Iranian History - The Seleucids (330-170BC)
When Alexander died in 323 BC, the Macedonian army was left in a state
of confusion and without a clear successor to the leadership. Though there
was some pressure to keep the empire intact, it was the separationist
tendency that eventually prevailed.
The Macedonian generals carved up the Persian satrapies between them
and outlying provinces began to claim independence, ushering in a period
of fragmentation and war.
In Babylonia, a Macedonian named Seleucus built up strong local support
and crowned himself king in 306BC. After a few years and several wars
he had control of all the satrapies to the east of Babylon.
By 281 BC he also had control of Syria and Asia Minor. His son and successor
Antiochus I (281-261 BC), whose mother was a Persian noblewoman, and his
son in turn, Antiochus II (261-246 BC), ruled over a reunited empire that
stretched from Samarkand to the Aegean Sea.
Persia was stable and organised and therefore relatively easy to rule.
Administratively, the Seleucids worked with the existing systems rather
than trying to impose their own. Nor did they force their traditions on
the conquered empire.
On the contrary, the Seleucids were active protectors and supporters
of local traditions and religious cults. Both Greek and Aramaic were used
side by side in the administration and the Hellenisation of Persia occurred
as a natural process and only to a very limited extent amongst the urban
upper classes and not at all in the countryside.
The Seleucids, for their part, married extensively into the Persian royal
line of Cappadocia who were direct descendents of Darius I, thus uniting
the two dynasties.
Will Yong and Kazem Vafadari
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Iran
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