6. Seleucid Empire 312 to 63 B.C.
The Seleucid Empire was founded by Seleucus I Nicator after the fracturing of Alexander the Great’s empire. As his share, Seleucus took Babylonia and eventually expanded his own empire to include many of Alexander the Great’s near eastern territories. The Seleucid empire grew to include Persia, the Levant, Anatolia and Mesopotamia. Seleucus even went as far as India where he reached an agreement with the Mauryan Empire to give up his eastern territories for 500 war elephants. The elephants helped Seleucus take control over the Anatolia and part of Syria.
After Seleucus was assassinated his son was left with a very large empire to maintain, but Antiochus I Soter still managed to expand the empire and conquer much of Alexander’s former European conquests. The empire was hard to control and the successive rulers struggled until Antiochus III the Great who managed to expand the empire all the way to India and into Greece until he was stopped by the Roman Empire.
The Seleucid Empire was so vast that it was always hard to manage and unstable. The empire did follow Alexander the Great’s example and created Greek towns and cities throughout the empire which allowed for colonization from the Greek mainland. In order to establish trade, many cities were compelled to follow Hellenistic religion, politics and practices in order to make trade easier. Some were eager to switch to the Greek model, while others like the Jews revolted and gained their independence from the empire.
The Seleucid empire came to an end largely due to instability. Few of the Seleucid empire’s rulers were able to maintain order over such a vast empire with such a diverse populace. The empire declined following the defeat of the Romans and the large indemnity that was required to be paid. Antiochus IV Epiphanes tried to expand the empire but he faced the Parthians and the Romans who also wanted to expand and the rebellion within his territories. The empire then fell into civil war and collapsed by 63 B.C.
Sources For Further Reading:
Scoop Whoop – The Incredible Story of Chanakya’s Revenge Which Brought Down an Entire Empire
The Culture Trip – An Introduction to China’s Han People
We Forum – China’s $900 Billion New Silk Road. What You Need To Know
History Collection – 8 Lesser-Known Kingdoms and Empires That Ruled the World