Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/783

 SELF-DEFENCE ward, probably including some parts of In- dia. He founded the city of Seleucia on the Tigris, and removed the seat of government thither ; but soon after the battle of Ipsus he made Antioch his capital. The change of- fended most of his Asiatic peoples, and served to hasten the disintegration of his dominions. The dissatisfaction increased when he divided the empire into 72 satrapies, setting over each a Macedonian or Greek. He afterward allied himself with Demetrius Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus, whose daughter Stratonice he married; but Demetrius having made himself king of Macedonia, Seleucus joined the alli- ance against him in 288, and took possession of the greater part of his Asiatic dominions. Demetrius surrendered to him in 286, and re- mained at Apamea in Syria till his death. At the instigation of the widow of Agathocles, put to death by his father Lysimachus, Se- leucus invaded the dominions of his rival with a large army. Lysimachus met him in a deci- sive battle on the plain of Corus in Phrygia in 281, and was routed and slain. Seleucus now determined to add Macedonia to his domin- ions, and crossed the Hellespont with a large army, but was assassinated by Ptolemy Cerau- nus. He was succeeded by his son Antiochus. He founded Greek colonies in almost every province of his empire. The dynasty of the SeleucidaB lasted 247 years, from 312 to 65 B. 0. The most important successors of Se- leucus were his son Antiochus I., 280-261 ; Antiochus II., 261-246; Antiochus III., the Great, 223-187 ; and Antiochus IV., Epi- phanes, 175-164. The vast empire of Seleu- cus I. constantly diminished in power and ex- tent, until it was finally absorbed by the Ro- man empire. The era of the Seleucidse, in chronology, is considered as beginning Oct. 1, 312 B. 0. It was used in Syria, and by Jew- ish and Arab historians, until the 15th century. SELF-DEFENCE. The law requires no man to submit passively to the infliction of vio- lence upon his person. He may always de- fend himself. If he is assaulted with blows, he may return blows ; and if need be he may kill an assailant who attempts, or, rationally considered, seems to attempt to take his life. The principle, in all cases, is that the counter violence must be only so much as is necessary for defence. The old rule of the law that any who was guilty of a felony deserved death, probably founded the rule that it is justifiable to kill any one who is attempting to commit a felony, such for example as murder, may- hem, or rape. This rule is generally included in the law of self-defence. A man may also justify any violence done in defence of his wife, child, or servant, and either of these persons may justify violence in behalf of hus- band, father, or master. SELIMS, the most westerly of the ancient Greek colonies on the S. W. coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Selinus (now Madiuni) river. It was founded in the 7th century B. C., de- SELKIRK 757 strpyed by the Carthaginians in 409 and re- built, but decayed after the removal of the in- habitants to Lilybaaum in 249. The ruins of the 'city of Selinus (now known as Selinunte and also as Madiuni) are 47 m. S. W. of Paler- mo, with vestiges of temples, one of which was dedicated to Heron, as shown by an inscrip- tion discovered in 1865. The largest were those on the hill E. of the city, outside the walls. One of these, with 8 columns in front and 17 on the sides, 359 ft. long and 162 ft wide, is described in Swinburne's " Travels " (2 vols., 1777) as one of the most gigantic and sublime ruins imaginable. A new temple with many relics was discovered in 1874 by the architect Carellari, who continued his excava- tion in 1875. There is a fine collection of sculptured Selinuntine marbles in the museum of Palermo. See Selinus und sein Gebiet, by Eeinganum (Leipsic, 1827), and Die Metopen von Selinunt, by Benndorf (Berlin, 1873). SELJUKS, or Seljooks, a Turco-Tartaric tribe, of the Uiguric division of the race, originally inhabiting the plain N. of the Caspian sea. They received their name from Seljuk, one of their chiefs, under whose guidance in the 10th century they settled in Bokhara, and embraced Mohammedanism. His grandson Togrul Beg received the title of sultan, conquered succes- sively Khorasan and other Persian provinces, and in 1055 made himself master of Bagdad, which he occupied nominally as the servant and guardian of the caliph, but really with sover- eign power, under the title of emir el-omra or " commander of the faithful." He died in 1063, and was succeeded by his nephew Alp Arslan, famous for his victories over Roma- nus Diogenes. (See ALP AESLAN.) He was succeeded in 1072 by his son Malek Shah, who made Ispahan his capital, and extended his dominions from the frontiers of China to the neighborhood of Constantinople. The ill treatment of the Christian pilgrims to Jerusa- lem by his viceroys was the immediate cause of the crusades. On his death in 1092 the succession to the throne was disputed by his brother and his four sons, and a series of civil wars ensued, which ended in the partition of the Seljukian empire among four branches of the imperial family, of which the principal dynasty ruled in Persia, and the three younger dynasties at Kerman, Damascus, and Iconium. The last named, whose kingdom was called by the orientals the sultanate of Roum (that is, of the Romans), outlasted the others, en- during till the end of the 13th century, when it was succeeded by that of the Ottomans. During the greater part of the 13th century the Seljukian sultans were tributary to the Mongol emperors, who deposed and put them to death at pleasure. SELKIRK, Alexander, a Scottish seaman, born at Largo, Fifeshire, about 1676, died on board H. B. M. ship Weymonth in 1723. He went from England in 1703 as sailing master of the privateer Cinque Ports, and in September,