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Persoonlijke gegevens Antiochus Seleukid 

• (Geschiedenis) .Bron 1

  Het Seleucidische Rijk of Seleukidische Rijk (Oudgrieks: ???? Se?e??e?a / Arche Seleúkeia) is de naam van het grootste Diadochenrijk (opvolgersstaat van het Macedonische Rijk van Alexander de Grote) in het Nabije Oosten van 311 tot 63 v.Chr., ten tijde van het hellenisme.
  
  Stichting (~320-305 v.Chr.)
  
  Het koninkrijk werd gesticht door Seleucus I Nicator (Nicator betekent "de Overwinnaar") (ca. 358-281 v.Chr.). Hij was een van de generaals van Alexander de Grote († 323 v.Chr.), die na diens dood satraap (gouverneur) werd van Babylonië in 321 of 320 v.Chr. Tijdens de Tweede Diadochenoorlog werd Seleucus door Antigonos I Monophthalmos verdreven, en moest vluchten naar het Egyptische hof, waar Ptolemaeus I Soter hem onderdak bood en generaal in zijn leger maakte.
  
  In de Derde Diadochenoorlog versloegen Ptolemaeus en Seleucus samen Antigonos' zoon Demetrios Poliorketes in de Slag bij Gaza (312 v.Chr.), waarna Seleucus spoedig zijn positie als satraap van Babylonië weer herwint. Deze gebeurtenissen worden daarmee het beginjaar van de Seleucidische jaartelling, die nog eeuwenlang in het Nabije Oosten zou worden gebruikt. Antigonos en Demetrios trachtten tijdens de Babylonische Oorlog (311-309 v.Chr.) hem opnieuw te verslaan, en betraden zelfs Babylon, maar moesten uiteindelijk de aftocht blazen. Ondertussen had Seleucus zich meester gemaakt van Perzië (310 v.Chr.).
  
  Tijdens de Vierde Diadochenoorlog voegde Seleucus daar nog Baktrië aan toe en viel het Indiase Maurya-rijk binnen, maar trok zich na vredesonderhandelingen terug en kreeg van de vorst Chandragupta Maurya 500 krijgsolifanten ten geschenke (305 v.Chr.). Datzelfde jaar riep Seleucus zich uit tot koning, zoals ook Antigonos en Demetrios een jaar eerder hadden gedaan nadat zijn Cyprus hadden veroverd op Ptolemaeus.
  Bloeitijd (305-261 v.Chr.)
  
  Seleucus stichtte verscheidene steden, waaronder Seleucia aan de Tigris in Babylonië (rond 305 v.Chr.), Antiochië en de havenstad Seleucia Pieria in Syrië.
  
  Het definitieve einde van het Macedonische Rijk kwam met de Slag bij Ipsos in 301 v.Chr., waarbij Antigonos sneuvelde en Demetrios verloor van de tegen hen gesloten de diadochencoalitie, die de resten van Alexanders imperium onderling verdeelden. Seleucus voegde Syrië toe aan zijn grondgebied en had daarmee verreweg het grootste diadochenrijk gesticht. Later bevocht hij nog de Thracische diadoch-koning Lysimachus in de Slag bij Corupedium (281 v.Chr.), waarbij de laatste sneuvelde. Hiermee strekte zijn imperium zich uit van Thracië tot het huidige Oezbekistan.
  
  Vanaf het begin had het enorme rijk al te maken met vele buitenlandse vijanden en binnenlandse opstanden van de vele verschillende volken binnen het territorium. Seleucus' opvolger Antiochus I Soter bestendigde een eeuw lang vrede met Macedonië door zijn zuster aan Antigonos II Gonatas uit te huwelijken. In 276 v.Chr. wist Antiochus binnenvallende Galaten te verslaan in de Olifantenslag, waardoor hij zijn naam Soter ("Redder") verwierf. Hij stichtte vele steden in de Oostgebieden van het Seleucidenrijk, wat leidde tot grote bloei. Antiochus verloor echter de Eerste Syrische Oorlog (274-271 v.Chr.) van de Ptolemaëen, en werd in 261 v.Chr. verslagen door Eumenes I van Pergamon, dat zich had afgescheiden.
  Geleidelijk verval en herbloei (261-188 v.Chr.)
  Rond 256 v.Chr. kwam Diodotus I, de Seleucidische gouverneur van de oostelijke provincie Bactrië, in opstand tegen zijn Seleucidische broodheren toen deze hun handen vol hadden aan een oorlog met het Ptolemaisch-Egyptische Rijk. Hij kroonde zichzelf tot koning van Bactrië, waarmee hij als de stichter wordt beschouwd van het Grieks-Bactrisch koninkrijk. De opeenvolgende Bactrische vorsten waren niet alleen in staat de meeste Seleucidische tegenaanvallen af te slaan, maar wisten ook hun koninkrijk flink uit te breiden, meestal ten koste van de Seleuciden in het Westen en de Indiërs in het Oosten. De Bactrische Koning Demetrius I trok zelfs met een groot leger naar het oosten, waar hij grote delen van het Indiase Sungarijk in het noorden van Hindoestan veroverde. In 250 scheidde ook Parthië zich af.
  
  Een verder verval deed zich voor onder de volgende vorsten, waaronder de elkaar bestrijdende broers Seleucus II Callinicus en Antiochus Hiërax (239-226), terwijl de Ptolemaeën en Attaliden delen van Klein-Azië inpikten. Pas onder Antiochus III de Grote werd het Seleucidische Rijk weer tot enige roem hersteld. Hij ondernam verscheidene veldtochten naar Parthië en Baktrië, maar kon ze niet heroveren. Wel veroverde hij Zuid-Syrië en Palestina op de Ptolemaeën. Antiochus' inmenging in de Macedonische Oorlogen tegen Rome was echter rampzalig: hij moest in 188 v.Chr. bij de Vrede van Apamea Seleucidisch Klein-Azië prijsgeven.
  Gereduceerd tot Syrië (188-114 v.Chr.)
  
  Na de dood van Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 164 was er onduidelijkheid over de opvolging, zodat ook de Parthen in 141 van de onrust gebruik maakten om de resterende oostelijke gebieden over te nemen (Perzië) en vervolgens hun territorium begonnen uit te breiden tot in Mesopotamië (129). Zo bleef van het Seleucidische Rijk tenslotte alleen Syrië over.
  Interne troebelen (114-83 v.Chr.)
  
  In 114 v.Chr. ontstond er een dynastiek geschil tussen de halfbroers (en neven) Antiochus VIII Grypus en Antiochus IX Cyzicenus dat nooit meer echt beslecht zou worden. Eindeloze conflicten tussen deze twee linies van het vorstenhuis en tussen de vijf zonen van Grypus onderling bepaalden de laatste decennia. Ondertussen heroverden de Ptolemaeën in 98 Palestina en Zuid-Syrië.
  De ondergang (83-64 v.Chr.)
  
  De dynastieke onenigheden gaven een buitenstaander, de Armeense vorst Tigranes II, de gelegenheid het rijk te bezetten. Hij was zelfs in eerste instantie door de wanhopige Syriërs te hulp geroepen orde op zake te komen stellen. Omdat hij een bondgenoot van Rome's vijand Mithridates VI van Pontus was raakte ook Rome in de Syrische warboel betrokken. Zij dreven Tigranes terug naar de Armeense bergen en zetten nog een paar telgen uit het Seleucidenhuis op de troon, maar dit leidde uiteindelijk tot de definitieve ondergang in 64 v.Chr., toen de Romeinen door het optreden van Pompeius hun gezag vestigden in wat nog van het ooit machtige rijk resteerde: Syrië, voortaan de Romeinse provincia Syria.

• (Levens event) .Bron 2

  De diadochen (van Diadochi, meervoud van Latijn Diadochus, naar het Griekse ???d???? (enkelvoud ???d????), Diadokhoi, opvolgers) waren de generaals van het leger van Alexander de Grote, die na zijn dood uiteindelijk zijn gigantische rijk overnamen en in een aantal zogenaamde diadochenrijken verdeelden.
  
  Opvolging Alexander de Grote
  
  Na Alexanders plotselinge dood op 10 juni 323 v.Chr. trachtte zijn moeder Olympias het rijk bij elkaar te houden voor haar kleinzoon, de zoon van Alexander en Roxane. Deze was echter nog erg jong -hij was pas na de dood van Alexander geboren- en tijdelijk nam Alexanders halfbroer Philippus Aridaeus daarom het koningschap waar. Philippus was echter niet erg geschikt voor het koningschap en daarom werden de generaals van Alexander steeds machtiger.
  Oorlogen om de erfenis
  
  De onderlinge concurrentie tussen de generaals leidde tot verschillende oorlogen waarbij de coalities veel wisselden. Tijdens deze oorlogen geraakte de dynastie van Alexander steeds meer op de achtergrond. Uiteindelijk werden zijn vrouw, moeder en kind vermoord. De oorlogen duurden ongeveer 40 jaar (322 v.Chr. tot 281 v.Chr.).
  
  Belangrijke gebeurtenissen in deze periode (jaartallen voor Christus):
  
  323 Dood van Alexander de Grote.
  323 Antipater slaat in Griekenland een opstand tegen het Macedonische gezag neer: de Lamische Oorlog.
  322 Rijksdeling van Babylon: nieuwe staatsorde en machtsevenwicht. Begin van de Eerste Diadochenoorlog: Perdikkas, de rijksregent, probeert de eenheid van het rijk te bewaren en trekt ten strijde tegen Ptolemaeus I Soter in Egypte.
  320 Moord op Perdikkas. Rijksdeling van Triparadeisos: rijk herverdeeld, Antipater wordt regent.
  319 Dood van Antipater en strijd om het regentschap tussen Polyperchon en Antipaters zoon Kassander. Zij verbinden zich met respectievelijk Eumenes van Cardia en Antigonos Monophthalmos, waarmee de Tweede Diadochenoorlog uitbreekt.
  317 Moord op Alexanders broer en opvolger, de zwakbegaafde Philippus III Arrhidaios. Antigonos schakelt Eumenes uit. Einde van de Tweede Diadochenoorlog.
  316 Moord op Olympias, moeder van Alexander de Grote. Seleucus wordt door Antigonos uit Babylon verdreven en vlucht naar Ptolemaeus in Egypte.
  314 Begin van de Derde Diadochenoorlog: Antigonos tegen Ptolemaeus, Kassander en Lysimachus.
  311 Seleucus, vechtend voor Ptolemaeus, verovert Babylon. Einde van de Derde Diadochenoorlog met de Diadochenvrede tussen Antigonos, Ptolemaeus, Kassander en Lysimachus. Antigonos' zoon Demetrios Poliorketes valt Seleucus aan. Begin van de Babylonische Oorlog.
  309 Antigonos erkent zijn nederlaag tegen Seleucus; moord op Alexanders vrouw Roxane en zoon Alexander IV.
  306 Begin van de Vierde Diadochenoorlog: Antigonos en zijn zoon Demetrios tegen de anderen. Zij veroveren Cyprus en nemen de koningstitel aan.
  305 Seleucus en Lysimachus nemen ook de koningstitel aan.
  305/304 Kassander neemt ook de koningstitel aan.
  304 Ptolemaeus neemt ook de koningstitel aan.
  301 Slag bij Ipsos: Antigonos I Monopthalmos sneuvelt, Demetrios I verslagen. Seleucus verovert Zuid-Anatolië (op Cilicië na) en Noord-Syrië, waar hij Antiochië sticht; Ptolemaeus verovert Palestina, Zuid-Syrië, Cyprus en Cilicië; Lysimachus verovert West-Anatolië. Einde van de Vierde Diadochenoorlog, definitieve opsplitsing van het Macedonische Rijk van Alexander de Grote.
  294 Demetrios verslaat de Antipatriden en wordt koning van Macedonië.
  288 Lysimachus en Pyrrhus van Epirus verslaan Demetrios en verdelen Macedonië.
  285 Lysimachus verslaat Pyrrhus en neemt heel Macedonië voor zichzelf.
  282 Pergamon scheidt zich onder leiding van Attalus Philetaerus af van Lysimachus en wordt een vazal van Seleucus.
  281 Lysimachus sneuvelt in de slag bij Corupedium tegen Seleucus, die daarmee West-Anatolië verovert (Pergamon blijft een vazalstaat). Seleucus wordt kort daarna vermoord door Ptolemaeus' zoon Keraunos; de Ptolemaeën nemen twee jaar de heerschappij over Macedonië over. Pontus verklaart zich onafhankelijk onder Mithridates I.
  279 De Antipatriden verslaan de Ptolemaeën en regeren Macedonië ook twee jaar.
  277 Demetrios' zoon Antigonos II Gonatas verslaat de Antipatriden en herstelt de Antigonidische dynastie. Einde van de Diadochentijd.
  
  Resulterende rijken
  
  Na deze oorlogen was het idee van de eenheid van het rijk verdwenen en hadden zich vaste territoria gevormd.
  
  Egypte met Palestina, Cyprus en stukken van Klein-Azië en de Aegeische zee onder de dynastie van de Ptolemaeën
  Klein-Azië, Syrië, Mesopotamië en Perzië onder de Seleuciden
  Macedonië en Griekenland onder de Antigoniden
  
  Behalve deze gebieden waren er nog diverse andere gebieden die tot het rijk van Alexander de Grote hadden gehoord.
  Romeinen
  
  Alle rijken werden uiteindelijk door de Romeinen en Parthen veroverd, Egypte als laatste in 30 v.Chr.

• (naam) .Bron 3

  The Seleucid Empire (pron.: /s?'lu?s?d/; from Greek: Se?e??e?a, Sele?keia) was a Greek-Macedonian Hellenistic state created by Seleucus I Nicator following the carve up of the empire created by Alexander the Great following his death.[4][5][6][7] Seleucus received Babylonia and from there expand his dominions to include much of Alexander's near eastern territories. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pamir and present day Pakistan.
  
  The Seleucid Empire was a major center of Hellenistic culture which maintained the preeminence of Greek customs and where a Greek-Macedonian political elite dominated, mostly in the urban areas.[7][8][9][10] The Greek population of the cities who formed the dominant elite were reinforced by emigration from Greece.[7][8] Seleucid expansion into Anatolia and Greece was abruptly halted after decisive defeats at the hands of the Roman army. Their attempts to defeat their old enemy Ptolemaic Egypt were frustrated by Roman demands. Much of the eastern part of the empire was conquered by the Parthians under Mithridates I of Parthia in the mid-2nd century BC, yet the Seleucid kings continued to rule a rump state from Syria until the invasion by Armenian king Tigranes the Great and their ultimate overthrow by the Roman general Pompey.
  Contents
  History
  Partition of Alexander's empire
  Main article: Diadochi
  
  Alexander conquered the Persian Empire under its last Achaemenid dynast, Darius III, within a short time-frame and died young, leaving an expansive empire of partly Hellenised culture without an adult heir. The empire was put under the authority of a regent in the person of Perdiccas in 323 BC, and the territories were divided between Alexander's generals, who thereby became satraps, at the Partition of Babylon in 323 BC.
  Rise of Seleucus
  Coin of Seleucus I Nicator.
  The Kingdoms of the Diadochi circa 303 BC.
  
  Alexander's generals (the Diadochi) jostled for supremacy over parts of his empire. Ptolemy, a former general and the satrap of Egypt, was the first to challenge the new system; this led to the demise of Perdiccas. Ptolemy's revolt led to a new subdivision of the empire with the Partition of Triparadisus in 320 BC. Seleucus, who had been "Commander-in-Chief of the camp" under Perdiccas since 323 BC but helped to assassinate him later, received Babylonia, and from that point continued to expand his dominions ruthlessly. Seleucus established himself in Babylon in 312 BC, the year used as the foundation date of the Seleucid Empire. He ruled not only Babylonia, but the entire enormous eastern part of Alexander's empire:
  
  "Always lying in wait for the neighboring nations, strong in arms and persuasive in council, he [Seleucus] acquired Mesopotamia, Armenia, 'Seleucid' Cappadocia, Persis, Parthia, Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria, Sogdia, Arachosia, Hyrcania, and other adjacent peoples that had been subdued by Alexander, as far as the river Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in Asia after that of Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to the Indus was subject to Seleucus."[11]
  — Appian, The Syrian Wars
  
  Seleucus went as far as India, where after two years of war he reached an agreement with Chandragupta Maurya, in which he exchanged his eastern territories for a considerable force of 500 war elephants, which would play a decisive role at Ipsus (301 BC).
  
  "The Indians occupy [in part] some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians: Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and established there settlements of his own. But Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus in consequence of a marriage contract, and received in return five hundred elephants."[12]
  —Strabo, Geographica
  
  Westward expansion
  
  Following his and Lysimachus' victory over Antigonus Monophthalmus at the decisive Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, Seleucus took control over eastern Anatolia and northern Syria.
  
  In the latter area he founded a new capital at Antioch on the Orontes, a city he named after his father. An alternative capital was established at Seleucia on the Tigris, north of Babylon. Seleucus' empire reached its greatest extent following his defeat of his erstwhile ally, Lysimachus, at Corupedion in 281 BC, after which Seleucus expanded his control to encompass western Anatolia. He hoped further to take control of Lysimachus' lands in Europe – primarily Thrace and even Macedonia itself, but was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus on landing in Europe.
  
  His son and successor, Antiochus I Soter, was left with an enormous realm consisting of nearly all of the Asian portions of the Empire, but faced with Antigonus II Gonatas in Macedonia and Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Egypt, he proved unable to pick up where his father had left off in conquering the European portions of Alexander's empire.
  An overextended domain
  
  Nevertheless, even before Seleucus' death, it was difficult to assert control over the vast eastern domains of the Seleucids. Seleucus invaded India (modern Punjab Pakistan) in 305 BC, confronting Chandragupta Maurya (Sandrokottos), founder of the Maurya empire. It is said that Chandragupta fielded an army of 600,000 men and 9,000 war elephants (Pliny, Natural History VI, 22.4).
  
  Mainstream scholarship asserts that Chandragupta received vast territory, sealed in a treaty, west of the Indus, including the Hindu Kush, modern day Afghanistan, and the Balochistan province of Pakistan.[13][14] Archaeologically, concrete indications of Mauryan rule, such as the inscriptions of the Edicts of Ashoka, are known as far as Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.
  “ "He (Seleucus) crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus [Maurya], king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship." ”
  
  It is generally thought that Chandragupta married Seleucus's daughter, or a Macedonian princess, a gift from Seleucus to formalize an alliance. In a return gesture, Chandragupta sent 500 war-elephants,[15][16][17][18][19] a military asset which would play a decisive role at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. In addition to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched an ambassador, Megasthenes, to Chandragupta, and later Deimakos to his son Bindusara, at the Mauryan court at Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state). Megasthenes wrote detailed descriptions of India and Chandragupta's reign, which have been partly preserved to us through Diodorus Siculus. Later Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt and contemporary of Ashoka the Great, is also recorded by Pliny the Elder as having sent an ambassador named Dionysius to the Mauryan court.[20]
  
  Other territories lost before Seleucus' death were Gedrosia in the south-east of the Iranian plateau, and, to the north of this, Arachosia on the west bank of the Indus River.
  
  Antiochus I (reigned 281–261 BC) and his son and successor Antiochus II Theos (reigned 261–246 BC) were faced with challenges in the west, including repeated wars with Ptolemy II and a Celtic invasion of Asia Minor — distracting attention from holding the eastern portions of the Empire together. Towards the end of Antiochus II's reign, various provinces simultaneously asserted their independence, such as Bactria under Diodotus, Parthia under Arsaces, and Cappadocia under Ariarathes III.
  In Bactria, the satrap Diodotus asserted independence to form the Greco-Bactrian kingdom c.245 BC.
  
  Diodotus, governor for the Bactrian territory, asserted independence in around 245 BC, although the exact date is far from certain, to form the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. This kingdom was characterized by a rich Hellenistic culture, and was to continue its domination of Bactria until around 125 BC, when it was overrun by the invasion of northern nomads. One of the Greco-Bactrian kings, Demetrius I of Bactria, invaded India around 180 BC to form the Greco-Indian kingdom, lasting until around AD 20.
  
  The Seleucid satrap of Parthia, named Andragoras, first claimed independence, in a parallel to the secession of his Bactrian neighbour. Soon after however, a Parthian tribal chief called Arsaces invaded the Parthian territory around 238 BC to form the Arsacid Dynasty — the starting point of the powerful Parthian Empire.
  
  By the time Antiochus II's son Seleucus II Callinicus came to the throne around 246 BC, the Seleucids seemed to be at a low ebb indeed. Seleucus II was soon dramatically defeated in the Third Syrian War against Ptolemy III of Egypt and then had to fight a civil war against his own brother Antiochus Hierax. Taking advantage of this distraction, Bactria and Parthia seceded from the empire. In Asia Minor too, the Seleucid dynasty seemed to be losing control — Gauls had fully established themselves in Galatia, semi-independent semi-Hellenized kingdoms had sprung up in Bithynia, Pontus, and Cappadocia, and the city of Pergamum in the west was asserting its independence under the Attalid Dynasty.
  Revival (223–191 BC)
  Silver coin of Antiochus III the Great.
  The Seleucid Empire in 200 BC (before expansion into Anatolia and Greece).
  
  A revival would begin when Seleucus II's younger son, Antiochus III the Great, took the throne in 223 BC. Although initially unsuccessful in the Fourth Syrian War against Egypt, which led to a defeat at the Battle of Raphia (217 BC), Antiochus would prove himself to be the greatest of the Seleucid rulers after Seleucus I himself. He spent the next ten years on his anabasis through the eastern parts of his domain and restoring rebellious vassals like Parthia and Greco-Bactria to at least nominal obedience. He won the Battle of the Arius and besieged the Bactrian capital, and even emulated Alexander with an expedition into India where he met with king Sophagasenus receiving war elephants:
  
  "He (Antiochus) crossed the Caucasus and descended into India; renewed his friendship with Sophagasenus the king of the Indians; received more elephants, until he had a hundred and fifty altogether; and having once more provisioned his troops, set out again personally with his army: leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus the duty of taking home the treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to him". Polybius 11.39
  
  When he returned to the west in 205 BC, Antiochus found that with the death of Ptolemy IV, the situation now looked propitious for another western campaign. Antiochus and Philip V of Macedon then made a pact to divide the Ptolemaic possessions outside of Egypt, and in the Fifth Syrian War, the Seleucids ousted Ptolemy V from control of Coele-Syria. The Battle of Panium (198 BC) definitively transferred these holdings from the Ptolemies to the Seleucids. Antiochus appeared, at the least, to have restored the Seleucid Kingdom to glory.
  Expansion into Greece and War with Rome
  The reduced empire (titled: Syria, Kingdom of the Seleucids) and the expanded states of Pergamum and Rhodes, after the defeat of Antiochus III by Rome. Circa 188 BC.
  Further information: Roman–Syrian War
  
  Following his erstwhile ally Philip's defeat by Rome in 197 BC, Antiochus saw the opportunity for expansion into Greece itself. Encouraged by the exiled Carthaginian general Hannibal, and making an alliance with the disgruntled Aetolian League, Antiochus launched an invasion across the Hellespont. With his huge army he was intent upon establishing the Seleucid empire as the foremost power in the Hellenic world but these plans put the empire on a collision course with the new superpower of the Mediterranean, the Roman Republic. At the battles of Thermopylae and Magnesia, Antiochus's forces were resoundingly defeated and he was compelled to make peace and sign the Treaty of Apamea in (188 BC), the main clause of which saw the Seleucids agree to pay a large indemnity, retreat from Anatolia and to never again attempt to expand Seleucid territory west of the Taurus Mountains. The Kingdom of Pergamum and the Republic of Rhodes, Rome's allies in the war, were given the former Seleucid lands in Anatolia. Antiochus died in 187 BC on another expedition to the east, where he sought to extract money to pay the indemnity.
  Roman power, Parthia and Judea
  Further information: Seleucid–Parthian wars and Maccabean Revolt
  
  The reign of his son and successor Seleucus IV Philopator (187-175 BC) was largely spent in attempts to pay the large indemnity, and Seleucus was ultimately assassinated by his minister Heliodorus. Seleucus' younger brother, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, now seized the throne. He attempted to restore Seleucid power and prestige with a successful war against the old enemy, Ptolemaic Egypt, which met with initial success as the Seleucids defeated and drove the Egyptian army back to Alexandria itself. As the king planned on how to conclude the war, he was informed that Roman commissioners, led by the Proconsul Gaius Popillius Laenas, were near and requesting a meeting with the Seleucid king. Antiochus agreed, but when they met and Antiochos held out his hand in friendship, Popilius placed in his hand the tablets on which was written the decree of the senate and telling him to read it. When the king said that he would call his friends into council and consider what he ought to do, Popilius drew a circle in the sand around the king's feet with the stick he was carrying and said, "Before you step out of that circle give me a reply to lay before the senate." For a few moments he hesitated, astounded at such a peremptory order, and at last replied, "I will do what the senate thinks right." He then chose to withdraw rather than set the empire to war with Rome again.[21]
  
  The latter part of his reign saw a further disintegration of the Empire despite his best efforts. Weakened economically, militarily and by loss of prestige, the Empire became vulnerable to rebels in the eastern areas of the empire, who began to further undermine the empire while the Parthians moved into the power vacuum to take over the old Persian lands. Antiochus' aggressive Hellenizing (or de-Judaizing) activities provoked a full scale armed rebellion in Judea—the Maccabean Revolt.[22] Efforts to deal with both the Parthians and the Jews as well as retain control of the provinces at the same time proved beyond the weakened empire's power. Antiochus died during a military expedition against the Parthians in 164 BC.
  Civil war and further decay
  Coin of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
  Silver coin of Alexander Balas.
  
  After the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid Empire became increasingly unstable. Frequent civil wars made central authority tenuous at best. Epiphanes' young son, Antiochus V Eupator, was first overthrown by Seleucus IV's son, Demetrius I Soter in 161 BC. Demetrius I attempted to restore Seleucid power in Judea particularly, but was overthrown in 150 BC by Alexander Balas — an impostor who (with Egyptian backing) claimed to be the son of Epiphanes. Alexander Balas reigned until 145 BC, when he was overthrown by Demetrius I's son, Demetrius II Nicator. Demetrius II proved unable to control the whole of the kingdom, however. While he ruled Babylonia and eastern Syria from Damascus, the remnants of Balas' supporters — first supporting Balas' son Antiochus VI, then the usurping general Diodotus Tryphon — held out in Antioch.
  
  Meanwhile, the decay of the Empire's territorial possessions continued apace. By 143 BC, the Jews in form of the Maccabees had fully established their independence. Parthian expansion continued as well. In 139 BC, Demetrius II was defeated in battle by the Parthians and was captured. By this time, the entire Iranian Plateau had been lost to Parthian control.
  
  Demetrius Nicator's brother, Antiochus VII Sidetes, took the throne after his brother's capture. He faced the titanic chore of restoring a rapidly crumbling empire; one facing threats on multiple fronts. Hard-won control of Coele-Syria was threatened by the Jewish Maccabee rebels. Once-vassal dynasties in Armenia, Cappadocia, and Pontus were threatening Syria and northern Mesopotamia; the nomadic Parthians, brilliantly led by Mithridates I of Parthia had overrun uppland Media (home of the famed Nisean horse herd); and Roman intervention was an ever-present threat. Sidetes managed to bring the Maccabees to heel; frighten the Anatolian dynasts into a temporary submission; and then, in 133, turned east with the full might of the Royal Army (supported by a body of Jews under the Maccabee prince, John Hyrcanus) to drive back the Parthians.
  
  Sidetes' campaign initially met with spectacular success, recapturing Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Media; defeating and slaying the Parthian Satrap of Seleucia-on-Tigris in personal combat. In the winter of 130/129 BC, his army was scattered in winter quarters throughout Media and Persis when the Parthian king, Phraates II, counter-attacked. Moving to intercept the Parthians with only the troops at his immediate disposal, he was ambushed and killed. Antiochus Sidetes is sometimes called the last great Seleucid king.
  
  After the death of Antiochus VII Sidetes, all of the recovered eastern territories were recaptured by the Parthians. The Maccabees again rebelled, civil war soon tore the empire to pieces, and the Armenians began to encroach on Syria from the north.
  Collapse (100–63 BC)
  
  By 100 BC, the once formidable Seleucid Empire encompassed little more than Antioch and some Syrian cities. Despite the clear collapse of their power, and the decline of their kingdom around them, nobles continued to play kingmakers on a regular basis, with occasional intervention from Ptolemaic Egypt and other outside powers. The Seleucids existed solely because no other nation wished to absorb them — seeing as they constituted a useful buffer between their other neighbours. In the wars in Anatolia between Mithridates VI of Pontus and Sulla of Rome, the Seleucids were largely left alone by both major combatants.
  
  Mithridates' ambitious son-in-law, Tigranes the Great, king of Armenia, however, saw opportunity for expansion in the constant civil strife to the south. In 83 BC, at the invitation of one of the factions in the interminable civil wars, he invaded Syria, and soon established himself as ruler of Syria, putting the Seleucid Empire virtually at an end.
  
  Seleucid rule was not entirely over, however. Following the Roman general Lucullus' defeat of both Mithridates and Tigranes in 69 BC, a rump Seleucid kingdom was restored under Antiochus XIII. Even so, civil wars could not be prevented, as another Seleucid, Philip II, contested rule with Antiochus. After the Roman conquest of Pontus, the Romans became increasingly alarmed at the constant source of instability in Syria under the Seleucids. Once Mithridates was defeated by Pompey in 63 BC, Pompey set about the task of remaking the Hellenistic East, by creating new client kingdoms and establishing provinces. While client nations like Armenia and Judea were allowed to continue with some degree of autonomy under local kings, Pompey saw the Seleucids as too troublesome to continue; and doing away with both rival Seleucid princes, he made Syria into a Roman province.
  Culture
  Bagadates I (Minted 290–280 BC) was the first indigenous Seleucid satrap to be appointed.[23]
  
  The Seleucid empire's geographic span, from the Aegean Sea to what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan, created a melting pot of various peoples, such as Greeks, Armenians, Persians, Medes, Assyrians, and Jews. The immense size of the empire, followed by its encompassing nature, made the Seleucid rulers have a governing interest in implementing a policy of racial unity initiated by Alexander.
  
  The Hellenization of the Seleucid empire was achieved by the establishment of Greek cities throughout the empire. Historically significant towns and cities, such as Antioch, were created or renamed with more appropriate Greek names. The creation of new Greek cities and towns was aided by the fact that the Greek mainland was overpopulated and therefore made the vast Seleucid empire ripe for colonization. Colonization was used to further Greek interest while facilitating the assimilation of many native groups. Socially, this led to the adoption of Greek practices and customs by the educated native classes in order to further themselves in public life and the ruling Macedonian class gradually adopted some of the local traditions. By 313 BC, Hellenic ideas had begun their almost 250-year expansion into the Near East, Middle East, and Central Asian cultures. It was the empire's governmental framework to rule by establishing hundreds of cities for trade and occupational purposes. Many of the existing cities began — or were compelled by force — to adopt Hellenized philosophic thought, religious sentiments, and politics.
  
  Synthesizing Hellenic and indigenous cultural, religious, and philosophical ideas met with varying degrees of success — resulting in times of simultaneous peace and rebellion in various parts of the empire. Such was the case with the Jewish population of the Seleucid empire because the Jews posed a significant problem which eventually led to war. Contrary to the accepting nature of the Ptolemaic empire towards native religions and customs, the Seleucids gradually tried to force Hellenization upon the Jewish people in their territory by outlawing Judaism. This eventually led to the revolt of the Jews under Seleucid control, which would later lead to the Jews achieving independence.
  Seleucid rulers
  Main article: List of Seleucid rulers
  Seleucus I Nicator, the founder of the Seleucid Empire.
  
  The Seleucid dynasty or the Seleucidae (from Greek: Se?e???da?, Seleukídai) was a Greek Macedonian descendants of Seleucus I Nicator ("the Victor"), who ruled the Seleucid Kingdom centered in the Near East and regions of the Asian part of the earlier Achaemenid Persian Empire during the Hellenistic period

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Gezin van Antiochus Seleukid

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1. Seleucus I "Nicator" Seleukid   

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