General Notes

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Seleucus I NICATOR (b. 358/354 BC, Europus, Macedonia--d.
August/September 281, near Lysimachia, Thrace), Macedonian army officer,
founder of the Seleucid kingdom. In the struggles following the death of
Alexander the Great, he rose from governor of Babylon to king of an
empire centring on Syria and Iran.
Early life and ascent to power
Seleucus was the son of Antiochus, a general of Philip II of Macedonia,
the father of Alexander the Great. Seleucus participated in the conquest
of the Persian empire as one of Alexander's officers, and in 326 he
commanded the Macedonian infantry against King Porus of India in battle
on the Hydaspes River. In 324 Alexander ordered a mass wedding ceremony
at Susa (in Persia) to put into practice his ideal of uniting the peoples
of Macedonia and Persia. On this occasion Seleucus married Apama, the
daughter of Spitamenes, the ruler of Bactria. Of all the Macedonian
nobles, he was the only one who did not repudiate his wife after
Alexander's death.
After Alexander died (323), Seleucus was given the command of the
hetairoi (companions) cavalry and took part in the regent Perdiccas'
campaign to oust Ptolemy, the governor (satrap) of Egypt. In Egypt,
however, he joined with others in the assassination of Perdiccas. When
the empire was divided in 321, he was given the governorship (satrapy) of
Babylon. At the same time Antigonus Monophthalmus (the One-Eyed) had been
placed in command of a campaign against Eumenes of Cardia, a supporter of
Perdiccas. In 317 Seleucus aided Antigonus but, after Eumenes' execution
in 316, Antigonus demanded that Seleucus give an accounting of the income
from his satrapy. Seleucus refused to give the accounting and escaped
capture by fleeing to Ptolemy in Egypt.
From 316 to 312 Seleucus remained in Ptolemy's service. He took the
initiative in forging a coalition among Ptolemy, Lysimachus (the ruler of
Thrace), and Cassander (who laid claim to Macedonia) against Antigonus,
whose desire to become the ruler of the whole of Alexander's empire was a
threat to them all. In the resulting coalition war (315-311), Seleucus
was made one of Ptolemy's generals and jointly with him commanded the
Ptolemaic troops that defeated the force of Demetrius, the son of
Antigonus, at the Battle of Gaza in southern Syria (312).
Seleucus once again turned his attention to returning to Babylonia, and
in August 312 he was able to reconquer Babylon with only a small army.
This conquest marked the beginning of the Seleucid era, which is dated
Dios 1 (Oct. 7), 312, in the Macedonian calendar and Nisan 1 (April 3),
311, in the Babylonian calendar. Antigonus ordered Nicanor, one of his
generals, to invade Babylonia from the east and his son Demetrius to
attack it from the west, but they failed to oust Seleucus. When Antigonus
made peace with his enemies in 311, Seleucus was not included.
Consolidation of gains.
Little is known about the next few years of Seleucus' reign; he
presumably used them to consolidate his gains. In the year 305 he
followed the example of the other successors and assumed the title of
king (basileus). He embarked on an expansion of his kingdom throughout
the Iranian east (the upper satrapies) as far as India, but his advance
was eventually halted by Candragupta, the founder of the Maurya dynasty
of India. In a pact concluded by the two potentates, Seleucus agreed to
territorial concessions in exchange for 500 elephants.
Developments in the west also caused Seleucus to end his campaign in
India (303). He had joined a coalition that Ptolemy, Cassander, and
Lysimachus had once again formed against Antigonus and Demetrius. In the
winter of 302 Seleucus was back in Asia Minor and, together with
Cassander and Lysimachus, defeated Antigonus in the Battle of Ipsus
(301). The victors divided the lands of their enemy among them, with
Seleucus being given Syria. The southe