, replace the Persians as the Easterners.}}</ref><ref name="Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (London) 1993 211">{{Cite book |last=Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (London, England) |title=The Journal of Hellenic studies, Volumes 113–114 |publisher=Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies |year=1993 |page=211 |quote=The Seleucid kingdom has traditionally been regarded as basically a Greco-Macedonian state and its rulers thought of as successors to Alexander.}}</ref><ref name="Baskin, Judith R.; Seeskin, Kenneth 2010 37">{{Cite book |last=Baskin |first=Judith R. |title=The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture |last2=Seeskin |first2=Kenneth |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-68974-8 |page=37 |quote=The wars between the two most prominent Greek dynasties, the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria, unalterably change the history of the land of Israel...As a result the land of Israel became part of the empire of the Syrian Greek Seleucids.}}</ref><ref name="Glubb, Sir John Bagot 1967 34">{{Cite book |last=Glubb |first=John Bagot |title=Syria, Lebanon, Jordan |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=1967 |page=34 |oclc=585939 |quote=In addition to the court and the army, Syrian cities were full of Greek businessmen, many of them pure Greeks from Greece. The senior posts in the civil service were also held by Greeks. Although the Ptolemies and the Seleucids were perpetual rivals, both dynasties were Greek and ruled by means of Greek officials and Greek soldiers. Both governments made great efforts to attract immigrants from Greece, thereby adding yet another racial element to the population.}}</ref> and ruled by the [[Seleucid dynasty]] until its annexation by the [[Roman Republic]] under [[Pompey]] in 63&nbsp;BC.

After receiving the [[Mesopotamia]]n regions of [[Babylonia]] and [[Assyria]] in 321&nbsp;BC, Seleucus I began expanding his dominions to include the [[Near East]]ern territories that encompass modern-day [[Iraq]], [[Iran]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Syria]], and [[Lebanon]], all of which had been under Macedonian control after the fall of the former [[Achaemenid Empire]]. At the Seleucid Empire's height, it had consisted of territory that covered [[Anatolia]], [[Persia]], the [[Levant]], Mesopotamia, and what are now modern [[Kuwait]], Afghanistan, and parts of [[Turkmenistan]].

The Seleucid Empire was a major center of Hellenistic culture. Greek customs and language were privileged; the wide variety of local traditions had been generally tolerated, while an urban Greek elite had formed the dominant political class and was reinforced by steady immigration from Greece.<ref name="Glubb, Sir John Bagot 1967 34" /><ref name="Steven C. Hause, William S. Maltby 2004 76">{{Cite book |first=Steven C. |last=Hause |url=https://archive.org/details/westerncivilizat0000haus |title=Western civilization: a history of European society |first2=William S. |last2=Maltby |publisher=Thomson Wadsworth |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-534-62164-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/westerncivilizat0000haus/page/76 76] |quote=The Greco-Macedonian Elite. The Seleucids respected the cultural and religious sensibilities of their subjects but preferred to rely on Greek or Macedonian soldiers and administrators for the day-to-day business of governing. The Greek population of the cities, reinforced until the second century&nbsp;BC by immigration from Greece, formed a dominant, although not especially cohesive, elite. |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Victor, Royce M. 2010 55">{{Cite book |last=Victor |first=Royce M. |title=Colonial education and class formation in early Judaism: a postcolonial reading |publisher=Continuum |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-567-24719-3 |page=55 |quote=Like other Hellenistic kings, the Seleucids ruled with the help of their "friends" and a Greco-Macedonian elite class separate from the native populations whom they governed.}}</ref> The empire's western territories [[Syrian Wars|were repeatedly contested]] with [[Ptolemaic Egypt]]—a rival Hellenistic state. To the east, [[Seleucid–Mauryan war|conflict]] with the Indian ruler [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]] of the [[Maurya Empire]] in 305&nbsp;BC led to the cession of vast territory west of the Indus and a political alliance.

In the early second century&nbsp;BC, [[Antiochus III the Great]] attempted to [[Roman–Seleucid war|project Seleucid power]] and authority into [[Hellenistic Greece]], but his attempts [[Battle of Magnesia|were thwarted]] by the Roman Republic and its Greek allies. The Seleucids were forced to pay costly [[war reparations]] and had to relinquish territorial claims west of the [[Taurus Mountains]] in southern Anatolia, 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&nbsp;BC, including Assyria and what had been Babylonia, while the independent [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] continued to flourish in the northeast. The Seleucid kings were thereafter reduced to a [[rump state]] in Syria after a civil war, until their conquest by [[Tigranes the Great]] of [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]] in 83 BC, and ultimate overthrow by the Roman general [[Pompey]] in 63 BC.

== Name ==
Contemporary sources, such as a loyalist decree honoring Antiochus I from [[Ilium (Epirus)|Ilium]], in Greek language define the Seleucid state both as an empire ({{lang|grc|ἀρχή}}, {{transliteration|grc|archḗ}}) and as a kingdom ({{lang|grc|βασιλεία}}, {{transliteration|grc|basileía}}). Similarly, Seleucid rulers were described as kings in Babylonia.{{sfn|Sherwin-White|Kuhrt|1993|p=40}}

The rulers did not describe themselves as being of any particular territory or people, but starting from the 2nd century BC, ancient writers referred to them as the Syrian kings, the kings of Syria or of the Syrians, the kings descended from Seleucus Nicator, the kings of Asia, and other designations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nigel Wilson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pXhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA652 |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece |year=2013 |isbn=9781136788000 |page=652| publisher=Routledge }}</ref>

==History==
===Partition of Alexander's empire===
{{History of Greater Iran sidebar|Battle of Magnesia (cropped).jpg}}
{{main|Diadochi}}
[[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], who quickly conquered the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]] under its last Achaemenid dynast, [[Darius III]], died young in 323 BC, leaving an expansive empire of partly Hellenised culture without an adult heir. The empire was put under the authority of a regent, [[Perdiccas]], and the vast territories were divided among Alexander's generals, who thereby became [[satrap]]s at the [[Partition of Babylon]], all in that same year.

===Rise of Seleucus===
[[File:Seleuco I Nicatore.JPG|thumb|Bronze bust of Seleucus I Nicator.]]
Alexander's generals, known as [[diadochi|{{translit|grc|diadochi}}]], jostled for supremacy over parts of his empire following his death. [[Ptolemy I Soter]], a former general and then current satrap of [[Egypt]], was the first to challenge the new system, which eventually led to the demise of Perdiccas. Ptolemy's revolt created a new subdivision of the empire with the [[Partition of Triparadisus]] in 320 BC. [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]], who had been "Commander-in-Chief of the [[Companion cavalry]]" ({{translit|grc|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 BC, 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 BC, the year later used as the [[Seleucid era|foundation date]] of the Seleucid Empire.

=== Babylonian War (311–309 BC) ===
{{Main|Babylonian War}}
The rise of Seleucus in Babylon threatened the eastern extent of the territory of [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus]] in Asia. Antigonus, along with his son [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius I Poliorcetes]], 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 the historian [[Appian]]:

{{Blockquote|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.<ref name="Appian Syrian Wars 55">Appian, ''History of Rome'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0230%3Atext%3DSyr.%3Achapter%3D9%3Asection%3D55 "The Syrian Wars"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104204509/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0230%3Atext%3DSyr.%3Achapter%3D9%3Asection%3D55 |date=4 January 2022 }} 55</ref>}}

===Seleucid–Mauryan War (305–303 BC)===
{{Main|Seleucid–Mauryan war}}
[[Chandragupta Maurya]] ([[Sandrokottos]]) founded the [[Maurya Empire]] in 321 BC after the [[Conquest of the Nanda Empire|conquest]] of the [[Nanda Empire]] and their capital [[Pataliputra]] in [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]]. Chandragupta then redirected his attention to the [[Indus River]] region, and by 317 BC, he conquered the remaining Greek [[satrap]]s left by Alexander. Expecting a confrontation, Seleucus gathered his army and marched to the Indus. It is said that Chandragupta could have fielded a [[conscript]] army of 600,000 men and 9,000 war elephants.<ref>Pliny, ''Natural History VI'', 22.4</ref>

Chandragupta received, formalized through a treaty, territory west of the Indus, including the [[Hindu Kush]], modern day [[Afghanistan]], and the eastern part of [[Balochistan (region)|Balochistan]] province of [[Pakistan]], bordering on the Indus.<ref>[[Vincent Arthur Smith|Vincent A. Smith]] (1972). ''Aśoka''. Asian Educational Services. {{ISBN|81-206-1303-1}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clark |first=Walter Eugene |year=1919 |title=The Importance of Hellenism from the Point of View of Indic-Philology |journal=Classical Philology |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=297–313 |doi=10.1086/360246 |s2cid=161613588}}</ref> 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:

{{Blockquote|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.<ref name="Appian Syrian Wars 55" />}}

[[File:Chandra Gupta Maurya entertains his bride from Babylon.jpg|thumb|alt=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]].<ref name="Appian Syrian Wars 55" />]]

It is generally thought that Chandragupta married [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus's]] daughter, or a [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian]] princess, a gift from Seleucus to formalize an alliance. In a return gesture, Chandragupta sent 500 [[war elephant]]s,<ref>Vijay Katchroo. ''Ancient India'', p. 196</ref><ref>William Hunter. ''[[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]]''. p. 167</ref><ref>C. D. Darlington. ''The evolution of man and society''. p. 223</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tarn |first=W. W. |year=1940 |title=Two Notes on Seleucid History: 1. Seleucus' 500 Elephants, 2. Tarmita |journal=[[Journal of Hellenic Studies]] |volume=60 |pages=84–94 |doi=10.2307/626263 |jstor=626263|s2cid=163980490 }}</ref><ref>Partha Sarathi Bose (2003). ''Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy''. Gotham Books. {{ISBN|1-59240-053-1}}.</ref> a military asset which would play a decisive role at the [[Battle of Ipsus]] in 301 BC. 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 (ambassador)|Dionysius]] to the Mauryan court.<ref>Pliny the Elder, [http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+6.21 "The Natural History"], Chap. 21 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728023626/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+6.21 |date=28 July 2013 }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|The Indians occupy [in part] some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians: Alexander deprived the [[Ariana|Ariani]] of them, and established there settlements of his own. But [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus Nicator]] gave them to [[Chandragupta Maurya|Sandrocottus]] (Chandragupta Maurya) in consequence of a marriage contract, and received in return five hundred elephants.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239&query=head%3D%23120| title = Strabo 15.2.1(9)}}</ref>}}

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 ===
[[File:SeleucosCoin.jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Seleucus I Nicator]], showing the king wearing a helmet decorated with leopard skin and bull's horn and ear.|alt=]]
Following his and [[Lysimachus]]' decisive victory over Antigonus at the [[Battle of Ipsus]] in 301 BC, Seleucus took control over eastern [[Anatolia]] and northern [[Syria (region)|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 [[Battle of Corupedion|Corupedion]] in 281 BC, 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 (ancient kingdom)|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===
[[File:DiodotusGoldCoin.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Gold coin of [[Diodotus I|Diodotus]], who asserted independence to form the [[Greco-Bactrian kingdom]] {{Circa|245 BC}}. Greek legend reads: {{lang|grc|ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΟΔΟΤΟΥ}}, ''Basileōs Diodotou,'' "of King Diodotus." ]]
[[File:Oborzos drachm.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Drachm of the [[Frataraka]] ruler [[Vahbarz]] (Oborzos), thought to have initiated the independence of [[Persis]] from the Seleucid Empire. The coin shows on the reverse an Achaemenid king slaying an armoured, possibly Greek, soldier.<ref name="DE">{{Cite book |last=Engels |first=David |url=https://www.academia.edu/37936254 |title=The Seleukid Empire, 281–222 BC: War within the Family |year=201 |editor-last=K. Erickson |location=Swansea |pages=173–196 |language=en |chapter=Iranian Identity and Seleucid Allegiance: Vahbarz, the Frataraka and Early Arsacid Coinage}}</ref><ref name="KE">{{Cite book |last=Erickson |first=Kyle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkaEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 |title=The Seleukid Empire 281–222 BC: War Within the Family |date=2018 |publisher=ISD LLC |isbn=9781910589953 |page=175 |language=en}}</ref><!-- Commercial site removed --> This possibly refers to the events related by [[Polyainos]] (Strat. 7.40), in which Vahbarz (Oborzos) is said to have killed 3000 Seleucid settlers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kosmin |first=Paul J. |author-link=Paul J. Kosmin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fnhyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA207 |title=Time and Its Adversaries in the Seleucid Empire |date=2018 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674976931 |page=207 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="DE" /><ref name="KE" />]]
[[Antiochus I Soter|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 of Egypt|Ptolemy II]] and a [[Celt]]ic 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 [[Sogdia]]na under [[Diodotus of Bactria|Diodotus]], [[Cappadocia]] under [[Ariarathes III of Cappadocia|Ariarathes III]], and [[Parthia]] under [[Andragoras (Seleucid satrap)|Andragoras]]. A few years later, the last was defeated and killed by the invading [[Parni]] of [[Arsaces I of Parthia|Arsaces]]—the region would then become the core of the [[Parthian Empire]].

[[Diodotus of Bactria|Diodotus]], the Seleucid governor for the [[Bactria]]n territory, asserted independence in around 245 BC, 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 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 [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]s.

The rulers of [[Persis]], called [[Fratarakas]], also seem to have established some level of independence from the Seleucids during the 3rd century BC, 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]].<ref name="DE" /><ref name="KE" /><!-- Commercial link removed -->

The Seleucid satrap of Parthia, named [[Andragoras (3rd century BC)|Andragoras]], first claimed independence, in a parallel to the secession of his Bactrian neighbour. Soon after, however, a Parthian tribal chief called [[Arsaces I of Parthia|Arsaces]] [[Parni conquest of Parthia|invaded the Parthian]] territory around 238 BC to form the [[Parthian Empire|Arsacid dynasty]], from which the [[Parthian Empire]] originated.

Antiochus II's son [[Seleucus II Callinicus]] came to the throne around 246 BC. 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 (region)|Pontus]], and [[Cappadocia]], and the city of [[Pergamum]] in the west was asserting its independence under the [[Attalid dynasty]].{{citation needed|date=November 2016}} 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Castrén |first=Paavo |title=Uusi antiikin historia |date=2011 |publisher=[[Otava (publisher)|Otava]] |isbn=978-951-1-21594-3 |page=244 |language=fi}}</ref>

===Revival (223–191 BC)===
[[File:Antiochos III the Great, Tetradrachm, 222-187 BC, HGC 9-447u.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Silver coin of [[Antiochus III the Great]]. Reverse shows [[Apollo]] seated on [[omphalos]] holding bow and arrow. Greek legend reads: {{lang|grc|ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ}}, ''Basileōs Antiochou'', "of King Antiochus."]]
[[File:Seleucid-Empire 200bc.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The Seleucid Empire in 200 BC (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 BC. Although initially unsuccessful in the [[Fourth Syrian War]] against Egypt, which led to a defeat at the [[Battle of Raphia]] (217 BC), Antiochus would prove himself to be the greatest of the Seleucid rulers after Seleucus I himself. He spent the next ten years on his [[wikt:anabasis|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 [[Siege of Bactra|besieged the Bactrian capital]]. He even emulated Seleucus with an expedition into India where he met with King [[Sophagasenus]] ({{langx|sa|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):

{{Blockquote|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.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|pp=35–36}} Having traversed Arachosia and crossed the river Enymanthus, he came through Drangene to [[Carmania (region)|Carmania]]; and as it was now winter, he put his men into winter quarters there.<ref>Polybius, ''Histories'', Book 11, 1889, p. 78, trans. Friedrich Otto Hultsch, [[Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh]]</ref>}}

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 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]] (200 BC) 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|Roman–Seleucid War}}
[[File:Asia Minor 188 BCE.jpg|thumb|The reduced empire (titled: ''Syria, Kingdom of the Seleucids'') and the expanded states of [[Kingdom of Pergamon|Pergamum]] and [[Rhodes]], after the defeat of [[Antiochus III]] by Rome. Circa 188 BC.|250x250px]]
Following the defeat of his erstwhile ally [[Philip V of Macedon|Philip]] by Rome in 197 BC, Antiochus saw the opportunity for expansion into Greece itself. Encouraged by the exiled [[Carthage|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 [[Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC)|Thermopylae]] (191 BC) and [[Battle of Magnesia|Magnesia]] (190 BC), Antiochus's forces suffered resounding defeats, and he was compelled to make peace and sign the [[Treaty of Apamea]] (188 BC), 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 [[Rhodes#Hellenistic and Roman periods|Republic of Rhodes]], Rome's allies in the war, gained the former Seleucid lands in Anatolia. Antiochus died in 187 BC on another expedition to the east, where he sought to extract money to pay the indemnity.

===Roman power, Parthia and Judea===
{{Further|Seleucid–Parthian Wars|Maccabean Revolt}}
[[File:Seleucid prince Massimo Inv1049.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''[[Hellenistic Prince]],'' a bronze statue originally thought to be a [[Seleucid empire|Seleucid]], or [[Attalus II]] of [[Kingdom of Pergamon|Pergamon]], now considered a portrait of a Roman general, made by a Greek artist working in Rome in the 2nd century BC.]]
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 (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. The decree demanded that he should abort his attack on Alexandria and immediately stop waging the war on Ptolemy. 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Livy's History of Rome |url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Livy/Livy45.html |website=mu.edu}}</ref>

On his return journey, according to [[Josephus]], he made an expedition to [[Judea]], took [[Jerusalem]] by force, slew a great many who had favored [[Ptolemaic Egypt|Ptolemy]], sent his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled the [[Second temple|temple]], and interrupted the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation, for three years and six months.<ref>Flavius Josephus, ''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Jews/Book_I#Chapter_1 The War of the Jews 1.1§2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213031816/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Jews/Book_I#Chapter_1 |date=13 February 2021 }}''</ref>

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]].<ref>[[Hanukkah|Chanukah]], Shabbat 21b, Babylonian Talmud</ref> 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 orchestrated a military campaign, capturing [[Artaxias I]], King of Armenia, and reoccupying Armenia.{{sfn|Debevoise|1938|p=20}} His offensive ventured as far as Persepolis, but he was forced from the city by the populace.{{sfn|Debevoise|1938|pp=20–21}} On his return home, Antiochus died in [[Isfahan]] in 164 BC.{{sfn|Debevoise|1938|p=21}}

===Civil war and further decay===
{{Further|Seleucid Dynastic Wars}}
[[File:AntiochusIVEpiphanes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Coin of [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]]. Reverse with the Greek legend: {{lang|grc|ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ}}, ''Basileōs Antiochou Theou Epiphanous Nikēphorou'', "of Victorious God Manifest King Antiochus."]]
[[File:Syria in 124 BC.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Seleucid Syria in early 124 BC under [[Alexander II Zabinas]], who ruled the country with the exception of the city of [[Ptolemais in Phoenicia|Ptolemais]]]]

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]]—an impostor who (with Egyptian backing) claimed to be the son of Epiphanes. Alexander Balas reigned until 145 BC 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 BC, the Jews in the form of the [[Maccabees]] had fully established their independence. [[Parthian Empire|Parthia]]n 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 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.
[[File:Antiochus VII tetradrachm Sidon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Coin of Antiochus VII Sidetes from the [[Sidon]] mint. With the [[Eagle of Zeus]] on the reverse.|left]]

Sidetes' campaign initially met with spectacular success, recapturing Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Media. In the winter of 130/129 BC, 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 BC. 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 BC)===
{{Continental Asia in 100 BCE}}
[[File:Syria under the Seleucids 87 BC.svg|thumb|Seleucid Kingdom in 87 BC|alt=|250x250px]]
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 [[Kingdom of Pontus|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 [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|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 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 BC, a rump Seleucid kingdom was restored under [[Antiochus XIII]]. Even so, civil wars could not be prevented, as another Seleucid, [[Philip II Philoromaeus|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 [[Pompey's Eastern Settlement|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 (Roman province)|Syria]] into a [[Roman province]].

==Culture==
{{Further|Seleucid coinage}}
[[File:Antiochus cylinder with transcription.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Antiochus Cylinder]] written in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] [[cuneiform]] c. 250 BC, mentioning Antiochus I, son of Seleucus I "the Macedonian", who restored the temples of [[Esagila]] and Ezida in Babylon.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haubold |first1=Johannes |title=Greece and Mesopotamia: Dialogues in Literature |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107010765 |page=135 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85sLLYY-owgC&pg=PA135 |language=en}}</ref>|240x240px]]
The domain of the Seleucids stretched from the [[Aegean Sea]] to what is now [[History of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]], therefore including a diverse array of cultures and ethnic groups. [[Greeks]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Armenians]], [[Georgians]], [[Persian people|Persians]], [[Medes]], Mesopotamians, [[Jew]]s, and more all lived within its bounds. The immense size of the empire gave the Seleucid rulers a difficult balancing act to maintain order, resulting in a mixture of concessions to local cultures to maintain their own practices while also firmly controlling and unifying local elites under the Seleucid banner.

The government established Greek cities and settlements throughout the empire via a program of colonization that encouraged immigration from Greece; both city settlements as well as rural ones were created that were inhabited by ethnic Greeks. These Greeks were given good land and privileges, and in exchange were expected to serve in military service for the state. Despite being a tiny minority of the overall population, these Greeks were the backbone of the empire: loyal and committed to a cause that gave them vast territory to rule, they overwhelmingly served in the military and government. Unlike [[Ptolemaic Egypt]], Greeks in the Seleucid Empire seem to rarely have engaged in mixed marriages with non-Greeks; they kept to their own cities.

The various non-Greek peoples of the empire were still influenced by the spread of Greek thought and culture, a phenomenon referred to as [[Hellenization]]. Historically significant towns and cities, such as [[Antioch]], were created or renamed with Greek names, and hundreds of new cities were established for trade purposes and built in Greek style from the start.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|pp=106–107}} Local educated elites who needed to work with the government learned the Greek language, wrote in Greek, absorbed Greek philosophical ideas, and took on Greek names; some of these practices then slowly filtered down to the lower classes. Hellenic ideas began an almost 250-year expansion into the Near East, Middle East, and Central Asian cultures.

[[File:Bistoon Kermanshah.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Statue of Hercules in Behistun|Heracles Callinicus]] at [[Mount Behistun|Behistun]], made for a Seleucid governor named Cleomenes in about 148 BC.|270x270px]]
Synthesizing Hellenic and indigenous cultural, religious, and philosophical ideas – an ethnic unity framework established by [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] – met with varying degrees of success. The result was times of simultaneous peace and rebellion in various parts of the empire. In general, the Seleucids allowed local religions to operate undisturbed, such as incorporating [[Babylonian religion|Babylonian religious tenets]], to gain support.<ref>Julye Bidmead, ''The Akitu Festival: Religious Continuity and Royal Legitimation in Mesopotamia'', 143.</ref> Tensions around the integration of [[Second Temple Judaism|Judaism]] were present during the reign of the Seleucid governments. Though previous governments had managed a relatively seamless integration of Judean religious and cultural practices, the rule of Antiochus IV introduced significant changes. Antiochus IV instigated a bidding process for the [[High Priest of Israel|High Priest]] position—this led to [[Menelaus (High Priest)|Menelaus]], a radical Hellenist, outbidding [[Jason (High Priest)|Jason]], a moderate Hellenist who upheld many traditional Judean practices.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tcherikover |first=Victor |title=Hellenistic civilization and the jews |date=2004 |publisher=Hendrickson |isbn=978-1-56563-476-3 |edition=Reprint ed., 2. print |location=Peabody, Mass}}</ref> The shift from Jason to Menelaus unsettled the Jewish populace due to Menelaus's more extreme Hellenistic leanings.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brutti |first=Maria |url=https://brill.com/view/title/11771 |title=The Development of the High Priesthood during the pre-Hasmonean Period: History, Ideology, Theology |date=2006-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-0875-8 |doi=10.1163/9789047408758_006|s2cid=244761541 }}</ref> Aggravating the situation, Antiochus IV initiated a series of religious persecutions. This cumulated in a localized revolt in Jerusalem. Antiochus IV's violent retaking of the city and the banning of traditional Judean practices led to the eventual [[Maccabean Revolt|loss of control of Judea]] by the Seleucid government, paving the way for the rise of an independent [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean kingdom]].

==Military==
{{Main|Seleucid army}}
[[File:KINGS of PERSIS. Bagadates Early 3rd century BC (obverse).jpg|thumb|left|210x210px|[[Bagadates I]] (Minted 290–280 BC) was the first native Seleucid satrap to be appointed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Iran: Seleucid Empire |url=http://www.iranchamber.com/history/seleucids/seleucids.php |website=iranchamber.com}}</ref>]]
As with the other major [[Hellenistic armies]], the Seleucid army fought primarily in the Greco-Macedonian style, with its main body being the [[Phalanx formation|phalanx]]. The phalanx was a large, dense formation of men armed with small shields and a long pike called the [[sarissa|{{Transliteration|grc|sarissa}}]]. This form of fighting had been developed by the [[Ancient Macedonian army|Macedonian army]] in the reign of [[Philip II of Macedon]] and his son Alexander the Great. Alongside the phalanx, the Seleucid armies used numerous native and mercenary troops to supplement their Greek forces, which were limited due to the distance from the Seleucid rulers' [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian]] homeland. The size of the Seleucid army usually varied between 70,000 and 200,000 in manpower.

The distance from Greece put a strain on the Seleucid military system, as it was primarily based around the recruitment of Greeks as the key segment of the army. In order to increase the population of Greeks in their kingdom, the Seleucid rulers created military settlements. There were two main periods in the establishment of settlements, firstly under [[Seleucus I Nicator]] and [[Antiochus I Soter]] and then under [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]]. The military settlers were given land, "varying in size according to rank and arm of service'.<ref>Head, 1982, p. 20</ref> They were settled in 'colonies of an urban character, which at some point could acquire the status of a polis".<ref>Chaniotis, 2006, p. 86</ref> The settler-soldiers were called {{Transliteration|grc|katoikoi}}; they would maintain the land as their own and in return, they would serve in the Seleucid army when called. The majority of settlements were concentrated in [[Lydia]], northern [[Syria]], the upper [[Euphrates]] and [[Medes|Media]]. [[Antiochus III]] brought Greeks from [[Euboea]], [[Crete]] and [[Aetolia]] and settled them in [[Antioch]].<ref>Chaniotis, 2006, p. 85</ref>

These Greek settlers would be used to form the Seleucid phalanx and cavalry units, with picked men put into the kingdom's guards' regiments. The rest of the Seleucid army would consist of native and mercenary troops, who would serve as light [[auxiliaries|auxiliary]] troops. While the Seleucids were happy to recruit from less populated and outlying parts of the Empire such as the [[Arabs]] and Jews, Iranian peoples in the east, and inhabitants of Asia Minor to the north, they generally eschewed recruiting native Syrians and native Mesopotamians ([[Babylon]]ians). This was presumably mostly from a desire not to train and arm the people who were an overwhelming majority in the trade and governmental centers of the Empire in [[Antioch]] and Babylon, risking revolt. While a revolt in a remote place could be put down by resolute action from the center, an uprising in [[Syria-Coele]] would have undermined the kingdom's very existence.<ref name="barkochva">{{cite book |last=Bar-Kochva |first=Bezalel |authorlink=Bezalel Bar-Kochva |date=1989 |title=Judas Maccabaeus: The Jewish Struggle Against the Seleucids |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521323525 |pages=95–111}} .  For the dismissive Greek attitudes toward Syrians, Bar-Kochva is citing [[Martin Hengel]]'s 1976 work ''Juden, Griechen und Barbaren'', p. 77.</ref>

Following losses of territory in Asia Minor during the [[Roman-Seleucid War]], King Antiochus IV sponsored a new wave of immigration and settlements to replace them and maintain enough Greeks to staff the phalanxes seen at the military parade at Daphne in 166–165 BC. Antiochus IV built 15 new cities "and their association with the increased phalanx... at Daphne is too obvious to be ignored".<ref>Griffith, 1935, p. 153</ref>

== Economy ==
As a hegemonic empire, much of the state's wealth accumulation centered around maintaining its sizable military.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=van der Spek |first=Robartus Johannes |url=https://www.academia.edu/7782928 |title="The Seleucid State and the Economy" In Production and Public Powers in Antiquity |publisher=Cambridge Philological Society Supplementary |year=2000 |isbn=978-0906014257 |location=Cambridge |pages=27–36}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Michael J. |date=2014 |title=Sacred Plunder and the Seleucid Near East |journal=Greece & Rome |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=222–241 |doi=10.1017/S0017383514000175 |jstor=43297500 |s2cid=162810470 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Reger |first=Gary |title="The Economy" in "A Companion to the Hellenistic World" by Andrew Erskine |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Limited |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-4051-3278-7 |location=Malden, Massachusetts |pages=331–353}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=van der Spek |first=Robartus Johannes |date=2004 |title=Palace, Temple and Market in Seleucid Babylonia |journal=Topoi |pages=303–332 |via=Academia }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> While the motive is simple enough, the Seleucid Empire boasts of a sophisticated political economy that extracts wealth from local temples, cities (or {{Transliteration|grc|poleis}}), and royal estates; much of which was inherited from their Achaemenid predecessors. Recent discussion indicates a market-oriented economy under the Seleucids.<ref name=":3" /> However, evidencing limits our understanding of the Seleucid economy to the Hellenistic Near-East; that is, through their holdings in Syria, Asia Minor, and Mesopotamia. Little is known about the economy of the Upper Satrapies.

===Monetization===
[[File:Antik Sİkkeler Antiochus III.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Gold octodrachm of Antiochus III; Antioch mint 204-197 BC.]]

Currency plays an increasingly central role under the Seleucids; however, monetization was nothing new in their newly acquired lands.<ref name=":3" /> Rather, the introduction and widespread implementation of currency is attributed to Darius I's tax reforms centuries prior;<ref name=":3" /> hence, the Seleucids see a continuation rather than shift in this practice, i.e. the payment of taxation in silver or, if necessary, in kind.<ref name=":0" /> In this regard, the Seleucids are notable for paying their sizeable armies exclusively in silver.<ref name=":2" /> Nevertheless, there are two significant developments of currency during the Seleucid period: the adoption of the "[[Attic weight|Attic Standard]]" in certain regions,<ref name=":3" /> and the popularization of bronze coinage.<ref name=":2" />

The adoption of the Attic standard was not uniform across the realm. The Attic standard was already the common currency of the Mediterranean prior to Alexander's conquest; that is, it was the preferred currency for foreign transactions.<ref name=":2" /> As a result, coastal regions under the Seleucids—Syria and Asia Minor—were quick to adopt the new standard.<ref name=":2" /> In Mesopotamia, however, the millennia-old shekel (weighing 8.33 g silver) prevailed over the Attic standard.<ref name=":2" /> According to Historian R. J. van der Spek, this is due to their particular method in recording price, which favored bartering over monetary transactions.<ref name=":3" /> The Mesopotamians used the value of one shekel as a fixed reference point, against which the amount of a good is given.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=van der Spek |first=Robartus Johannes |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272361591 |title="The Volatility of Prices of Barley and Dates in Babylon in the Third and Second Centuries BC." In Documentary Sources in Ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman Economic History, by Heather D. Baker and Michael Jursa |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2014 |location=Oxford and Philadelphia |pages=234–259 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvh1dn9m.15|isbn=9781782977582 }}</ref> Prices themselves are accounted in terms of their weight in silver per ton, e.g., 60 g silver, barley, June 242 BC.<ref name=":4" /> The minute difference in weight between a shekel and didrachm (weighing 8.6 g silver) could not be expressed in this barter system, and a Greek tetradrachm would be "a far too heavy denomination...in daily trade."<ref name=":3" />

Bronze coinage, dating from the late fifth and fourth century, was popularized as a "fiduciary" currency facilitating "small-scale exchanges" in the Hellenistic period.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> It was principally a legal tender which circulated only around its locales of production; however, the great Seleucid mint at Antioch during Antiochus III's reign (which Numismatist Arthur Houghton dubs "The Syrian and Coele-Syrian Experiment") began minting bronze coins (weighing 1.25–1.5g) to serve a "regional purpose."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Houghton |first=Arthur |date=2003 |title=Some Observations on Coordinated Bronze Currency Systems in Seleucid Syria and Phoenicia |url=https://www.academia.edu/8883704 |journal=Israel Numismatic Journal |volume=15 |pages=35–47 |via=Academia}}</ref> The reasons behind this remain unclear. However, Spek notes a chronic shortage of silver in the Seleucid empire.<ref name=":3" /> In fact, Antiochus I's heavy withdrawal of silver from a satrap is noted by the [[Babylonian astronomical diaries]] (AD No. – 273 B 'Rev. 33'): "purchases in Babylon and other cities were made in Greek bronze coins."<ref name=":3" /> This was unprecedented because "in official documents [bronze coins] played no part";<ref name=":3" /> it was a sign of "hardship" for the Seleucids.<ref name=":3" /> Nevertheless, the low denomination of bronze coinage meant it was used in tandem with bartering; making it a popular and successful medium of exchange.<ref name=":2" />

===Agriculture===
{{Main|Seleucid agriculture}}
Agriculture, like most pre-modern economies, constituted a vast majority of the Seleucid economy. Somewhere between 80 and 90% of the Seleucid population was employed,<ref name=":0" /> in some form, within the prevailing agricultural structures inherited from their Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid predecessors.<ref name=":2" /> These included temples, {{Transliteration|grc|poleis}}, and royal estates. We should clarify that the term {{Transliteration|grc|poleis}}, according to Spek, did not confer any special status to cities in the Seleucid sources; it was simply the term for "city"—Greek or otherwise.<ref name=":0" /> Regardless, agricultural produce varied from region to region. But in general, Greek {{Transliteration|grc|poleis}} produced: "grain, olives and their oil, wine...figs, cheese from sheep and goats, [and] meat."<ref name=":2" /> Whereas Mesopotamian production from temple land consisted of: "barley, dates, mustard (or cascuta/dodder), cress (cardamom), sesame and wool"; which, as the core region of the Seleucid empire, was also the most productive.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" />
Recent evidence indicates that Mesopotamian grain production, under the Seleucids, was subject to market forces of supply and demand.<ref name=":3" /> Traditional "primitivist" narratives of the ancient economy argue that it was "marketless"; however, the Babylonian astronomical diaries show a high degree of market integration of barley and date prices—to name a few—in Seleucid Babylonia.<ref name=":4" /> Prices exceeding ''370g'' silver per ton in Seleucid Mesopotamia was considered a sign of famine. Therefore, during periods of war, heavy taxation, and crop failure, prices increase drastically. In an extreme example, Spek believes tribal Arab raiding into Babylonia caused barley prices to skyrocket to 1493 grams of silver per ton from 5–8 May, 124 BC.<ref name=":4" /> The average Mesopotamian peasant, if working for a wage at a temple, would receive 1 shekel; it "was a reasonable monthly wage for which one could buy one kor of grain= 180 [liters]."<ref name=":4" /> While this appears dire, we should be reminded that Mesopotamia under the Seleucids was largely stable and prices remained low.<ref name=":3" /> With encouraged Greek colonization and land reclamation increasing the supply of grain production, however, the question of whether this artificially kept prices stable is uncertain.<ref name=":3" />

The Seleucids also continued the tradition of actively maintaining the Mesopotamian waterways. As the greatest source of state income, the Seleucid kings actively managed the irrigation, reclamation, and population of Mesopotamia.<ref name=":3" /> In fact, canals were often dug by royal decrees, to which "some were called the King's Canal for that reason."<ref name=":0" /> For example, the construction of the [[Fallujah#Early history and middle ages|Pallacottas canal]] was able to control the water level of the Euphrates which, as [[Arrian]] notes in his [[Anabasis of Alexander|Anabasis]] 7.21.5, required: "over two months of work by more than 10,000 Assyrians."<ref name=":0" />

===Role of the state–political economy===
[[File:Seleucid prince CdM Chabouillet 3289.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of a young Seleucid prince. Marble, 2nd century BC.|250x250px]]
As a hegemonic empire, the state's primary focus was maintaining its sizable army via wealth extraction from three major sources:<ref name=":2" /> tribute from autonomous {{Transliteration|grc|poleis}} and temples, and proportional land-tax from royal land.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Mittwoch |first=A. |date=1955 |title=Tribute and Land-tax in Seleucid Judaea |journal=Biblica |volume=36. No.3 |issue=3 |pages=352–361 |jstor=42619061 }}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last1=Gilles |first1=Gorre |url=https://www.academia.edu/5075417 |title=Egitto: Dai Faraoni Agli Arabi." Kings, Taxes and High Priests: Comparing the Ptolemaic and Seleukid Policies |last2=Honigman |first2=Sylvie |publisher=Dipartimento di Studi letterari, filologicie linguistici dell'Università degli Studi di Milano |date=January 2013 |isbn=978-8862276412 |location=Milan |pages=105–119}}</ref> The definition of "royal land" remains contested. While all agree {{Transliteration|grc|poleis}} do not constitute royal land, some remain uncertain over the status of temple land.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=van der Spek |first=Robartus Johannes |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326989288 |title="New Evidence on Seleucid Land Policy". In ''De Agricultura: In Memoriam Pieter Willem de Neeve'', by Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg and Pieter Willem de Neeve |publisher=J. C. Gieben |year=1993 |isbn=978-90-50-63070-2 |location=Amsterdam |pages=303–332 |via=Research Gate}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> Yet, they commanded notable economic power and functioned almost independently from the state.<ref name=":1" /> Nevertheless, the Seleucid manner of extraction, in contrast to earlier regimes, is considered more "aggressive" and "predatory".<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" />
In theory, the Seleucid state was an absolute monarchy that did not recognize private property in our modern sense.<ref name=":7" /> Any land that was not delegated to the {{Transliteration|grc|poleis}} or temples was considered private property of the sovereign;<ref name=":7" /> thus, considered as Royal Land and liable to direct tax by the state. Here, a "proportional land-tax", that is, a tax based on the size of one's plot, is collected by the local governor (or Satrap) and sent to the capital.<ref name=":5" /> However, there is no evidence for the amount that was taxed on any given region.

Tribute was heavily levied on {{Transliteration|grc|poleis}} and temples. Although tribute is paid annually, the amount demanded increases significantly during wartime. During a civil war in 149 BC, Demetrius II demanded the province of Judaea to pay 300 talents of silver, which was seen as "severe."<ref name=":5" /> But this was far from an isolated case. In fact, the Babylonian Astronomical Diaries in 308/7 BC note a hefty 50% tax on harvest "from the lands of the temple of Shamash (in Sipprar or Larsa)."<ref name=":7" /> Nevertheless, annual tribute was "a long-accepted and uncontroversial practice."<ref name=":1" /> Also, royal land was regularly donated to the temples and {{Transliteration|grc|poleis}}; albeit under the assumption that a greater share of revenue is given to the state in exchange.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" />
The controversial practice of temple "despoliation", however, was a regular occurrence under the Seleucids—in contrast to earlier times.<ref name=":1" /> Although the Seleucid kings were aware and appreciated the sacrosanctity of religious treasures, their concentration in these places "proved irresistible" in the face of "short-term fiscal constraints."<ref name=":1" /> As an example, Antiochus III's despoliation of the Anahit Temple in Ecbatana, wherein he procured 4000 silver talents, was used to fund his Great Eastern campaign.<ref name=":1" /> According to historian Michael J. Taylor:<ref name=":1" /><blockquote>It is difficult to believe that these monarchs who knew enough to bow before Nabu, bake bricks for Esagil, and enforce kosher regulations in Jerusalem, would be blithely aware of the political hazards of removing Temple treasures. It is more likely that they knew the risks but took them anyway.</blockquote>

A rebellion in 169 BC during Antiochus III's campaign in Egypt demonstrates that these "risks" occasionally backfire.<ref name=":6" /> The increasingly bold interference is due, in large part, to the appointment of provincial high-priests by the monarch himself.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":0" /> Often they were his court "favorites",<ref name=":0" /> whose prerogatives were purely administrative; essentially, they served to collect tribute for the state.<ref name=":6" /> Unsurprisingly: "native elites profoundly feared that the arrival of a Seleucid official might quickly cascade into a wholesale removal of Temple treasures."<ref name=":1" />

=== Academic discussion ===
Interpretations on the Seleucid economy since the late 19th century traditionally fell between the "modernist" and "primitivist" camps.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> On one hand, the modernist view—largely associated with Michael Rostovtzeff and Eduard Meyer—argues that the Hellenistic economies operated along price-setting markets with capitalist enterprises exported over long distances in "completely monetarized markets."<ref name=":2" /> On the other hand, the primitivist view—associated with M.I. Finley, Karl Polanyi and Karl Bücher—interprets ancient economies as "autarchic" in nature with little to no interaction among each other. However, recent discussion has since criticized these models for their grounding on "Greco-centric" sources.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Aphergis |first=Gerassmimos George |date=October 2008 |title=The Seleucid Economy |journal=The Classical Review |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=520–522 |jstor=20482569 }}</ref>

Recent discussion has since rejected these traditional dichotomies.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8" /> According to Spek and Reger, the current view is that the Seleucid economy—and Hellenistic economies more broadly—were ''partially'' market-oriented, and ''partially'' monetarized.<ref name=":3" /> While the market was subject to forces of supply and demand, a majority of produce was still consumed by their producers and was, hence, "invisible" to the observer.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />

==Family tree of Seleucids==
{{Main|Seleucid dynasty|Seleucid dynasty#Family tree|l2=Seleucid dynasty Family tree}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Greece}}
* [[Seleucid army]]
* [[Seleucid dynasty]]
* [[Hellenistic period]]
* [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]
* [[Hasmonean dynasty]]
* [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]
* [[Parthian Empire]]
* [[Cilician pirates]]

==References==
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book |title=A Political History of Parthia |first=Neilson C. |last=Debevoise |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1938 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Grainger |first=John D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDQEDgAAQBAJ |title=The Seleucid Empire of Antiochus III. 223–187 BC |date=2020 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-52677-493-4 |edition=Paperback |location=Barnsley |orig-year=1st pub. 2015}}
* {{cite book |last=Kosmin |first=Paul J. |authorlink=Paul J. Kosmin |title=The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in Seleucid Empire |date=2014 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]  |isbn=978-0-674-72882-0 }}
* {{cite book| last1=Sherwin-White| first1=Susan| last2=Kuhrt| first2=Amelie| author-link2=Amelie Kuhrt| title=From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire| year=1993| place=London| publisher=Duckworth| isbn=978-0-520-08183-3}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Overtoom |first=Nikolaus |year=2020 |title=Reign of Arrows: The Rise of the Parthian Empire in the Hellenistic Middle East |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=9780197680223 }}
* {{cite book| last = Chrubasik| first = Boris| title = [[Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire|''Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire: The Men who would be King'']]| publisher = Oxford University Press| date = 2016| location = London| pages =| isbn = 9780198786924}}
* G. G. Aperghis, ''The Seleukid Royal Economy. The Finances and Financial Administration of the Seleukid Empire'', Cambridge, 2004.
* Laurent Capdetrey, ''Le pouvoir séleucide. Territoire, administration, finances d'un royaume hellénistique (312–129 avant J.C.).'' (Collection "Histoire"). Rennes: [[Presses Universitaires de Rennes]], 2007.
* D. Engels, ''Benefactors, Kings, Rulers. Studies on the Seleukid Empire between East and West'', Leuven, 2017 (Studia Hellenistica 57).
* A. Houghton, C. Lorber, ''Seleucid Coins. A Comprehensive Catalogue, Part I, Seleucus I through Antiochus III, With Metrological Tables by B. Kritt'', I-II, New York – Lancaster – London, 2002.
* R. Oetjen (ed.), ''New Perspectives in Seleucid History, Archaeology and Numismatics: Studies in Honor of Getzel M. Cohen'', Berlin – Boston: [[De Gruyter]], 2020
* Michael J. Taylor, ''Antiochus the Great'' (Barnsley: [[Pen and Sword]], 2013).
* {{cite book |last1=Wünsch |first1=Julian |title=Großmacht gegen lokale Machthaber: die Herrschaftspraxis der Seleukiden an den Rändern ihres Reiches |date=2022 |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |location=Wiesbaden |isbn=9783447119054}}

==External links==
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Seleucid Empire
  |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* [http://www.livius.org Livius], [https://www.livius.org/se-sg/seleucids/seleucids.html The Seleucid Empire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719234709/https://www.livius.org/se-sg/seleucids/seleucids.html |date=19 July 2013 }} by Jona Lendering
* [http://www.seleucid-genealogy.com Genealogy of the Seleucids]
* [http://www.seleucid-genealogy.com/ssg_bibliography.html Seleucid Research Bibliography, compiled and maintained by the Seleucid Study Group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324182257/http://www.seleucid-genealogy.com/ssg_bibliography.html |date=24 March 2015 }}
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Persia |volume=21 |pages=187–252 |short=1}}

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