Seleucid Empire: Encyclopedia II - Seleucid Empire - The partition of Alexander's empire 323-281 BC

Seleucid Empire - The partition of Alexander's empire 323-281 BC

Alexander the Great had conquered the Persian Empire within a short time-frame and died young, leaving an expansive empire of partly Hellenized culture without an adult heir. Therefore his generals (the Diadochi) thereupon jostled for supremacy over portions of his empire.

Seleucus, one of his generals, established himself in Babylon in 312 BC, used as the foundation date of the Seleucid Empire. He ruled over not only Babylonia, but the entire enormous eastern part of Alexander's Empire. Following his and Lysimachus's victory over Antigonus Monophthalmus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, Seleucus took control over eastern Anatolia and northern Syria. In the latter area he founded a new capital at Antioch on the Orontes, a city he named after his father. An alternative capital was established at Seleucia on the Tigris, north of Babylon. Seleucus' empire reached its greatest extent following his defeat of his erstwhile ally, Lysimachus, at Corupedion in 281 BC. Seleucus expanded his control to encompass western Anatolia. He hoped further to take control of Lysimachus' lands in Europe - primarily Thrace and even Macedonia itself, but was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus on landing in Europe. His son and successor, Antiochus I Soter, proved unable to pick up where his father had left off in conquering the European portions of Alexander's empire, but was left, nevertheless, with an enormous realm consisting of nearly all of the Asian portions of the Empire. His competitors were Antigonus II Gonatas in Macedonia and Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Egypt.

The Seleucid empire's geographic span, from the Aegean Sea to Afghanistan, brought together a multitude of races: Greeks, Persians, Medes, Jews, Indians, to mention only some. Its rulers were in the position of having a governing interest to implement a policy of racial unity initiated by Alexander. By 313 BC, Hellenic ideas (disseminated by the conquering Macedonian army's hired philosophers and historians, retired officers, and married inter-racial couples) had begun their almost 250-year expansion into the Near East, Middle East, and Central Asian cultures. It was the empire's governmental framework to rule by establishing hundreds of cities for trade and occupational purposes. Many cities began, or were induced, to adopt Hellenized philosophic thought, religious sentiments, and politics. Synthesizing Hellenic with native cultures and intellectual trends met with varying degrees of success -- resulting in times of simultaneous peace and rebellion in various parts of the empire.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The partition of Alexander's empire 323-281 BC", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki