Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/785

Rh SELEUCUS. year of his reign. According to Justin, he was at tliis time more than seventy-seven years old, but Appian makes him only seventy-three. (Appian, Syr. 62, 63; Justin, xvii. 1, 2 ; Memnon. c. 11, 12 ; Paus. i. 16. § 2 ; Ores. iii. 23 ; Euseb. Arm. p. 163.) We have little information concerning the per- sonal character of Seleucus, but he is pronounced by Pausanias (i. 16. § 3) to have been the most upright among the successors of Alexander, and it is certain that his memory is stained with none of those crimes which are a reproach to the names of Lysimachus, Cassander, and even Ptolemy. Of his consummate abilities as a general no doubt can be entertained ; and the little we know of his ad- ministration of the vast empire which he had united under his sceptre, gives an equally favour- able impression of his political talents. He appears to have carried out, with great energy and per- severance, the projects originally formed by Alex- ander himself, for the Hcllenisation of his Asiatic empire ; and we find him founding, in almost every province, Greek or Macedonian colonies, which became so many centres of civilisation and refine- ment. Of these no less than sixteen are mentioned as bearing the name of Antiochia after his father ; five that of Laodicea, from his mother ; seven were called after himself Seleucia, three from the name of his first wife, Apamea ; and one Stratoniceia, from his second wife, the daughter of Demetrius. Of these the most conspicuous were — Seleucia on the Tigris, which in great measure supplanted the mighty Babylon, and became the metropolis of the eastern provinces, under the Syrian dynasty ; the city of the same name, near the mouth of the Orontes ; and Antiocbia, on the latter river, which quickly rose to be the capital of Syria, and con- tinued, for near a thousand years, to be one of the most populous and wealthy cities of the world. Numerous other cities, whose names attest their Macedonian origin — Beroea, Edessa, Pella, &c. — likewise owed their first foundation to the son of Antiocluis. (Appian, ^j/r. 57 ; Strab. xvi. pp. 738, 749, 730 ; Steph. Byz. s. v. 'ATra^eio, &c. ; Paus. i. 16, § 3 ; Amm. Marc. xiv. 8. § 5. For a full review and examination of these foundations see Droysen, Hellenism, vol. ii. pp. 651, 680 — 720.) Nothing is known Avith certainty of any children of Seleucus, except his son and successor Antiochus ; but it seems probable that by his second wife, Stra- tonice, he had a daughter Phila, afterwards married to Antigonus Gonatas. [Phila, No. 4.] [E.H.B.] COIN OP SELKUCUS I. SELEUCUS II. (SeAeuKOj), surnamed Calli- Nicus, king of Syria, was the eldest son of An- tiochus II. by his first wife Laodice. (Appian. Syr. ^Q ; Justin, xxvii. 1.) When his father Antiochus fell a victim to the jealousy oi revenge SELEUCUS. 773 of his wife [Laodicb], the latter for a time art- fully concealed his death until she had taken all necessary measures for establishing Seleucus on the throne, which he ascended without opposition, B. c. 246. The first measure of his administra- tion, or rather that of his mother, was to put to death his stepmother Berenice, together with her infant son. [Berenice, No. 2.] But this act of cruelty produced the most disastrous effects, by alienatirig all his Syrian subjects, while it aroused Ptolemy Euergetes, king of Egypt, to avenge the fate of his unhappy sister. Seleucus was unable to offer any resistance to the Egyptian monarch, and withdrew beyond Mount Taurus, while Pto- lemy not only made himself master of Antioch and the whole of Syria, but carried his arms unopposed beyond the Euphrates and the Tigris. [Ptolemaeus III.] During these operations Seleucus kept wholly aloof; but when Ptolemy had been recalled to his own dominions by domestic disturbances, he appears to have easily recovered possession of the greater part of the provinces which he had lost. All farther details of the revolution which replaced him in the possession of his father's empire, are lost to us ; but it seems certain that as early as B. c. 242, he had again extended his power to the Euphrates, where he founded the city of Callini- cum. (Droysen, Hellerdsm. vol, ii. p. 351 ; Clinton, F. H. vol. iii. p. 313.) A naval expedition which he undertook in order to subdue the maritime cities that had revolted, was lesa fortunate : his fleet was shattered by a storm, and he himself narrowly escaped with his life. Still, he soon after found himself strong enough to commence offensive opera- tions against Ptolemy, but was totally defeated and his army dispersed. In this emergency he had recourse to his younger brother Antiochu* Hierax, who appears to have been already esta- blished (probably by Ptolemy) in an independent position, and offered him the sovereignty of all Asia Minor as the price of his support. But An- tiochus, deeming the opportunity a favourable one for making himself master of the whole Syrian kingdom, instead of supporting his brother, turned his arms against him, and Seleucus found himself engaged in war at once with the king of Egypt and his own brother. (Justin, xxvii. 2.) The events of the succeeding years are very im- perfectly known to us, and it is scarcely possible to derive any connected historical results from the confused and fragmentary notices which have beea transmitted to us. But it seems certain that Se- leucus concluded (probably in B. c. 23.9) a truce for ten years with the king of Egypt, and thus found himself at leisure to turn his arms against his bro- ther. He at first obtained decisive successes, and defeated Antiochus in a great battle in Lydia, which was followed by the reduction of all that province, except Sardis and Ephesus ; but in a second battle, at Ancyra in Galatia, Antiochus, supported by Mithridates king of Pontus and a large force of Gaulish mercenaries, was completely victorious. Seleucus lost no less than 20,000 men, and himself escaped with such difficulty that, he was generally reported to have perished in the flight (Justin, xxvii. 2 ; Trog. Pomp. Prol. xxvii. ; Euseb. Ann; pp. 164, Q5 ; Athen. xiii. p. 593 ; Plut. de Frat. Amor. p. 489, a. ; Polyaen. viii. 61). The defection of his Gaulish soldiers must have prevented Antiochus from deriving much advantage from this victory ; and whether or not any foimal 3 D 3