Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire was the largest and most diverse of the successor states to
Alexanders Macedonian Empire. It was able to field a large and powerful army led
by Kings who were first and foremost military commanders. The Seleucids managed
to dominate Iran for 183 years (312 129 BC), a notable achievement considering
the fact that the only uniting force keeping the Empire together was the martial
prowess of the King. At its height, the Empire had a population equaling almost half
of that of Qin Dynasty China. Eventually, the Empire fell through a combination of
court intrigues, constant infighting and defeats in the hands of the Romans and
Parthians.

Political History
Alexander the Greats death in 323 BC meant the end of the Macedonian Empire he
had conquered, which disintegrated into competing Hellenistic Kingdoms with the
same speed as it had been created. Perhaps the most successful of the Warlords that
fought for dominance was Seleucus (c. 358 BC 281 BC), who managed to secure for
himself most of Macedonian Asia. The Seleucid Empire was formally established with
the recovery of Babylon from Seleucus rival, Antigonos, in October 312. Seleucus
had been married to Apame, daughter of the Sogdian satrap Spitameneses, since
324, on Alexanders orders. Unlike other Macedonian generals, he did not divorce his
wife after Alexanders death, either because she was politically useful for him in
controlling the natives of his eastern provinces or because he truly loved her (or
maybe both). Seleucus invaded Punjab in India in 305, confronting Chandragupta
Maurya (Sandrokottos), founder of the Maurya Empire. He was forced to cede vast
territories west of the Indus in exchange for elephants which he used to defeat
Antigonus in the battle of Ipsos in 301.

Seleucus then made an important decision when he moved the capital, and thus the
center of political power, away from Iran and in Syria. In 300, he founded Antioch on
the lower Orontes in north Syria and constructed two artificial harbors, Seleucia and
Laodicea. More than 1,700 miles separated his capital from his outposts in Jaxartes
and this made control of the eastern provinces a difficult task and later on allowed
them to declare independence, leading to the creation of the Greco-Bactrian
Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdoms. However, his move of the capital in Syria
had advantages. He could closely monitor the Mediterranean and Greece, from
which he could import ideas and, most importantly, men. He could also check
Ptolemaic Egypts advance in Palestine, where a series of Egyptian-Seleucid wars
were fought.

By the time of his death, in 281, his empire stretched from Bactria to Minor Asia and
he had even established a foothold in Thrace. It is very likely that he had ambitions
on the Macedonian throne itself and, had he not been assassinated, he might have
been able to restore unity to the Macedonian Empire. Alas, he was assassinated by
Ptolemy Ceraunus, thus putting an end to the Seleucid ambitions of uniting the
Empire. From now on, Alexanders Empire was dead, never to be reunited, and a
new one was born: the Seleucid Empire.

Seleucus was succeeded by Antiochus I. An interesting story about him has to do

with his love for Stratonice, the daughter of Antipater. She was married to Seleucus
but, after discovering that his son was lovesick with her, he gave up Stratonice in
marriage to the young prince in 294. When Antiochus came to the throne, the
situation was not ideal for the new ruler; his control of parts of the Empire,
especially in the east, was tenuous at best. Nomads from the vast plain stretching
out interminably in Central Asia raided the eastern provinces and in 280 they
managed to get as far as Tirmidh and Herat. Meanwhile, Seleucid territories in
Western Asia Minor were being contested. But Antiochus was not to be
underestimated and was no less capable than his father.

He expelled the nomads, restored ravaged cities, rebuild the citadel of Marv and
constructed a rampant of beaten earth and brick (20 meters high and 270 km long)
in Marv oasis. In 275 he defeated the Gauls, who raided Minor Asia, with the use of
elephants. But his conflict with Egypt over Palestine was the cause of much trouble
for the Empire, as it depleted resources which could be used to defend and maintain
control of the east. Antiochus had to ask his Bactrian province to send him 20
elephants in order to use them against Egypt, thus leaving the province undefended
in the face of renewed nomad raiding. Antiochus hold in Asia Minor was no more
secure. The cities there, although professing loyalty to the King, regarded themselves
as being outside of the Empire and their allegiance had to be reaffirmed when a new
King came to the throne.

The next King, Antiochus II, when he died, left the Empire far weaker than when he
had taken the throne. General Diodotus in Bactria declared his independence from
his Seleucid overlords and he formed the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom which was to
defend Bactria for almost 130 years against nomads and conquered many peoples in
India, leading to the creation of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. When Andragoras, Satrap
of Parthia, too revolted against his lord, his province was overrun by the Parni led by
Arsaces. Those nomads were to establish the Parthian Empire which would later on
dominate Iran and clash repeatedly with the Roman Empire. But, for now, the
Parthians were contained due to the cooperation between Seleucids and Bactrians
to keep them in check.

The death of Antiochus II in 246 led to a dynastic war, one of the many that ravaged
and eventually brought down the Seleucid Empire. Laodice, divorced wife of
Antiochus, and Berenice, widow and sister to Ptolemy III of Egypt, fought out.
Seleucus II Callinicus was defeated by Ptolemy and later had to fight a civil war
against his brother Antiochus Hierax. He lost direct control of much of Asia Minor,
but he managed to retain the allegiance of Miletos and Smyrna.

- Seleucid Empire in 200 BC, after the successful campaigns of Antiochus III and
before his defeat by Rome in 200 BC
Although the Seleucid Empire was weakened, it was still not dead and Antiochus III
would prove that a capable King could restore the Empire to its former glory.
Antiochus III alone managed to restore Seleucid control, albeit nominal, in Bactria
and the Far East and rightfully gained the title of Great King. Polybios said of
Antiochus anabasis of 212 205: It was this campaign which made him appear
worthy of royalty, not only to the peoples of Asia but to those in Europe as well.
The rich booty he gained from that campaign allowed him to defeat Egypt and
acquire Palestine in 200. This was the high point of the Seleucid Empire. It seemed as
it could reign supreme in the Hellenistic East and be restored to great power status.
But it was not to be; in 189 he lost a war with Rome and was forced to cede Western
Minor Asia. His conquests in the east were too reversed by this setback. Yet he
maintained control of Western Iran, from Ecbatana to the Persian Gulf.

But dynastic intrigues and infighting were to cause the loss of Media in 148 and
Babylon in 141 to the Parthians. Somewhat surprising is the fact that not only
Greeks, but also Iranians remained loyal to the Seleucids and appealed for Seleucid
help against the Parthians. Demetrious II set out for Media, although his decision to
campaign east may have more to do with his desire to get rid of his political
opponent Tryphon from Syria than with the appeal of the residents of the province.
He was popular among the populace but popularity alone does not win a war; he
was captured in 139. His brother, Antiochus VII was far more successful, as he
managed to recover Babylon and Media from the Parthians but was unfortunately
killed in a skirmish in 129. Thus Seleucid domination of Iran, and with it its status as a
great empire, ended once and for all. The fact that the Seleucids had managed to
hold on to Iran for 183 years was most impressive but eventually the lack of able
leaders caused its loss.

For the rest of its existence, until 63 BC, the Seleucid Empire, if it could be called
empire any more, controlled only Antioch and a few Syrian cities. Yet, despite the
precariousness of the situation, the infighting and dynastic intrigues continued to
ravage the Seleucids. The Kings and their political opponents squabble over a realm
reduced to nothingness and kept alive only because Rome did not want to assume
responsibility for Syria. When Rome finally decided to assume that responsibility, the
Seleucid Empire came to an end. Syria became a Roman province.

Administration
The Seleucid Kings ruled over a vast Empire that had no common religion, language
or ideology. They were foreigners to the lands they ruled yet they were not
colonialists either, as they neither owned nor had the support of Macedonia. The
diverse lands they controlled were theirs not by some divine favor or because they
were natives, but due to the fact that they had conquered them. By the Spear is the
term they used to describe their ownership of those lands, meaning that they owned
them through the right of conquest. As such, the Kings had to prove that they were
capable military commanders and had to maintain order in the Empire through the
show of force and military campaigns. Of the fourteen Seleucid Kings who reigned
from 312 to 129, ten died on campaign. That goes on to show how important war
was to the Empire. The Kings, despite some writers calling them Kings of Asia or
Kings of Syria, did not give designation to themselves. They called themselves simply,
to use some examples, King Antiochus or King Seleucus, and never Kings of some
land or nation.

The Empire was essentially a military regime held together only because of the
martial prowess of the Kings. No sophisticated bureaucracy developed and the
Empire was ruled by the King, his friends and the army. The friends were the Kings
court, men from all over the known world, from which the King chose his generals
and ministers. Those were ambitious men who sought fortune and fame. An
Acarnian who had served Macedon, later served Antiochus III, to use an example.
They, as their King, had no roots in the lands they resided, and so they were as
foreigner as their King and had to rely on him as he had to rely on them. So the
good will of the King and his friends was essential in the administration of the
Empire.

The Seleucids preserved the Satrapies of the old Achaemenid Empire. The Iranian
Satrapies were under the supervision of a Viceroy who resided in Ecbatana. The
Satrapies were subdivided into districts called Places (Topoi). Those districts could
be native villages, Greek cities or military wards (Phylake). A lot of Greek cities were
constructed in Iran, in royal land. Those colonies helped maintain some stability in
the Empire and were outposts of Greek civilization. The colonies were established in
favorable positions. For example, a colony was established in Ai Khanum on Oxus,
which was defended from rivers and by a hill. Colonists received land in the
surroundings of the city and in exchange they had to render military aid to the King.

The cities (polis) were formally autonomous but overseen by an epistastes, the royal
overseer. The cities would typically have their local magistrates (Archons), in the
same way the city-states in Greece itself had their own magistrates. The cities were
also self-sufficient economically due to the land allotted to the citizens. The
landowners resided in the city but the rich ones also had luxurious manors with
baths in the countryside. The city was protected by wall. It is not clear if natives were
allowed to reside in some quarters of the city. Cities in Mesopotamia, such as Nisibis
and Edessa, had the right to coinage, but the cities in Iran did not.

The Seleucid Empire is estimated to have had maybe a population of 20,000,000,

about half than that of the Qin Dynasty in China (40 - 50 million). The Seleucid
Empire was also able to field a well-trained army of 72,000 men, an enormous force
for that time. It is estimated that only about 12,000 of them were recruited from
among native Iranians, and the vast majority of them from wild tribes such as the
Cissii. Those Iranians served mostly as light infantry. The Seleucids also made great
use of war elephants. The Seleucids had good reason not to want to recruit locals;
they did not have any reason to be loyal to their lords, so how could they trust them
not to revolt? The Ptolemies, who eventually recruited Egyptians in their army in
large numbers, despite an initial boost in manpower which gave them victory in
Syria, had to deal with this threat which later led to local revolts.

Economy
Seleucid coins show that the monetary system was mostly uniform throughout the
Empire. The unified silver coinage boosted trade. Agriculture and commerce were
encouraged by the Seleucid Kings. They granted hereditary possession of land to
farmers who planted on that land. They also undertook public projects of improving
roads and harbors and canalized the river Eulaios (Karun), thus establishing a route
between Susa and the Persian Gulf. Antiochus III opened the bazaars of India to
Seleucid merchants thanks to his military campaigns in the East and launched an
expedition against the Gerrhaens in Arabia to divert spice trade routes from Arabia
to Seleucia and Sousa. Spice from Arabia and India came to Susa and proceeded to
the West while western merchandise proceeded from Susa to the East.
Unfortunately, not enough is known about taxation.

Land was divided into three categories: royal land, which was owned by the King and
sometimes granted to farmers as stated above, land which belonged to the citizens
of the Greek cities, which was allotted to them in exchange for military service, and
land allotted to holy temples.

The countryside of Seleucid Iran was dominated by villages where the Iranians lived
and were the main fiscal and economic unit. Underground irrigation canals (qanats)
played a major role in the economy and agriculture. The native chieftains continued
the exploitation of peasants as they had done before the Greeks came. The Seleucids
intervened little in the life of the natives, caring only for peace, security of the roads
and taxation. The Iranians were ignored and the only link between the central
government and Iranians were the tax officials. This neglect kept peace. The Iranian
aristocrats were charmed by Greek civilization and even accepted nudity in male
statues, Greek plays and learned Greek language, but common Iranians were aloof
to their overlords and retained their traditions while Greek never became dominant
among them.
Sources:
Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3 Part 1 (Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanian
Periods)

A Companion to the Hellenistic World (Blackwell Companion to the Ancient World)

History of the Greeks, Volume 4 (The Hellenistic Times)