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Biographies: Seleukos I Nikator
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Seleukos I Nikator (English: Seleucus I the Victorious) was one of the original Diadochi (English: Successors) of Alexander the Great and founder of the Seleukid dynasty. Through his great ambition and drive Seleukos almost reunited the Empire of Alexander under his banner, only to be cut down by an assassin.
Seleukos was born into the military aristocracy of Macedon. In 358 B.C. (or 354 the date is disputed) Seleukos was born in an unknown place in Macedonia. His father was Antiochus, a general in the army of Philip II who contributed in his rise to power, and his mother was Laodike of Europos. Not much is known of Seleukos before his 23rd birthday, though it is probably not much of a leap to say that as with all young Macedonian nobles he probably was sent as a hostage to Pella and may have served a stint in the hetairoi (companion cavalry), he may have even gotten to know Alexander in that time.
In 334 B.C. Alexander crossed into the Achaemenid Empire with an army, Seleukos was with him. At the age of 23 Seleukos accompanied Alexander on his campaign of conquest in Persia. After the defeat of Darius III at Issus and the falling of the Persian treasury at Susa into Alexander’s hands in 331 B.C. Seleukos was given command of the elite argyraspides (English: Silver Shields) regiment. During the campaign against King Porus in India Seleukos commanded his infantry with distinction. Then in 324 in the city of Susa, Alexander ordered his officers to marry the daughters of important Persian noblemen, in order to unite Macedon and Persia. Seleukos choose Apama, daughter of Spitamenes, Satrap of Bactria (interestingly engouth of all of the officers at this event only Seleukos didn’t divorce his Persian wife after Alexander’s death).
In 323 B.C. Alexander died of fever in Babylon, and the regent for his yet unborn son, Perdiccas seized control. Perdiccas believed that as regent it was with in his rights to give out satrapies to deserving generals to govern. Seleukos was not given a satrapy but was appointed chiliarch (vizer) and thus kept close to Perdiccas. In 321 B.C. Perdiccas called for a campaign against Ptolemy son of Lagus, Satrap of Egypt. For this campaign Seleukos was given command of the hetairoi. However Seleukos was both jealous of Perdiccas’ authority, and concerned at his inability to control the satraps, and thus headed the movement that resulted in Perdiccas’ assassination. After the assassination a conference was called for and the satraps met in Triparadisus in Syria. At the conference the empire was divided once more, and Seleukos was appointed Satrap of Babylon. At the same time Antigonos Monophthalmus (English: Antigonus the One-Eyed) was given special powers to deal with Eumenes of Kardia, the last supporter of Perdiccas. In 317 B.C. Antigonos, with help from Seleukos, defeated Eumenes and he was executed the following year. All of this had served to feed Antigonos’ delusions of grandeur, and in 315 B.C. he demanded that Seleukos give an account of his income from taxes in Babylon. Seleukos was deeply suspicious of Antigonos and so fled to the protection of Ptolemy in Egypt. Ptolemy welcomed Seleukos warmly and made him a nauarch (naval commander). Seleukos realized that Antigonos’ power would be too much for Ptolemy to handle so he forged a coalition between Ptolemy, Lysimachos of Thrace, and the regent Cassander of Macedon. In the war that resulted Seleukos played a major part with his naval forces in keeping some of Antigonos’ troops tied down. In 312 B.C. Seleukos helped Ptolemy win a decisive victory at the Battle of Gaza, where they defeated the son of Antigonos, Demetrios Poliorketes (English: Demetrius the Besieger). In the aftermath of the battle Seleukos and a small army left Ptolemy’s service and marched on Babylon. Due to the affection that the Babylonians had for Seleukos he was able to capture the city with out much trouble. This return to Babylon marks the official beginning of the Seleukid Empire, according to the Macedonian calendar the return is dated as October 7th, 312 and in the Babylonian, April 3rd, 311. Almost immediately Seleukos went to work on Antigonos, taking the provinces of Persia, Susiana, and Media away from his enemy. In 311 Antigonos attempted to put a stop to Seleukos’ progress by sending his son Demetrios on a raid, but this did not stop him. Over the course of the next several years Antigonos waged a fierce war with Seleukos, but Seleukos was able to get the upper hand and in 308 he defeated Antigonos in decisive battle. 308 marked the expiration of the peace treaty with Ptolemy and his allies, thus Antigonos purposed peace to Seleukos. This he accepted and Seleukos used the peace treaty to further expand his control. It was a little known fact that Seleukos schemed to be the next Antigonos, in that he wished to control the entire empire.
In 306 the illusion of a united empire would be shattered. In 309 B.C. during the war between Antigonos and Seleukos the regent Cassander had the young king to be, Alexander IV, murdered. He also arranged for Heracles, half-brother of Alexander IV, to be killed. It was not until some years later that the Diadochi would act on the news. In 306 Antigonos defeated Ptolemy in a major sea battle, in the aftermath he took the title Basileos or king. With in the year Ptolemy, Cassander, Lysimachos, and Seleukos all followed suite and declared their own kingdoms. Upon consolidating his control Seleukos marched east to India. It was in Seleukos’ plan to conquer the east before turning west. But Seleukos would meet his match in India, in the person of Chandragupta Maurya. In 302 Seleukos and Chandragupta came to terms. Both men agreed to recognize their empires as legitimate. Seleukos would also give Chandragupta the territories of Gandara and Arachosia. In exchange Chandragupta gave Seleukos 500 war elephants. To seal the deal Seleukos gave his daughter Helen to Chandragupta in marriage. In late 302 Seleukos turned back west and upon discovering that Antigonos was a bigger threat then ever formed another coalition with Ptolemy, Cassander, and Lysimachos against him. In 301 Seleukos and Lysimachos joined forces and at the Battle of Ipsus defeated and killed Antigonos. In the aftermath of this the victors divided Antigonos’ land between themselves. Seleukos was given the provinces of Syria and Coelo-Syria. But before Seleukos could garrison Coelo-Syria it was occupied by Ptolemy, this action would be the reason for the next 200 years of war between the Seleukids and Ptolemies over Coelo-Syria. Seleukos then realized he needed a capital, but his empire was too big for one, so he founded two capitals: Antioch in the west and Seleukeia-on-the-Tigris (modern Baghdad) in the east. Meanwhile Ptolemy, in order to strengthen relations with Lysimachos, gave his daughter Arsinoe to him in marriage. Seleukos realized that he needed a strong alliance to counter this, so he asked for and received the hand in marriage of Demetrios’ (who had survived Ipsus) daughter, Stratonike. The marriage was held in 298 B.C. in Syria. But Seleukos’ ambition would soon cause a falling out between Seleukos and Demetrios. Seleukos demanded soon after the marriage the surrender of the territory of Cilicia as well as the cities of Tyre and Sidon. Demetrios refused the demands, starting off a war between them in 294. However just as all this was happening scandal rocked the Seleukid court. Antiochus, son of Seleukos and Apama, had fallen in love with his stepmother Stratonike and because he could not requite his love Antiochus had fallen sick. Seleukos was alarmed at the news and gave Stratonike to Antiochus to cure the problem; just to be sure he also made him viceroy of the eastern provinces. Meanwhile the war between Demetrios and Seleukos continued until 285 B.C., when he captured Demetrios in Cilicia. Seleukos had his father-in-law honorably confined in the city of Apamea. But Demetrios despaired over his position and drank himself to death in 283 B.C. Meanwhile affairs within the empire of Lysimachos heated up when the son of Lysimachos, Agathocles, was killed by his father. The unpopularity of Lysimachos soared and the citizens of his empire, through the person of Ptolemy Keraunos (the disfranchised brother of Ptolemy II), invited Seleukos to come in and remove him. Ever the opportunist, Seleukos accepted the invite and he declared war on Lysimachos. In February, 281 Seleukos defeated and killed Lysimachos in the battle of Corupedium, and his empire in Asia Minor passed into Seleukos’ hands. At this point in time Seleukos was now at the pinnacle of power; all of Alexander’s Empire save Egypt, Thrace, and Macedon lay in his power. In September, 281 Seleukos stood ready to cross over from Asia Minor into Thrace, so that he could finish the occupation of Lysimachos’ former empire. But it was not to be, on the eve of his crossing over Seleukos was killed by Ptolemy Keraunos, whose greed for power drove him. So died Seleukos I Nikator, one of the greatest of the Diadochi, at the age of 77.
In conclusion the impact Seleukos had on the forming Hellenistic kingdoms was great. Through his energetic rule of his domains Seleukos created the greatest, in land size, of any of the Successor states. For the next several hundred years the Seleukids would be a dominant power in the Middle East, toppled in the end by the rise of Rome.
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