From Samarkand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire

286 Pages·1993·83.79 MB·English

by  Susan Sherwin-White

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A new approach to the Seleucid empire
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From Samarkhand to Sardis
Th e em pire creat ed by Alexa nd er th e
G rea t's general Seleucus con stitut ed th e
largest H ellenistic kingdom of th e
successo r sta tes; yet th is is th e first
substa ntial treat ment of Seleucid history to
app ear for fifty ye.ars. Th e au th ors
appr oac h thi s impo rt ant and successf ul
state from new perspec tives, seei ng it as
par t of the Middl e Eas tern wor ld ra ther
th an solely in Gr eco- Roman te rm s, and
arguin g th at th e Seleucid state is bes t
und erstoo d as heir to th e great
Achae menid Persian emp ire and ea rlier
Middl e Eas ter n states.
Th ey investigate th e eco nomies, soc ial
stru ctur es, politi cal systems and cul tur es of
th e many peo ples makin g up th e empire,
and analyse, in th e cont ext of co lonialism
and im peria lism, such evidence as exists for
cultur al changes, includ ing H ellenisation.
Th e boo k makes access ible the great
vari e ty of new and import ant do cum ents,
Gree k and non-G reek, that ha ve bee n
rece ntly discovere d. It will be of int eres t to
stud ents, teac hers and ge nera l rea ders, as
well as to spec ialists.
Susan Sh erwin -Wh ite is Hon orary
Resea rch Assoc iate of Royal H olloway &
Bedfor d New Co llege. Am elie Kuh rt is
Rea der in An cient Nea r E astern Hi story at
U niversity Col lege Lond on.
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FROMS AMARKHANDT O SARDIS
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Hellenistic Culture and Society
General Editors: Anthony W. Bulloch, Erich S. Gruen, A.A. Long, and
Andrew F. Stewart
I. Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age,
by Peter Green
II. Hellenism in the East: The Interaction of Greek and Non-Greek
Civilizations from Syria to Central Asia after Alexander, edited by
Amelie Kuhrt and Susan Sherwin-White
III. The Question of 'Eclecticism': Studies in Later Greek Philosophy,
edited by J.M. Dillon and A.A. Long
IV . Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State, by
Richard A. Billows
V. A History of Macedonia, by R. Malcolm Errington, translated by
Catherine Errington
VI. Attic Letter-Cutters of229 to 86 B.C., by Stephen V. Tracy
VII. The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World, by Luciano
Canfora
VIII. Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind, by Julia Annas
IX. Hellenistic History and Culture, edited by Peter Green.
X. The Best of the Argonauts: The Redefinition of the Epic Hero in Book
One of Apollonius' Argonautica, by James J. Clauss
XI. Faces of Power: Alexander 's Image and Hellenistic Politics, by
Andrew Stewart
XII. Images and Ideologies: Self-definition in the Hellenistic World, edited
by Anthony W. Bulloch, Erich S. Gruen, A.A. Long, and Andrew F.
Stewart
XIII. From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid
Empire, by Susan Sherwin-White and Amelie Kuhrt
Copyrighted material
A new approach to the Seleucid empire
Susan Sherwin-White
& Amelie Kuhrt
•
University of California Press
Berkeley Los Angeles
This one
1SD6-ZXZ-SDUT
Copyrighted material
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
©
1993 by Susan Sherwin-White & Amelie Kuhrt
Photo credits
The authors and publisher would like to thank the
following for permission to reproduce and publish
photographs: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (plates 3, 4,
5, 10); British Museum, London (29); Louvre Museum,
Paris (9); Palestine Exploration Society, London
(20-22); Staatliche Museen, Berlin (6-8); Yale Babylon
ian Collection (1); Malcolm Colledge (2, 11); B.A.
Litvinsky and I.R. Pichikiyan (16-19); Michael Roaf
(27, 28); Charlotte and Mossman Roueche (12a-15).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sherwin-White, Susan M. .
From Samarkhand to Sardis : a new approach to the Seleucid Empire
I Susan Sherwin-White and Amelie Kuhrt.
p. cm. (Hellenistic culture and society; 13)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-520-08183-8
1. Seleucids. 2. Syria History 333 B.C.-634 A.D. I. Kuhrt,
Amelie. II. Title. III. Series.
DS96.S53 1993
939' .43-dc20 92-25624
CIP
'
Printed in Great Britain
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
• •
T,ist of illustrati ons
VII
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Preface
JX
Introduction
1
1. Buildin g the Seleucid Empire 7
From satrap to king 8
The scope of the empire by c. 300 14
Consolidation and colonisation 20
Seleucus' last years : the acquisition of Asia Minor 21
Creating a dynastic identit y 22
Conserving Seleucus' heritage: Antiochus I 28
Conclusions 38
2. The Seleucid Empire in the Third Century
40
Definin g the Seleucid state 40
Administration and bureaucrac y 48
Relations between the centre and the constit uen t elements 51
The Seleucid war machine 53
'Temple-states' 59
Communications 61
Coina ge
63
Tr a de 65
The kin g and the econom y 67
3. The Seleucid Empire in Iran and South-West Central Asia 72
Western Iran: Media and Persis 74
Aria 79
Drangiana 80
Hyrcania 81
Margiana
82
Parthia 84
4. The Eastern Frontiers and Beyond 91
Late fourth- and third-century India and the Greeks 91
The Mauryan state
97
Asoka, Greeks and Iranians 101
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• Contents
Vl
Bactria 103
Transoxiana and beyond 105
The revolt of Bactria 107
Social and economic structures 111
5. Kin gs and Kin gshi p 114
Formulating kin gshi p 114
Legitimac y and the dynastic factor 125
The ideology of kin gshi p 129
Power and patrona ge 132
Loyalism and resistance 136
6. Colonialism and Im perialism: as pects of the problem of
'hellenisation' and Greek intera cti on s with n on- Greek
civilisations in the Seleucid em pire 141
Introduction to the question 142
The case of Bab ylonia 149
Royal policies and colonial activit y 161 ·
Seleucid colonies: litera ry re presentations and archaeo -
logical remains 170
Sardis and its transformation 180
'Hellenisation': real or app arent? 184
7. Antioch us III: imperialist and warrior 188
Armenia in the third century 190
The cam pai gn s of Antiochus III 197
Royal state cults 202
The Seleucid conflict with Rome 210
Conclusion 215
8. The Disinte gr ation of the Seleucid Em pire 217
Roman intervention 218
The growth of Parthian power 223
The formation of new political units within the empire 225
'Decadence' 228
Chronolo gy of Seleucid and Parthian Kings 230
The Seleucid Famil y in the Third Century 231
Abbreviations 232
Bibliogr aphy 235
Index of Texts and Documents 250
General Index 251
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Illustrations
Plates
(between pp. 118 and 119)
1. Early hellenistic gem illustrating trimarkisia.
2. Gilded silver dish with relief of warriors on an elephant.
3. Bulla from Uruk: portrait of Seleucus III.
4. Gem depicting Alexander the Great.
5. Bulla from Uruk, with seal impressions.
6. Greek ostrakon from Babylon.
7. Dedication to Antioch us IV Epiphanes.
8. Honorific dedication for Democrates, strategos and epistates.
9. Clay tablet from Susa documenting an account in Greek.
10. Clay tablet: 'Graeco-Babyloniaca' document.
lla. Dedication to Zeus Soter, Poseidon and Artemis Soteira, from
Failaka.
llb. Altar dedicated 'to the gods', from Failaka.
12. Fragment of a relief showing satyrs, from Kermanshah.
13. Seleucid dossier, from Failaka.
14. Hellenistic temple at Failaka.
15. Excavation of the temple at Failaka.
16. Altar with statuette of Eros, from Takht-i Sangin.
17. Portrait ofhellenistic 'prince', from Takht-i Sangin.
18. Personage in satrapal headgear, from Takht-i Sangin.
19. Fragment of a miniature makhaira/sheath , from Takht-i Sangin.
20. Tomb from the hellenistic necropolis of Marisa.
21. & 22. Parts of the frieze aboven iches in the tomb at Marisa.
23-26. Greek rock inscriptions from Armavir, Armenia.
27. Rock relief of Heracles with Greek dedication, from Bisitun.
28. Greek dedication for Cleomenes, from Bisitun.
29. Tetradrachm of Antiochus I, from Seleucia-Tigris .
• •
VII
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••• Illustrations
Vlll
Maps and figures
1. The Seleucid empire in the third century. x
2. Sources of manpower for the Seleucid armies. 54
3. Antioch-Margiana . 83
4. Parthia. 85
5. Mauryan India. 94
6. Bactria-Sogdiana. 104
7. Chorasmia. 109
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8. Plan of the palace at Ai Khanoum. 134
156
9. Babylon.
173
10. Hellenistic settlement at Failaka.
11. Ai Khanoum. 177
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