Seleucid empire
, (312?64
bce
), an ancient
empire
that at its greatest extent stretched from
Thrace
in
Europe
to the border of
India
. It was carved out of the remains of
Alexander the Great
’s Macedonian empire by its founder,
Seleucus I Nicator
. (
See also
Hellenistic Age
.)
Seleucus, one of Alexander’s leading generals, became
satrap
(governor) of
Babylonia
in 321, two years after the death of Alexander. In the prolonged power struggle between the former generals of Alexander for control of the disintegrating empire, Seleucus sided with
Ptolemy I
of
Egypt
against
Antigonus I
, Alexander’s
successor
on the Macedonian throne, who had forced Seleucus out of Babylonia. In 312 Seleucus defeated
Demetrius
at Gaza using troops supplied by Ptolemy, and with a smaller force he seized Babylonia that same year, thereby founding the Seleucid kingdom, or empire. By 305, having consolidated his power over the kingdom, he began gradually to extend his domain eastward to the
Indus River
and westward to
Syria
and
Anatolia
, where he decisively defeated Antigonus at Ipsus in 301. In 281 he annexed the Thracian Chersonesus. That same year, he was assassinated by
Ptolemy Ceraunus
, the disgruntled son of Ptolemy I.
More From Britannica
history of Mesopotamia: The Seleucid period
Seleucus was succeeded by his eldest son,
Antiochus I Soter
, who reigned until 261 and was followed by Antiochus II (reigned 261?246),
Seleucus II
(246?225),
Seleucus III
(225?223), and
Antiochus III
the Great (223?187), whose reign was marked by sweeping administrative reforms in which many of the features of the ancient
Persian
imperial
administration, adopted initially by Alexander, were modernized to eliminate a dual power structure strained by rivalry between military and political figures. The empire was administered by provincial
strat?goi
, who combined military and civil power. Administrative centres were located at Sardis in the west and at
Seleucia on the Tigris
in the east. By controlling Anatolia and its Greek cities, the Seleucids exerted enormous political, economic, and cultural power throughout the
Middle East
. Their control over the strategic Taurus Mountain passes between Anatolia and Syria, as well as the Hellespont between Thrace and Anatolia, allowed them to dominate commerce and trade in the region. Seleucid settlements in Syria, primarily
Antioch
, were regional centres by which the Seleucid empire projected its military, economic, and cultural influence.
The Seleucid empire was a major centre of Hellenistic
culture
, which maintained the preeminence of Greek customs and manners over the
indigenous
cultures
of the Middle East. A Greek-speaking Macedonian aristocratic class dominated the Seleucid state throughout its history, although this dominance was most strongly felt in the urban areas. Resistance to Greek cultural
hegemony
peaked during the reign of
Antiochus IV
(175?163), whose promotion of Greek culture culminated in his raising a statue to Zeus in the Temple at Jerusalem. He had previously ordered the Jews to build shrines to idols and to sacrifice pigs and other unclean animals and had forbidden circumcision?essentially prohibiting, on pain of death, the practice of the Jewish law. This persecution of the Jews and desecration of the Temple sparked the
Maccabean
uprising beginning in 165. A quarter-century of Maccabean resistance ended with the final wresting of control over
Judea
from the Seleucids and the creation of an independent Judea in Palestine.
The Seleucid empire began losing control over large territories in the 3rd century
bce
. An
inexorable
decline followed the first defeat of the Seleucids by the Romans in 190. By that time the Aegean Greek cities had thrown off the Seleucid yoke,
Cappadocia
and Attalid
Pergamum
had achieved independence, and other territories had been lost to the Celts and to Pontus and Bythnia. By the middle of the 3rd century,
Parthia
,
Bactria
, and Sogdiana had gained their independence; the conquest of
Coele Syria
(Lebanon) and Palestine by Antiochus III (200) and a brief occupation of
Armenia
made up to some extent for the loss of much of Anatolia to the Romans. The decline accelerated after the death of Antiochus IV (164) with the loss of
Commagene
in Syria and of Judea in Palestine. By 141 all lands east of the Euphrates were gone, and attempts by
Demetrius II
(141) and Antiochus VII (130) could not halt the rapid disintegration of the empire. When it was finally conquered by the Romans in 64
bce
, the formerly mighty Seleucid empire was confined to the provinces of Syria and eastern Cilicia, and even those were under
tenuous
control.