The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323 - 223 BC): Seleukos I to Seleukos III

The Seleukid Kingdom Was The Largest State In The World For A Century And More Between Alexander's Death And The Rise Of Rome. It Was Ruled For All That Time By A Succession Of Able Kings, But Broke Down Twice, Before Eventually Succumbing To Dynastic Rivalries, And Simultaneous External Invasions And Internal Grasps For Independence. The First King, Seleukos I, Established A Pattern Of Rule Which Was Unusually Friendly Towards His Subjects, And His Policies Promoted The Steady Growth Of Wealth And Population In Many Areas Which Had Been Depopulated When He Took Them Over. In Particular The Dynasty Was Active In Founding Cities From Asia Minor To Central Asia. Its Work Set The Social And Economic Scene Of The Middle East For Many Centuries To Come. Yet These Kings Had To Be Warriors Too As They Defended Their Realm From Jealous Neighbours. John D Grainger's Trilogy Charts The Rise And Fall Of This Superpower Of The Ancient World. In The First Volume, John D Grainger Relates The Remarkable Twists Of Fortune And Daring That Saw Seleukos, An Officer In An Elite Guard Unit, Emerge From The Wars Of The Diadochi (alexander's Successors) In Control Of The Largest And Richest Part Of The Empire Of The Late Alexander The Great. After His Conquests And Eventual Murder, We Then See How His Successors Continued His Policies, Including The Repeated Wars With The Ptolemaic Rules Of Egypt Over Control Of Syria. The Volume Ends With The Deep Internal Crisis And The Wars Of The Brothers, Which Left Only A Single Member Of The Dynasty Alive In 223 Bc. Chapter 1 The Collapse Of Alexander's Empire 1 -- Chapter 2 Ptolemy's Commander 13 -- Chapter 3 Seleukos And Babylon 28 -- Chapter 4 Seleukos' First Kingdom 41 -- Chapter 5 Expedition To The East 54 -- Chapter 6 The Grand Alliance 69 -- Chapter 7 New Enmities, New Cities 82 -- Chapter 8 Antiochos In The East 101 -- Chapter 9 Seleukos In The West 113 -- Chapter 10 Antiochos I And The Galatians 127 -- Chapter 11 The New State 142 -- Chapter 12 Creeping Imperialism 158 -- Chapter 13 Antiochos Ii 172 -- Chapter 14 War, Collapse, And Fragmentation 186 -- Chapter 15 Failure 200. John D. Grainger. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 231-236) And Index. The first of three books on the ancient Greek dynasty “reads with the pull of a novel and shows how the new Empire rose and fell.”—Firetrench The Seleukid kingdom was the largest state in the world for a century and more between Alexander's death and the rise of Rome. The first king, Seleukos I, established a pattern of rule which was unusually friendly towards his subjects, and his policies promoted the steady growth of wealth and population in many areas which had been depopulated when he took them over. In particular the dynasty was active in founding cities from Asia Minor to Central Asia. Its work set the social and economic scene of the Middle East for many centuries to come. Yet these kings had to be warriors too as they defended their realm from jealous neighbors. John D Grainger's trilogy charts the rise and fall of this superpower of the ancient world. In the first volume, he relates the remarkable twists of fortune and daring that saw Seleukos, an officer in an elite guard unit, emerge from the wars of the Diadochi (Alexander's successors) in control of the largest and richest part of the empire of the late Alexander the Great. After his conquests and eventual murder, we then see how his successors continued his policies, including the repeated wars with the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt over control of Syria. The volume ends with the deep internal crisis and the Wars of the Brothers, which left only a single member of the dynasty alive in 223 BC.