The kingdom of the Seleucids was one of the states that were created after the end of the wars of the Successors of Alexander the Great. For a time it was the largest and most powerful Hellenistic kingdom, controlling most of the lands conquered by the great soldier.
Gradually, however, the kingdom shrank, territorially, as a result of internal and external conflicts. In the last century of its life, the Seleucid state was nothing like the great empire it had once been, remaining a regional power that controlled the present-day regions of Syria, Jordan and Palestine.
The birth of a kingdom
The Seleucid state was born, unofficially, in 312 BC. after the end of the first phase of the wars of Alexander's Successors. The founder of Seleucus was one of Alexander's generals, commander of the Order of Sarissaphori. He initially sided with Perdiccas and received the satrapy of Babylon as a reward. But later he turned against Perdiccas. He allied with Ptolemy against Antigonus the One-eyed.
In 312 BC when a truce was agreed, he fought against local rulers and reached the borders of India. In 306 BC Seleucus proclaimed himself king, officially founding the Seleucid state. After two years of fruitless conflict, he concluded a peace treaty with the Indians, in exchange for 500 war elephants.
In 301 BC he participated in the famous battle of Ipsos where the army of Antigonus was crushed and the veteran general himself was killed. The battle was won by Seleucus' war elephants. In 281 BC he also defeated his old comrade-in-arms Lysimachus, in the battle on the field of Kouros, but was murdered, after his victory, by Ptolemy Kerenus of Macedonia.
Consolidation
He was succeeded by the absolutely worthy son of Antiochus I, named Sotir. He managed to deal with the various rebellious movements that broke out, after the death of his father and in 275 BC. achieved a proud victory against the Gauls who had invaded Asia Minor. That same year he came into conflict with the Ptolemies of Egypt, beginning a series of conflicts that became known as the Syrian Wars.
Antiochus died in 262 BC. after his defeat by the Pergamenians. He was succeeded by his son Antiochus II, the god. He was involved in the Second Syrian War with the Ptolemies, with the result that, due to his involvement there, the eastern provinces revolted.
Then Bactria was lost, whose satrap Diodotus, became independent. Revolutions also broke out in the Persian lands, with the result that, a few years after the death of Antiochus, the Parthian state was founded. In 246 BC who died, was succeeded by his son Seleucus II Kallinikos, Pogon.
He caused the Third Syrian War and managed, temporarily, to recover some of the eastern provinces of the state. At the same time, however, his brother Antiochos Hierax rebelled against him, with the help of King Attalus of Pergamum.
Seleucus was defeated in the battle of Ankara in 235 BC. The result of the defeat was the disintegration of the state, with Antiochos Ierakas keeping the Asia Minor territories of the state. At the same time, Seleucus was forced to recognize the Parthian state. He died in 225 BC. He was succeeded by his eldest son Seleucus III Keraynos, who was murdered in 223 BC.
Climax and Decline
Thus Antiochus III, the Great ascended the throne. Antiochus managed to recover the eastern provinces. He was involved in the Fourth Syrian War, but, worst of all, he was involved in a war with Rome, in which he was defeated state by state. After this defeat and the total destruction of the army in the battle of Magnesia, Asia Minor, in 190 BC. the Parthians regained again the eastern regions that Antiochus had occupied.
He died in 187 BC. leaving the state on the brink of collapse. From this point onwards begins the long period of decline of the Seleucid Kingdom which lasted for about 120 years, until the final submission to Rome. He was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV Philopator, who essentially started the conflict with the Jews, when he tried to seize the treasures of Solomon's Temple.
Seleucus IV was assassinated in 175 BC. His assassination, despite any upheavals that followed, marked the beginning of the end of the empire which only lasted another 100 years after his death. He was succeeded by his brother Antiochus IV the Epiphanes, who started a new war with the Egypt of the Ptolemies - Sixth Syrian War - arriving, victorious, as far as Alexandria. However, with the intervention of the Romans, he was forced to retreat, humiliated.
Wars with Maccabees
Antiochus then tried to impose his will on the Jews, forbidding the Jewish worship, in 167 BC. He also invaded Jerusalem and desecrated Solomon's Temple, causing the Maccabean revolt. The first battle was fought in 167 BC. at the stream Haramia, where 600 Judeans ambushed and destroyed a force of 2,000 Seleucids.
The Battle of Beit Horon followed. It was a small-scale conflict, between 1,000 Jews under Judas Maccabeus and 4,000 men of the Seleucid Army. The Seleucids were ambushed and defeated. The battle at Emmaus followed, where 3,000 Jews achieved a crushing victory against 5,000 Seleucids, under Gorgias and Nicanor.
The battles of Bet Zur and Bet Zakaria were more important, clearly. In the first, in 164 BC, 10,000 Judeans clashed with a force of 25,000 Seleucids under the general Lysias. Lysias also had 22 elephants and an unspecified number of chariots. However, he was defeated by state, apparently due to a bad choice of terrain.
In the second, in 162 BC. the general Lysias again, with 50,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry and 30 elephants, defeated a force of 20,000 Maccabees. This time the Seleucids were victorious and moved against Jerusalem, but due to the threat of civil war Lysias and his army were recalled.
In 160 BC the battle of Elasa was fought. An army of 20,000 infantry and 2,000 Seleucid cavalry, under Bacchides, attacked the forces of Judas Maccabeus. Most of Judah's men fled before the numerical superiority of the opponents. But he himself with 800 men stayed, fought and was fatally killed, together with most of his comrades.
Antiochus IV died in 164 BC. leaving the state at war with the Maccabees and Parthians. The king himself campaigned against the Parthians, but died marching to the East. The death of Antiochus IV caused civil conflicts.
Temporary flash
His son and successor Antiochos V Eupator, was overthrown by his cousin Demetrius I Sotiras. In 161 BC Demetrius tried and succeeded in imposing Seleucid supremacy in Judea. In 150 BC but he too was overthrown by Alexander Valas, who was supported by the Ptolemies.
During his reign the battle of Azotos (148 BC) was fought with the Jews, under Jonathan, fighting, as allies of Alexander Valas, against the forces of the claimant to the throne Demetrius. Although in this battle the forces close to Valas were victorious, in the end Demetrius was victorious and, in 145 BC. ascended the throne as Demetrius II Nikator.
However, Demetrius was never able to control his kingdom as the supporters of Valas rallied around the claimant to the throne Antiochus VI and then Diodotus Tryphon. The state was split in two during this period, with the usurpers controlling the capital Antioch. In 143 BC Judea became officially independent and the Parthians advanced even further towards Dysmas.
Demetrius who tried to intercept them was defeated and captured. Demetrius was succeeded by his brother Antiochus VII Sidetis, who proved to be the last great king, managing to face the opponents of the state by allying himself with the Maccabees. In 133 BC campaigned against the Parthians, having with him all the military forces of the state, having with him also Jewish divisions, under John Hyrcanus.
Initially the campaign developed very favorably. Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Media were won again. In Seleucia on the Tigris river he achieved a proud victory against the Parthians, killing their general in a personal duel. In the winter of 130-129 BC. the Parthian king Phraates II fought back.
The end
Having sent his troops to winter, Antiochus was caught off guard and tried to face the Parthian Army with only a small part of his forces, that is, those he had at his immediate disposal.
In the battle that followed he was killed, however fighting heroically, in 129 BC. His rival Fratis honored the dead king by sending his body back to Antioch to be buried with due honors.
After the death of Antiochus VII all the eastern provinces were lost, definitively. The Jews shook off Seleucid supremacy and new civil conflicts broke out. At the same time the Armenians began to approach from the north. Thus, until the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st century BC. the Seleucid Empire was limited to Antioch and a few more Syrian cities.
In 83 BC the Armenian king Tigranes invaded the remains of the state, and overthrew the Seleucid Kingdom. However, after the defeat of Tigranes by the Romans, a shadow of the previous state was reconstituted under Antiochus XIII. Soon a new civil war broke out between him and the claimant Philip II. Finally Pompey, in 63 BC. finally brought down the Seleucid state.