The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in the Seleucid Empire

440 Pages·2014·6.42 MB·English

by  Paul J. Kosmin

THE LAND OF THE ELEPHANT KINGS

The Land of the
Elephant Kings
Space, Territory, and Ideology in the Seleucid Empire
PAUL J. KOSMIN
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, En gland
2014
Copyright © 2014 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Kosmin, Paul J., 1984–
The land of the elephant kings : space, territory, and ideology in the Seleucid
Empire / Paul J. Kosmin.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-674-72882-0 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Seleucids. 2. Syria—History—333 B.C.–634 A.D. I. Title.
DS96.2.K67 2014
935'.062—dc23 2013042033
To my parents

Contents
List of Maps ix
List of Illustrations xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
I Border
1 India—Diplomacy and Ethnography at the Mauryan Frontier 31
2 Central Asia—N omads, Ocean, and the Desire for Line 59
II Homeland
3 Macedonia—From Center to Periphery 79
4 Syria—Diasporic Imperialism 93
Interlude—The Kingdom of Asia 121
III Movement
5 Arrivals and Departures 129
6 The Circulatory System 142
IV Colony
7 King Makes City 183
8 City Makes King 222
Conclusion 253
viii Contents
Appendix: On the Date of Megasthenes’ Indica 261
Notes 273
Glossary 361
References 369
Ack now ledgm ents 407
Index 409
Maps
1 The Geography and topography of the Seleucid empire 14
2 Central Asia and India, with Ashoka’s inscriptions 55
3 Western Asia Minor and Eu ro pea n Thrace 81
4 Cilicia and the Levant 107
5 Frequency of royal travel, Antiochus I to Antiochus III 145
6 Frequency of royal travel, Seleucus IV to Antiochus XII 146
7 The Arab-Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia, and western Iran 171
8 Seleucid colonial foundations, Seleucus I to Antiochus II 184
9 Seleucid colonial foundations, Seleucus II to Demetrius III 185
ix