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SELEUCID EMPIRE

One of the largest empires formed from the division of territory conquered by Alexander the Great. The history of the Seleucid Empire is characterized by two main considerations: (1) it was enormously diverse and decentralized, which made it much harder to govern than the Ptolemaic Empire; (2) it began to decline from the very first, its greatest period being under its founder Seleucus I. Antiochus II’s half brother Antiochus Hierax rebelled ca. 240 b.c.e. and set up an independent kingdom in Asia Minor. The eastern provinces began to fall away quite quickly. In the middle of the 2nd century a rival dynasty arose, and the ruling house essentially split into two warring factions. This allowed the Maccabees to set up an independent Jewish state, further weakening the Seleucid Empire. By the time the Romans ended the dynasty, the Seleucid Empire had been reduced to a small amount of territory in northern Syria.

In the wake of Alexander the Great’s conquests from Greece to northern India, and then his death, his empire was fought over for about 40 years by his generals (the Diadochi, “successors”). The Asian part of Alexander’s empire was essentially divided between the Seleucid Empire from Syria to Afghanistan and the Ptolemaic Empire which was mainly in Egypt.

Alexander originally made Babylon the capital of his empire, but with the founding of the Seleucid Empire the capital moved to Antioch. This was unfortunate in some ways because it was far to the west of the center of gravity, since Babylonia was an important part of the empire. The eastern section was harder to govern, and ca. 250 the Parthians founded their own empire which endured for another 500 years. This began the loss of the eastern provinces, eventually leaving the Selecuids in control mainly of Asia Minor and Syria, though periodically a Seleucid ruler would march east to try to take back some of the old territory.

During the struggle between the Diadochi, 301 b.c.e. was a crucial point when a treaty and division of territory were agreed on. At that time, the area of Palestine and southern Syria was assigned to Seleucus. However, Ptolemy seized it and refused to give it up. This became the occasion of a series of four “Syrian Wars” fought over the next century in which the Seleucids attempted to regain what they regarded as rightfully theirs. Finally, in 200 in the Fifth Syrian War Antiochus III retook this territory for the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus III’s expansion of his empire was brought to a halt by the Romans, who similarly restrained Anitochus IV’s ambitions with regard to Egypt. After this, the Seleucid Empire gradually declined as Roman power increased. Ca. 150 we find the beginning of rival dynasties, each claiming to be the rightful line of rulers. By 96 b.c.e. a multiplicity of individuals were claiming to sit on the Seleucid throne. The last ruler (Antiochus XIII) was a puppet king put on the throne by the Romans, but they removed him in 65 b.c.e., bringing the Seleucid Empire formally to an end.

Bibliography. CAH2, esp. 7/1: The Hellenistic World, ed. F. Walbank et al. (Cambridge, 1984); 8: Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 b.c., ed. A. E. Astin et al. (Cambridge, 1989); 9: The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146-43 b.c., ed. J. A. Crook, A. Lintott, and E. Rawson (Cambridge, 1994); P. Grimal, ed., Hellenism and the Rise of Rome (New York, 1968); Walbank, The Hellenistic World, rev. ed. (Cambridge, Mass., 1993).

Lester L. Grabbe

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SELEUCID EMPIRE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)