IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Σκουνάκη Ιουλία Μετάφραση : Κόρκα Αρχοντή Για παραπομπή : Σκουνάκη Ιουλία , "", Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία URL:

Περίληψη : Seleucus I Nicator was one of the most important kings that succeeded the Great. Originally a mere member of the corps of the hetaeroi, he became an officer of the Macedonian army and, after taking advantage of the conflict among Alexanderʹs successors, he was proclaimed of . After a series of successful diplomatic movements and military victories in the long‑lasting wars against the other Successors, he founded the kingdom and the dynasty of the Seleucids, while he practically revived the empire of . Άλλα Ονόματα Nicator Τόπος και Χρόνος Γέννησης Europos, 358/354 BC Τόπος και Χρόνος Θανάτου Lysimacheia, 280 BC Κύρια Ιδιότητα Officer of the Macedonian army, satrap of Babylonia (321-316 BC), founder of the kingdom (312 BC) and the dynasty of the Seleucids.

1. Biography

Seleucus was born in Macedonia circa 355 BC, possibly in the city of Europos. Pella is also reported to have been his birth city, but that is most likely within the framework of the later propaganda aiming to present Seleucus as the new Alexander the Great.1He was son of Antiochus, a general of II, and Laodice.2

He was about the same age as Alexander the Great and followed him in his campaign in Asia. He was not an important soldier at first, but on 326 BC he led the shieldbearers (hypaspistai)in the battle of the Hydaspes River against the king of India, (also Raja Puru). Sources testify that he also had the quality of hetairos (comrade).3 In the framework of the group weddings Alexander the Great ordered to take place between Macedonians and Persian women in , Seleucus was married, in 324 BC, to Apama, daughter of the ruler of , Spitamenes, who later gave birth to Antiochus I.4

2. Action

The name of Seleucus is mentioned among those who requested the advice of god Sarapis so that Alexander the Great could be healed.5 In the conflict over power that started after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC), Seleucus served under . He then became a chiliarch (= chief of a thousand men),while he was a hipparch (= generalin the of the hetairoi).6He followed Perdiccas in , Pisidia and . In Egypt, in 321 BC, he joined the conspirators who murdered Perdiccas.7 In the meeting that took place in Triparadisus of , Seleucus and Antigonus saved from the conspiracy of Euridice and from the attack of soldiers who demanded money. During the division of the empire, Seleucus received the financially robust, yet militarily powerless, satrapy of Babylon. Sources do not define whether he had to claim his share from Docimus, the former satrap of Babylon and follower of Perdiccas.8 Meanwhile, the dispute between Antigonus and had just started, and his kingdom was surrounded by both armies. At first, he tried to manage the situation through diplomacy, but finally he ensured that Antigonus would gain control over Susa and be given the title of satrap of Susiane.9

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After defeating Eumenes, Antigonus was the most powerful and wealthiest of the Successors. His aim was to divide the satrapies anew. He killed Pithon, satrap of , and gave the satrapy of Susa to a native satrap, Aspisas. Seleucus was then faced with a provocative demand of Antigonus to control the local public income, something which meant control over the power of Seleucus. Seleucus, fearing that he would have Pithon’s ending, escaped to Alexandria, to Ptolemy.10

Seleucus gathered Ptolemy, and and created the first alliance against Antigonus. Seleucus himself is not mentioned as an ally, probably because he had no power, but he was placed in charge of the Ptolemaic fleet. He sailed along the Phoenician and Aegean coasts and besieged Erythrae, but he quickly abandoned it and retreated to Cyprus.11 Diodorus mentions that he occupied Kyreneia, Lapithos and Amathountas and possibly Kition, Cypriot cities that supported Antigonus. In 314 BC in Lemnos, despite the reinforcement sent by Cassander, he was not able to detach the island from Antigonus and sailed to Kos.12 In spring 312 BC, the forces of Ptolemy, under the command of Seleucus, regained Palaestina, Phoenicia and Syria. In Gaza they defeated the war elephants of , son of Antigonus.13 Later on, Seleucus took 800 soldiers and 200 horsemen of Ptolemy and moved to Babylon. He then occupied the , where the guards of Antigonus, under the command of Diphilus, had been hiding, and very soon he gained control of the city. The retrieval of Babylon was set as the chronological start of the kingdom of the Seleucids (312/11 BC or 311/10 BC).14

Seleucus increased his military power, as he had many opponents to face. When he defeated , the satrap of Media who followed Antigonus’orders, many soldiers defected and joined his army.15 He then moved to the east. He conquered Persis, , and Media. Then Antigonus sent Demetrios to Babylon, who easily occupied a part of it, while Seleucus was in Media. Antigonus had no intention of recognising Seleucus as an independent satrap and the latter did not participate in the peace agreement between the Successors in 311 BC.16

Little is known about the following years. From fragments of a Babylonian chronicle and allusions made by Greek writers, it can be concluded that Antigonus was at war with Seleucus for a long time (310-308 BC). Seleucus finally won, although nothing is known about the place and the time the decisive battle took place. However, it appears that Babylon endured severe damages. From 311 BC until 303/2 BC, Seleucus managed to annexe the eastern Iranian territory and reach as far as the Indus River, although until 301 BC Babylonia was constantly threatened by Antigonus and Demetrios.17

In 306/5 BC, following the example of the other Successors, he adopted the title of king. Antigonus’aggressive politics made the others join forces again. Seleucus came to terms with the Indian king Candragupta Mauryan, who gave him 500 elephants (305 BC) in exchange for some territories.18 The war against Antigonus was determined when Seleucus and Lysimachus, mostly thanks to the elephants the former had received, defeated him in the , in 301 BC, where Antigonus was killed. The victors divided the territories of the defeated. Seleucus received the north part of Syria, given that Ptolemy had Coele Syria and refused to give it up (bone of contention between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids and cause of the Syrian wars). Seleucus did not make any claims temporarily, but he did proceed to founding cities in north Syria, naming them after members of his family (Seleuceia in Pieria, Laodicea, Apameia in Orontes River), and moving the capital from Seleuceia on the Tigris to the new-founded Antioch ad Orontem.19 After Ipsus, he also tried to approach the Greek cities of Ionia (Miletus, Ephesus, etc.). The return of the statue of Apollo to the temple at Didyma of Miletus, which had been taken to Ekbatana in 494 BC, was a gesture of good will. It was obvious that now Seleucus was planning to expand to Asia Minor.20

Meanwhile, Ptolemy joined forces with Lysimachus. Seleucus, in order to avoid diplomatic isolation, allied with his former opponent Demetrius and in 299 BC he married his daughter, Stratonice. For a long time, he avoided getting involved in warfare and just observed Demetrius’aggressiveness towards Ptolemy. It was then that he must have been involved in the organisation of his state. The sources do not provide clear information, but it is certain that he divided his kingdom into small provinces (new satrapies?). Nevertheless, when Demetrius occupied the areas around north Syria and refused to concede Sidon and Tyros, Seleucus took action. He quickly occupied . In 292 BC he accorded his wife Stratonice to his son Antiochus, named him joint sovereign and assigned him with the administration of the Upper Satrapies, actually dividing his kingdom. In 285 BC, he captured Demetrius and imprisoned

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During that time, there was a crisis in the kingdom of Lysimachus, when he ordered the death of his son Agathocles (283/2 BC). Many people from the king’s circle (including the children and the wife of Agathocles, Lysandra) sought refuge in Seleucid cities. Philetaerus of defected to Seleucus. Seleucus provided asylum to Lysandra’s brother, , who claimed the Egyptian throne as the legal successor. Seleucus took advantage of this opportunity, advanced towards and reached Sardis. In 281 BC, in the battle of Corupedium, Lydia, Lysimachus was killed.22 Victor Seleucus annexed territories of Asia Minor without validating the autonomy of the Greek cities, although many of them saluted him as a liberator. He then moved towards the Hellespont, and Macedonia, which came under him after his victory over Lysimachus. Only the cities of Byzantium, Kalchedon and Heraclea, out of fear that Seleucus might break their independence, joined forces with Mithradates III and defeated the army of Seleucus in the battlefield.23

In 281/80 BC, near the city Lysimacheia, Ptolemy Ceraunus, commander of the army, murdered Seleucus and was proclaimed king. It is said that Seleucus had promised him that he would help him claim the Egyptian throne, but did not do so, while he also overlooked the rights of the children of his sister, Lysandra, in the Macedonian throne. Antiochus I succeeded Seleucus. Philetaerus of Pergamon bought the dead body of Seleucus and sent its ashes to Syria, where Antiochus placed them in a temple, the Nicatoreum, probably inaugurating the after death worship of his father as Zeus Nicator.24

3. Evaluation

Αccording to Appian, Seleucus received the last name Nicator due to his military successes. Arrian supports that Seleucus was the greatest of the kings that succeeded Alexander. Diodorus mentions that it was not only his power but also his philanthropy that contributed to the capture of Susa and Media, after defeating Nicanor.25

Undoubtedly, during his reign the kingdom of the Seleucids reached its greatest size. With his military and diplomatic successes, he practically revived the empire of Alexander the Great, although he started as a ‘satrap without satrapy’. According to several myths, Seleucus was compared with Alexander. In any case, the campaign to India and the final annexation of Macedonia showed that the two of them had common ambitions. It is said that he had the support of the Babylonian natives.26 He governed his territories carefully and founded many new cities, while it is believed that he encouraged scientific research. He was deified after death, like many other Hellenistic sovereigns.27

1. For a full list of the sources, see Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986); RE 2Α1 (1921) 1208-1234, see entry ‘Seleukos’( Stähelin F.). Date of birth: According to Justin (Just. 17.1.10), Seleucus was seventy-seven years old in the battle of Corupedium, while Appian (Syrian Wars 63) says he was seventy-three and Eusebius (Chronogr. 1, p. 250, published by Schoene) seventy-five. Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), p. 1. Europus: Stephen of Byzantium reports Oropos, but there is no such town in Macedonia. There are two Macedonian towns called Europos. The most important of them, probably the birthplace of Seleucus, is near the Axios River. Pella: Paus. 1.16.1.

2. Just., 15.4.1‑6: According to the relative myth, Seleucus was the son of Apollo as well. Laodice dreamed she made love with the god and became pregnant to Seleucus; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 3, 5‑6; Stephen of Byzantium, see entry ‘Λαοδίκεια’. Malalas (CSHB 8, pp. 197‑198, unreliable source) reports that Seleucus also had a sister: see Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 3‑5; Mehl, as above, 1‑2.

3. Arrian, Αn. 5.13.1 and 4 , 5.16.3 and 17.6; Diod. Σ. 19.81.5; Just. 15.4.6; Paus. 1.16.1; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York), pp. 6, 9: reports that Seleucus was the son of a king and, like all the subsequent kings and generals of Macedonia took the appropriate education. Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 3,13: Mehl believes that the title of hetaerus does not prove that Seleucus was of an aristocratic origin.

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4. Arrian, Αn. 7.4.6. Malalas, CSHB 8, p. 198; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 17‑19; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Construcring a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 11‑12.

5. Arrian, Αn. 7.26.2; , Αlex. 76; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York), p. 14: the story was later contrived. There was no worship and, as a result, no temple of Serapis in 323 BC in Babylon.

6. D.S., 18.3.4; Appian, Syrian Wars 57. Mehl, Α., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 19-25. Grainger, J, D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York), pp. 19-20.

7. Cornelius Nepos, Eumenes, 5; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 25‑28; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 22‑23: it is certain that Seleucus participated in the assassination of Perdiccas, as he was immediately ‘rewarded’ by being given the satrapy of Babylonia.

8. D. S., 18.37‑39; Appian, Syrian Wars 57; Just. 15.4.11; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 30‑32, 37‑40: Seleucus could not choose the satrapy he would take. Probably he did not argue with Docimus over Babylonia. Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator, Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York), pp. 26, 28, 30.

9. D. S., 19.12, 19.14.3, 19.18.1, 19.27.1, 19.48.7‑8; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 42‑51; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 39‑44.

10. D.S., 19.55; Appian, Syrian Wars 53; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 52-55, 62; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 41, 48-50: he supports that Susiane was ceded to Seleucus as a temporary measure taken because of the war. As a result, Antigonus did not choose Aspisas in order to intimidate Seleucus.

11. D. S., 19.56.3‑4, 19.58.5, 19.60.3; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 64‑77; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 58‑59: probably the siege of Erythrae was nothing but a diversion so that Antigonus would have to take his troops from the Hellespont.

12. D. S., 19.62.4‑6 and 68.3‑4; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 77‑81; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 63‑65, 69.

13. D. S., 19.83 and 84. The war was essentially made by Ptolemy, while Seleucus offered administrative and military services because he did not have significant military power at the time: see Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 81‑86; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 70‑73.

14. D. S., 19.85.2‑3 and 86.5 and 90.1; Appian, Syrian Wars 54; RE 2A1, 1213; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), p. 89; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 73‑75.

15. D. S., 19.91.5 and 92.1‑5; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 107‑111; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 77‑79, 95.

16. D. S., 19.100.4‑7, 105.1; Plutarch, Dem. 7; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 111‑121; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York), pp. 80‑85: he believes that Seleucus captured Bactria‑Sogdiana at a different moment.

17. Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 129‑137, 166‑170: he believes that the campaign to India started in 306/305 BC and not in 304/303 BC; Sherwin‑White, S. – Kuhrt, A., From Samarkand to Sardis. A New Approach to the (Berkley – Los Angeles 1993), p. 10; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom, 85‑91, 100‑108: he believes that the information provided by Appian (Syrian Wars 55), saying that Seleucus crossed the Indus is incorrect.

18. D. S., 20.53.4; Strabo, 15.2.9; Plutarch, Alex. 62; Appian, Syrian Wars 55; Just., 15.4.13‑21; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich

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(Lovanii 1990), pp. 144, 147, 170‑173, 178, from p. 194 onwards; Sherwin‑White, S.– Kuhrt, A., From Samarkand to Sardis. A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire (Berkley – Los Angeles 1993), p. 12; Grainger J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), p. 109 believes that the 500 elephants could have been given by the Indian monarch, contrary to most researchers, who think that the number is very big.

19. Strabo, 16.2.4‑5; D. S., 20.113.4, 21.1.4; Arrian, Αn. 7.18.5; Paus., 1.16.1; Malalas, CSHB 8, pp.199, 202‑203. RE 2A1, 1218 (for additional sources); Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 200‑214, 215‑217: he believes that Seleucus captured in 301 BC a part of the southeastern Cappadocia (Appian, Syrian Wars 55: Καππαδοκίας της Σελευκίδος); Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 120‑121, 125‑131: it seems that although the Mediterranean washed the north part of Syria, this part was the least privileged.

20. Paus., 1.16.3, 8.46.3; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 217‑220; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 139‑140, 164‑165.

21. Plutarch, Dem. 31‑33, 48‑49; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 268‑275; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 132, 134‑144, 169‑172. The sources report that Antiochus fell in love with his stepmother: Plutarch, Dem. 38; Appian, Syrian Wars 59‑61; Μαλάλας, CSHB 8, p. 204. Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 223, 230‑232. Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 155‑156: he supports that Seleucus probably sent his son to the eastern kingdom in order to avert or face the invasion of nomadic tribes.

22. Appian, Syrian Wars 62; Paus., 1.10.4; Just. 17.1.7‑8, 17.2.1‑2; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 286‑290: he believes that the reason for the fight between Seleucus and Lysimachus was the unbounded ambition of the former to rule a country that could be compared with the empire of Alexander the Great. ‘That was not a war of Lysimachus against Seleucus, but a war of Seleucus against Lysimachus’. Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 178‑183. Philetaerus: Paus., 1.9.10; Strabo, 13.4.1.

23. Memnon, FgrH 434, 6.2‑7.2; Paus., 1.16.2; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), from p. 301 onwards, p. 314; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 183‑188.

24. Memnon, FgrH 434, 8.1‑3; Appian, Syrian Wars 62‑63; Paus., 1.16.2, 10.19.7; Just., 17.1.4 ‑2.5; Mehl, A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), pp. 318‑321; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 175, 180, 191, 195, 197, 199; Sherwin‑White, S. – Kuhrt, A., From Samarkand to Sardis. A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire (Berkley – Los Angeles 1993), p. 28.

25. Appian, Syrian Wars 57; Arrian, 7.22.5; D. S., 19.92.5; Plutarch, Dem. 50; Paus., 1.16.3; Curtius, 17.2.2 (victor victorum).

26. D. S., 19.90. and 91.2; Mehl, Α., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich (Lovanii 1986), p. 42; Grainger, J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom (London – New York 1990), pp. 1, 8, 79‑80.

27. Strabo, 2.1.7, 2.1.9, 2.7.3, 15.1.11, 15.1.36, etc: Strabo challenges the information provided by Megasthenes and Patrocles about India. Patrocles was a general of Seleucus, while Megasthenes was sent by the king to Candragupta Mauryan as ambassador. They wrote historical‑geographical works that have been lost and explored India and the Caspian Sea. Plin., ΝΗ 6.58 and 69 and 81, 7.22 and 25 and 29. RE 2.A.1.1228‑9. Sherwin‑White, S. – Kuhrt, A. From Samarkand to Sardis. A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire (Berkley – Los Angeles 1993), p. 13. Pollit, J.J., Η τέχνη στην ελληνιστική εποχή (Athens 1994), pp. 337, 338.

Βιβλιογραφία : Bevan E., The House of Seleucus 1, London 1966

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Grainger J.D., Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom, London – New York 1990

Houghton A., Lorber C., Seleucid Coins. A Comprehensive Catalogue Part 1: Seleukus I through Antiochus III, Lancaster – New York 2002

Mehl A., Seleukos Nikator und sein Reich, Lovanii 1986

Sherwin-White S., Kuhrt A., From Samarkand to Sardis. A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire, Berkley – Los Angeles 1993

Smith S., Babylonian historical texts relating to the capture and downfall of Babylon, London 1924

Δικτυογραφία : ANS: Head of Seleucus I http://data.numismatics.org/cgi-bin/showobj?accnum=1967.152.671

Πηγές 1. Appian, Syrian Wars 53: Unlike Diodorus, Appian here reports that Seleucus defied Antigonus, who, in turn, demanded that he check the economic rents of the Babylonian satrapy.

2. Diod. S., 19.12.1-2 and 19.13.1-6: Seleucus used various military and diplomatic devices in order to deal with Eumenes.

3. Diod. S., 19.55.7: Following a prediction of Chaldian astrologers, if Antigonus had let Seleucus leave (to Egypt), he would have become the ruler of all Asia and would have been killed. Antigonus pursued Seleucus, but without success. This story must not be true. It must have been invented to justify the subsequent sovereignty of Seleuces.

4. Diod. S., 19.90.4: Before the battle of Gaza, the soldiers of Seleucus showed fear and he reassured them, telling them that the Oracle of the Branchidae predicted that he would become a king. The story is certainly not true, but it must have been part of the propaganda presenting Seleucus as the true heir to the Alexandrian throne, always favoured by god Apollo.

5. Diod. S., 19.91.1-2: Seleucus is reported to have been popular among the natives of Babylon. On his way back from the battle of Gaza to Babylon, there were several people who offered him their support.

6. App., Syrian Wars 59: It is believed that in the early 3 rd century BC a scandal shocked the Seleucid court. Antiochus was passionately in love with his father ’s wife, Stratonice. Seleucus preferred to give her to him, appointed him joint king and sent the couple to the Upper Satrapies. The underlying thought of Seleucus must have been his decision to split the Seleucid kingdom into two parts.

7. Just., 17.1.7-8: Justin clearly reports that Seleucus aimed to expand his kingdom and the crisis in the Macedonian kingdom was just the occasion to attack Lysimachus.

Χρονολόγιο 358-4 BC: Birth in Europos, Macedonia.

326 BC: Ηe leads the hypaspistai in the battle of the Hydaspes River.

324 BC: He marries Apama, the daughter of the ruler of Bactria.

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323 BC: He becomes the commander of the cavalery of the hetairoi and follows Perdiccas in his campaigns.

321 BC: He participates in the assassination of Perdiccas.

320 BC: During the distribution of land in Triparadisus of Syria, he is given the satrapy of Babylonia (satrap of Babylon).

317/6 BC: Eumenes moves his troops to Babylonia. The diplomatic discussions with and Seleucus failed.

316 BC: Seleucus joins forces with Antigonus. Antigonus defeats Eumenes.

315 BC: Antigonus demands to control the income of the Babylonian satrapy. Seleucus flees to Ptolemy in Egypt fearing that Antigonus might kill him.

315-3 BC: He offers his military services to the first alliance against Antigonus, as the commander of the fleet. He besieges Erythrae and captures Cypriot cities, but does not detach Lemnos from Antigonus.

312 BC: He occupies Palaestine, Phoenicia and Syria as the commander of Ptolemy’s troops. He defeats Demetrius in the battle of Gaza and easily recaptures Babylon (starting date for the Seleucid kingdom).

311 BC: In spring, the satrap of Media, Nicanor, gathers troops and marches against Seleucus, following the request of Antigonus. Nicanor is defeated.

In summer/autumn, Demetrius, following the commands of Antigonus, besieges Babylon and captures a part of the city. The general of Seleucus, Patrocles, believes he should not give the battle. He evacuates the city and removes his troops from Babylon.

Seleucus does not participate in the peace treaty among Antigonus, Ptolemy Cassander and Lysimachus.

310-8 BC: War between Antigonus and Seleucus. Seleucus wins. c. 306 BC: He manages to gain control over the eastern Iranian satrapies and annex Bactria (307/306 BC or 305/304 BC).

306/5 BC: He campaigns against India.

305 BC: He adopts the title of king.

304/3 BC: He comes to terms with the Indian monarch Candragupta Mauryan and reinforces his troops with elephants.

303 BC: He finishes his campaign against India and returns to face Antigonus.

302 BC: He arrives in Cappadocia and soon joins the army of Lysimachus.

301 BC: Lysimachus and Seleucus win in the battle of Ipsus. Antigonus dies. Seleucus occupies northern Syria, Ptolemy keeps Coele Syria. Seleucus founds four new cities (tetrapolis) in Syria, among which is the new capital of the kingdom, Antioch.

299/8 BC: He allies with Demetrius and marries his daughter Stratonice. Demetrius occupies Cilicia, Cyprus, Sidon and Tyre. Seleucus demands that the two cities be ceded to him. Demetrius refuses.

294 BC: He occupies Cilicia.

292 BC: He splits his kingdom in two parts. He gives his wife to his son, Antiochus, who is appointed joint king and is given the command of the Upper Satrapies.

Δημιουργήθηκε στις 23/9/2021 Σελίδα 7/8 IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Σκουνάκη Ιουλία Μετάφραση : Κόρκα Αρχοντή Για παραπομπή : Σκουνάκη Ιουλία , "Seleucus I Nicator", Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία URL:

287 BC: Demetrius arrives in the plain of Tarsus. He does not manage to reach Syria.

285 BC: Demetrius surrenders. Seleucus imprisons him in Apameia (where he dies in 283 BC).

284 BC: Lysimachus becomes the ruler of the entire Macedonia.

283/2 BC: The kingdom of Lysimachus faces a crisis. Members of the family along with generals of Lysimachus escape to Seleucus, who is also joined by Philetaerus. Seleucus grants asylum to Ptolemy Ceraunus. He advances to Lydia and reaches Sardis.

281 BC: In the decisive battle of Corupedium, he faces and defeats Lysimachus, who is killed. Seleucus marches on the Hellespont, Thrace and Macedonia.

281/80 BC: He is assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus in the Thracian city Lysimacheia.

Δημιουργήθηκε στις 23/9/2021 Σελίδα 8/8