Seleucid Empire
The Hellenistic state that ruled much of Iran and the Near East after Alexander's death (c. 312–63 BCE), spreading Greek culture before losing the Iranian plateau to the Parthians.
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- Period
- 312–63 BCE
- Founder
- Seleucus I Nicator
- Capitals
- Seleucia, Antioch
- Character
- Hellenistic Greek state
Detail
The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state that arose after Alexander of Macedon's death in 323 BCE and the division of his empire among his generals (the Diadochi). Seleucus I Nicator, one of these generals, seized the Asian portions of the empire—including Iran, Mesopotamia, and Syria—and founded the dynasty in 312 BCE. The Seleucids built numerous Greek-style cities such as Seleucia and Antioch and fused Hellenistic culture with eastern traditions, but governing so vast a realm proved difficult. The eastern provinces were progressively lost: Bactria became independent and the Parthians wrested the Iranian plateau from them in the mid-third century BCE. Reduced to Syria, the Seleucid state was finally extinguished by the Romans in 63 BCE.
Related entities
Sources
- Encyclopædia Iranica, "Seleucids"
- John D. Grainger, The Seleukid Empire of Antiochus III
- The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3