Seleucus I Nicator

“ History is full of the miseries which the kings of Egypt and Syria inflicted on the Jews.
2. It is said that these legs should break in pieces and bruise. How many generals and princes were destroyed by Seleucus Nicator, and by Ptolemy, son of Lagus! Seleucus, particularly, could not consider himself secure on his throne till he had destroyed Antigonus, Nicanor, and Demetrius; and Ptolemy endeavored to secure himself by the ruin of Perdiccas, and the rest of his enemies. ”

“ Era of the Seleucidae, or Macedonian Era.—The era of the Seleucidae dates from the time of the occupation of Babylon by Seleucus Nicator, 311 years before Christ, in the year of Rome 442, and twelve years after the death of Alexander the Great. It was adopted not only in the monarchy of the Seleucidae but in general in all the Greek countries bordering on the Levant, was followed by the Jews till the 15th century, and is said to be used by some Arabians even at the present day. ”

“ The Romans take Fregellae and other towns from the Samnites.
312. Seleucus Nicator establishes the realm of the Seleucidae, the army of Antigonus, under his son Demetrius Poliorcetes, being defeated by Ptolemy and Seleucus. Babylon is made the capital.
Ptolemy conquers Judea; he transplants many Jews to Alexandria and Cyrene, where their industry is encouraged and their religion protected.
At Rome Appius Claudius, the blind, constructs the Via Appia, the first aqueduct, and a canal through the Pontine marshes.
Zeno institutes the sect of Stoics at Athens. ”

“ Chwolson [2] confesses that he has discovered one,—that of Antioch (Anthakia) ; but he thinks, according to his usual method, that it is only a modern name which Ibn Wahshíya has substituted for one more ancient: nothing can be more gratuitous. The Orientals have never made the name of Anthakia respond to any city but that founded by Seleucus Nicator; and we know, in the most precise manner, that when Seleucus founded his capital on the banks of the Orontes, he only found an insignificant place there, whose name even has not descended to us. ”

“ Seleucus Nicator sent Megasthenes as envoy about 300 B.C. and Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.) a representative named Dionysius. Bindusâra, the father of Asoka, exchanged missions with Antiochus, and, according to a well-known anecdote [1108] , expressed a wish to buy a professor (σοφιστήν) . But Antiochus replied that Greek professors were not for sale. ”

“ And the king of the South [Ptolemy] shall be strong, and one of his Princes [Seleucus, one of Alexander's Princes] shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
After Seleucus had reigned seven months over Macedon, Greece, Thrace, Asia, Syria, Babylonia, Media, and all the East as far as India; Ptolemy Ceraunus, the younger brother of Ptolemy Philadelphus king of Egypt, slew him treacherously, and seized his dominions in Europe: while Antiochus Soter, the son of Seleucus, succeeded his father in Asia, Syria, and most of the East ”

“ Seleucus had some sparks of his great master's genius in promoting civilization and commerce, as well as in gaining victories. Under his successors, the Seleucidae, this vast empire rapidly diminished; Bactria became independent, and a separate dynasty of Greek kings ruled there in the year 125, when it was overthrown by the Scythian tribes. Parthia threw off its allegiance to the Seleucidae in 250 B.C., and the powerful Parthian kingdom, which afterwards proved so formidable a foe to Rome, absorbed nearly all the provinces west of the Euphrates, that had obeyed the first Seleucus. ”

“ The end of the fourth century sees Seleucus of Babylonia lording it over the most part of West Asia which was best worth having, except the southern half of Syria and the coasts of Asia Minor and certain isles in sight of them, which, if not subject to Ptolemy of Egypt, were free of both kings or dominated by a third, resident in Europe and soon to disappear. In the event those two, Seleucus and Ptolemy, alone of all the Macedonian successors, would found dynasties destined to endure long enough in kingdoms great enough to affect the general history of civilization in the Ancient East. ”

“ In 316, when Antigonus had made himself master of the eastern provinces, Seleucus felt himself threatened and fled to Egypt. In the war which followed between Antigonus and the other Macedonian chiefs, Seleucus actively co-operated with Ptolemy and commanded Egyptian squadrons in the Aegean. The victory won by Ptolemy at Gaza in 312 opened the way for Seleucus to return to the east. His return to Babylon in that year was afterwards officially regarded as the beginning of the Seleucid empire. ”

“ Not much later, Seleucus was assassinated by Ptolemaeus Ceraunus, [2] whom he had taken in after he was expelled from Alexandrea by his father and was in need of the help of strangers. But Ptolemaeus himself, handed his kingdom over to his son while still living and is said to have been deprived of life by that same son. Since we think that enough has been said about these men, it seems convenient not to pass over Hamilcar and Hannibal who are established to have exceeded all others born in Africa in greatness and shrewdness of mind. ”

“ The man who had been smitten by a visible angel could jest about it, and soon went on to greater crime. He poisoned his master in the hope of becoming king, as Seleucus's son was a hostage at Rome, that is, he had been given as a pledge that the tribute should be paid; but Seleucus's brother, Antiochus, who was on his way home from captivity at Rome, flattered the adjoining kings into helping him, drove Heliodorus away, and became king in 178. ”

“ He founded no less than 34 cities in different parts of his empire, which he peopled with Greek colonies, whose national industry, learning, religion, and spirit, were communicated to the indolent and luxurious inhabitants of Asia. Seleucus was a great benefactor to the Greeks; he restored to the Athenians the library and statues which Xerxes had carried away from their city when he invaded Greece, and among them were those of Harmodius and Aristogiton. ”

“ In 140 and 130 B.C. those of Iran were ready to rise in support of the Seleucid invader (Joseph. Arch. xiii. § 184; Justin xxxviii. 10.6-8) . Just so, Crassus in 53 B.C. found a welcome in the Greek cities of Mesopotamia. Seleucia on the Tigris is spoken of by Tacitus as being in A.D. 36 “proof against barbarian influences and mindful of its founder Seleucus” (Ann. vi. 42) . How important an element the Greek population of their realm seemed to the Parthian kings we can see by the fact that they claimed to be themselves champions of Hellenism. ”

“ Seleucus II., surnamed Callinicus, succeeded his father Antiochus Theus on the throne of Syria. He attempted to make war against Ptolemy king of Egypt, but his fleet was shipwrecked in a violent storm, and his armies soon after conquered by his enemy. He was at last taken prisoner by Arsaces, an officer who made himself powerful by the dissensions which reigned in the house of the Seleucidæ, between the two brothers Seleucus and Antiochus; and after he had been a prisoner for some time in Parthia, he died of a fall from his horse, B.C. 226, after a reign of 20 years. ”

“ They say that garfish and vipers burst in giving life to their young, so secrets by coming out ruin and destroy those who cannot keep them. Seleucus Callinicus having lost his army and all his forces in a battle against the Galati, threw off his diadem, and fled on a swift horse with an escort of three or four of his men a long day's journey by bypaths and out-of-the-way tracks, till faint and famishing for want of food he drew rein at a small farmhouse, where by chance he found the master at home, and asked for some bread and water. ”

“ This he said with the greatest passion, shedding tears as he spoke; upon which Erasistratus, taking him by the hand, replied, "In that case, you have no need of Erasistratus; for you, who are the husband, the father, and the king, are the proper physician for your own family." Seleucus, accordingly, summoning a general assembly of his people, declared to them, that he had resolved to make Antiochus king, and Stratonice queen, of all the provinces of Upper Asia, uniting them in marriage ”

“ Seleucus at this time reigned over the nations which were beyond Euphrates, and belonged to the bodies of the two first Beasts; but after six years he conquered Antigonus, and thereby became possest of one of the four kingdoms. For Cassander being afraid of the power of Antigonus, combined with Lysimachus, Ptolemy and Seleucus, against him: and while Lysimachus invaded the parts of Asia next the Hellespont, Ptolemy subdued Phœnicia and Cœlosyria, with the sea-coasts of Asia. ”

“ This province, besides other towns, is particularly adorned by two cities, Seleucia, founded by King Seleucus, and Claudiopolis, which the Emperor Claudius Cæsar established as a colony. For the city of Isauria, which was formerly too powerful, was in ancient times overthrown as an incurable and dangerous rebel, and so completely destroyed that it is not easy to discover any traces of its pristine splendour. ”

“ The Egyptian monarch invaded Seleucid territory and marched victoriously at least as far as Syria and perhaps to the Tigris, [49] though later writers extended his conquests to Bactria and even as far eastward as India. But a revolt in the Delta forced Ptolemy to return home before he could consolidate his position. Sometime in the course of the struggle between Ptolemy and Seleucus, the latter was forced to conclude a peace with his brother which left Antiochus Hierax an autonomous sovereign in Asia Minor. The war with Egypt once ended, Seleucus soon attempted to recover the lost territory ”

“ In Asia Minor neither Seleucus nor the Seleucids ever held anything effectively except the main lines of communication from East to West and the district in which these come down to the Aegean Sea. The south coast, as has been said, remained in Egyptian hands almost all through the Seleucid period. The southwest obeyed the island republic of Rhodes. Most of the Greek maritime cities of the northwest and north kept their freedom more or less inviolate; while inland a purely Greek monarchy, that of Pergamum, gradually extended its sway up to the central desert. ”

“ Seleucus Ceraunus, inheriting the remains of his father's kingdom, and thinking to recover the rest, raised a great army against the governor of Pergamus, now King thereof, but died in the third year of his reign. His brother and successor, Antiochus Magnus, carrying on the war, took from the King of Pergamus almost all the lesser Asia, recovering also the Provinces of Media, Persia and Babylonia, from the governors who had revolted: and in the fifth year of his reign invading Cœlosyria, he with little opposition possest himself of a good part thereof ”

“ Here she in vain incited her nephew Seleucus II. to avenge the insult offered her by declaring war against the Macedonian king. According to another account, she was in hopes to induce Seleucus himself to marry her; but that monarch was wholly occupied with the recovery of Babylonia and the upper provinces of the empire. While he was thus engaged, Stratonice took advantage of his absence to raise a revolt against him at Antioch; but she was easily expelled from that city on the return of Seleucus, and took refuge in Seleucia, where she was besieged, taken prisoner, and put to death. ”

“ Seleucus himself actually maintained his authority within what is now Hindustan and was styled “king of Asia,” where he was not called simply “the king” as Alexander and the Persians had been before him. Even when Antiochus the Great gave up all his Asiatic possessions north of the Taurus, he did not renounce his claim to the Persian and Oriental patrimony of Alexander.
129. Zeitschr. d. deut. morg. Gesell. xxiii. 371; Nöldeke, Die sem. Spr. 41 f.; Zeitschr. f. Assyr. vi. 26. Cf. also Gardner, Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India. ”

“ Here Cleopatra calls for him; bids Caesar let him speak on his peril; and herself orders him, “Speak the truth, Seleucus.”
Moreover his statement and her excuse point to a much more serious embezzlement than Plutarch suggests, and just in so far would give Octavius a stronger impression of her desire to live. In the biography Seleucus confines himself to saying that “she had not set in al, but kept many things back of purpose”: and she confesses only to “some juells and trifles meete for women ... meaning to geve some pretie presents and gifts unto Octavia and Livia.” ”

“ To the south of this high road we have among the Seleucid foundations Antioch in Pisidia (colonized with Magnesians from the Meander) and Stratonicea in Caria; in the region to the north of it the most famous Seleucid colony was Thyatira. Along the southern coast, where the houses of Seleucus and Ptolemy strove for predominance, we find the names of Berenice, Arsinoë and Ptolemais confronting those of Antioch and Seleucia. ”

“ Seleucus III Soter, the elder son of Seleucus II Callinicus, after a brief reign of three years was mur­ dered in Phrygia as the result of a court intrigue, [56] and Antiochus III, the younger son of Seleucus II, succeeded to the throne (223 b.c.) . Two of his generals, the brothers Molon and Alexander, were intrusted with the satrapies of Media and Persis. Not long thereafter Molon, possibly inspired by the Bactrian and Parthian successes, [57] revolted and declared himself king. ”