.. to A new approach to the Seleucid empire " Cl • • 1te erw1n- ~ . , rt me 1e II I 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. Copyrighted material FROMS AMARKHANDT O SARDIS Copyrighted material 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 Copyrighted material Contents • • T,ist of illustrati ons VII • 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 Copyrighted material • 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 Copyrighted material 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 Copyrighted material ••• 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 • 8. Plan of the palace at Ai Khanoum. 134 156 9. Babylon. 173 10. Hellenistic settlement at Failaka. 11. Ai Khanoum. 177 Copyrighted material