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Seleucids, Screenshot 2026-06-14 at 14.19.56, image - Coggle Diagram
Seleucids
Borsippa Cylinder
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cylinder dedicated to the patron-deity of Borsippa, Nabu
cylindrical form imitates the Babylonian tradition for official documents, employed by Nabonidus, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus the Great
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titulature
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Antiochus is also described as the 'foremost heir of Seleucus, the king, the Macedonian man'
describing his father as Macedonian, yet does not do the same for himself - suggests relegating Macedon to the past, and favouring Babylon
concerns the rebuilding of temples to Esagila and Ezida in Babylon and Borsippa, respectively
Stratonice
Antiochus' wife Stratonice is mentioned, called Astartanikku
this is a theophoric transliteration based on the Syrian goddess, Astarte
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Rebuilding the temples
demonstrate that Antiochus wished to invest in Babylon and Borsippa, revering its heritage
temples at this time functioned as important civic spaces, with powerful priests
by rebuilding the temples, Antiochus politically aligned with these priests and curried significant favour
Seleucia-on-the-Tigris
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supposedly drew lustre from Babylon, along with its population (about two days ride for a caravan from Babylon)
corroborated by Pliny, Dio Sic (2), and Strabo
Strabo:
what was left of Babylon was ‘neglected and ruined, partly by the Persians, partly by time, partly by the disdain shown by the Macedonians’
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the evidence suggests the influence of Mesopotamian urban design, with the most important buildings located in a peripheral position regarding the centre of the city, possibly following the example of Assyrian capitals
Literary evidence:
Plutarch informs us that Diogenes' pupil, Archedemus, returned from Athens to Seleucia and established a Stoic school to parallel that of Athens
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Sidon Inscription
Greek inscription from Sidon, honours a man named Diotimos for winning a chariot race at the Nemean games, c. 200 BC
it mentions Diotimos' father, Dionysios - both are Greek names
the inscription honours Diotimos as a dikastes (judge), which is likely the Greek translation of the Phoenician magistracy of sofet, a semitic title
here we see a veneer of Greek culture - Sidon still retains the traditional post of sofet, yet translates it to present Hellenic sympathies
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Tarn's view
in 1938, Tarn drew a famous comparison between the Seleucid kingdom and the Roman empire
the Roman empire "resembled a vertebrate animal. It expanded outwards from a solid core, the city of Rome"
in contrast, the Seleucid kingdom "resembled rather a crustacean, not growing from any solid core but encased in an outer shell"
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Babylon
allegedly, Alexander had intended to make Babylon his capital
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The Seleucids backdated the beginning of their regnal period to 311 BC, when Seleucus captured Babylon
Archaeology
there was a Greek theatre here, perhaps built in the days of Alexander, but renovated with a proscenium in the mid 2nd century BC
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names
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for example, Marduk-eriba Herodotus
Uruk
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there were no Greek inscriptions or buildings, such as a theatre
burial mounds
2km outside the city wall, there are burial mounds, two of which have been excavated
in the centre of each tumuli was an undisturbed tomb chamber with a corbeled vault, which follows Mesopotamian building tradition
West Tumulus
inside was a gold wreath, four strigils made of iron covered with sheet gold
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significance
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they were constructed in the third century BC, likely mid century
Expanse
on the death of Seleucus I Nicator (the conqueror) in 281, the Seleucid realm covered the greater part of the former Persian empire, from Thrace to the borders with India
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several cultures: Babylonian, Syrian, Indian. Not just Greek and non-Greek
Hellenisation?
renaming
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Pliny HN 2, tells us that he tried to retitle the Indian Ocean after himself and his son Antiochus
this was not all top-down, however. The Syrian Larisa was populated by a regiment of cavalry from the parallel Thessalian polis, who presumably renamed it themselves
Literary views
Libanius of Antioch, in the 4th century AD, writes from a local perspective:
"in his work of spreading Hellenic civilisation he brought the barbarian world quite to an end" (about Seleucus I)
but this is quite late, not as reliable
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