Seleukids Flashcards
Upon AtG’s death, what city was Seleukos I made governor of?
Babylon
Full dynastic name of Seleukos I?
Seleukos I Nikator
When is the Sel Kingdom said to have started? Why is this contentious?
321/20
It was 304 that Seleukos I was actually made a basileus
What animal become symbolic of Sel Kingdom? How come?
Elephant
In 305/4, an Eastern Asia leader gifted them to the king
When was the Battle of Ipsos? What happened as a result?
301
Attalids were weakened by the Sels who then took on control of northern syria
When did Seleukos I die? Who was his successor?
281 BCE
Antiochus I Soter
What was Seleukos’ first capital?
Seleukia-on-the-Tigris, Babylonia
What was the major imperial success for Antiochus III?
took over Phoenicia and Palestine from the Ptolemies
What is culturally interesting and previously contentious abt the Seleukid Kingdom?
Its combining of western and eastern cultural traditions incl in the material remains
Which 2 scholars argued the Seleukid kingdom was more Eastern than the traditional view of its being culturally western?
Kuhrt and Sherwin-White
What are hangovers from the Ach Empire in the administration of the Sel Kingdom? (2)
use of satrapies to organise lower level power
complexity of tax-collecting
What changed monetarily from the start of the Sel kingdom to the end?
Alexander coinage dominated at sole mint of Babylon. Then, number of mints increased and Sels started minting their own coins (gold, silver, bronze issues) w obverse of reigning king and reverse w various imperial symbols
What was a key factor in unusually large series of coins minted under the Sels?
military campaigns
What was Selukos I’s tetrapolis?
North Syrian cities he founded: Antioch, Laodikea, Seleukia-in-Piera, and Apamea.
What syrian city founded by Seleukos I would become the capital of the kingdom?
Antioch-on-the-Orontes
What likely happened to the land of newly conquered cities under the Seleukids?
Split into plots and allotted to the king’s soldiers
As well as metropoleis, what other kind of settlement could be made by a Hellenistic kingdom? Example?
Military settlements
Jebel Khalid
What region is the ‘upper satrapies’? When did Seleukos take this terrirtory?
regions east of Babylonia
303
What was particularly special about the Seleukid kingdom?
largest
In mid-3rd century BCE, what occurred that meant Sel kingdom lost significant territory?
Bactria broke off to be independent
When did Rome take over the Seleukid territory?
64 BCE
When was the Battle of Ecbatana? What was its significance?
129 BCE
Final battle in which seleukids were defeated by Parthian in theoir long conflict over territory
What are three scholarly views of the Seleukid Empire?
-it had an hard outer shell of Sel ID but weaker inner substance, only held together by monarch (Tarn)
-Strong hold in the east especially around Euphrates - fertile crescent - acted as the core of the Emp. (SH and Kuhrt)
-Strong sense of territorial cohesion through the interaction of kings, court, and intellectuals across imperial area (Kosmin)
What do Eastern Sources as to the Sel dynasty suggest was a means of control by the Kings?
movement of the kings around the kingdom and communications being sent out through courts and administrators
What were the crucial buffer states that the Seleukids needed to maintain in order to retain stability of kingdom?
Greco-Bactrian K
Parthians
Attalid K
What appears to have been the cultural management of Seleukids? What is the main question around thinking abt this ‘cultural policy’ idea?
bring in Hellenistic elements but respect and appreciate the local culture
Seleukid agency in this acculturation process
What was the special role of Babylon for Seleukids?
communication point betw East and West
What shows the integration of Seleukids in local culture in Babylon?
Addition of Seleukid names to Babylonian king list from 305 BCE
What was motivation for Seleukids to integrate themselves in local culture?
maintenance of control in conquered territory
What made Babylon a signif trading city?
Euphrates running through the city
What was the central temple in Babylon?
T of Marduk ‘Esaglia’
Name of ziggurat in Babylon? Deity dedicated?
Etemenanki
Marduk
v large and impressive stacked square construction
What did Antiochus I do with respect to religion in Babylonia? Signif?
Antiochus I Cylinder, 268 BCE, records him having rebuilt the Ezida T at Borsippa (as well as reference to Babylon T of Marduk)
Form of inscription and script was Babylonian, showing integration of Seleukids in local culture.
When did Sel I assign Antiochus I to eastern empire in a ‘co-regency’ position? What coincided with this?
294/3 BCE
Sel I’s divorce of Stratonike for her then to marry Antiochus (step-son)
Why is there doubt as to Sel I’s divorce of wife for her to marry Antiochus? Approach that should prob be taken?
topos of greek stories
and stock situ of a demented king
extract most likely elements from elaborated love/lust story
What was a hallmark of Sel leadership, as a result of quite distinct E/W regionality?
two leaders
Who was Seleukus’ wife, Stratonike, the daughter of? Signif?
Demetrios
Means by which Sel allied with demetrios when he was partic weak in c300 BCE
How does Almagor interp the political nature of transferance of Stratonike from Sel to Ant?
a symbol of the shared imperium and the desirable peaceful process of succession
Precedent for Seluekus’ transfer of wife to son?
unprecedented in Greek world but seems to have occured in Achaemenid kingdom - although this was appears as a trope in G texts
suggests acculturation in institutions?
In what way does the story of Stratonike being transferred from Sel to Ant draw on AtG?
story around AtG having great sexual restraint when it came to the Persian women he took as prisoner, incl the harem of Darius (although she was said to have died in childbirth under oversight of AtG)
Sel shows self-restraint in that he is able to give up his wife, despite having great feeling for her when they met
How was the Stratonike transfer represented as typically Seleukid?
mixture of west and east: the practcie of incestuous marriage and the quote from Sel of his ultimate say (like Persian kings had) that could be connected with teh transfer AND illusions to mass wedding at Susa under AtG that was intended to marry together Europe and Asia which is occuring again w the union of Ant and Strat
Who is first Sel queen to appear on coins?
Laodike IV, first half of 2nd cent
queen to her brother husbands Sel IV Philopator and Ant IV Epiphanes
Difference betw portrayal of Laodike IV on coins vs Ptol queen counterparts?
L is never actually named
Who was second (and last) Sel queen to feature on coinage? In what manner?
Laodike V
jugate portraiture alongside her husband
What is the evidence for Sel women portraiture?
epigraphic records of honourary and royal cult that attest or at least suggest the erection of an image
From who did the impetus to erect statues of Sel queens appear to derive?
localities, NOT the Seleukid admin/empire
What cult appears to have arisen in Sel Empire for Stratonike?
Aphrodite Stratonikis, originating in Smyrna
What is the conclusion on exiestence of Sel queen portrait pre-c200 BCE?
they were not part of official Sel programme/images
When was first state cult for Sel queen?
under Antiochus III (241-187) for Laodice III
If Laodike married all three of her brothers and was rep ion coinage for each of them, what was her function in this imagery?
represent dynastic continuity in a time of upheavel
What occurs in numismatic record of female portraits after the queens are inscreasingly ptol in origins? Example? Caveat?
Greater appearance of queens and their images resemble those of trad Ptol queens e.g. divine attributes.
Kleopatra Thea
this trend was not long lasting, esp considering the Sel kingdom was waning around this time
What does evidence from Aramaic admin documents of Bactria suggest abt transition of power to AtG?
‘business as ususal’ continued admin practcies for economic and political structures AND docs still written in Aramaic
When does first G script of Bactrian administration evidence appear? SIgnif
late 3rd early 2nd centuries
Uncertainty abt the transition from Aramaic to G as official script due to lacking evidence betw documentary evidence
