A History of the Hellenistic World by R. Malcolm Errington

Author:R. Malcolm Errington
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2011-08-23T16:00:00+00:00

II Seleukid Asia

When Seleukos III was assassinated in 223 while on campaign against Attalos of Pergamon, his army tried to persuade his uncle Achaios, an experienced man with family estates in Asia Minor who was accompanying the expedition, to become king himself. Achaios refused in favor of Seleukos’ younger brother, Antiochos. Now aged around twenty, Antiochos was currently occupying the traditional position of the Seleukid second in command as ruler of the Upper Satrapies, based at Seleukeia on the Tigris. Here he was gaining administrative experience and making contacts in the important eastern parts of the kingdom. Antiochos accepted the challenge (and is henceforth known to us as Antiochos III), but was inevitably at first wholly dependent on his advisers and helpers, of whom the most influential at court at Antioch was the chief minister (epi ton pragmaton), the Karian Hermeias. The two main regional commands, in Asia Minor and in the Upper Satrapies, were given to Achaios and Molon respectively. Molon combined with his general command the function of satrap of Media, supported by his brother Alexandros in Persis. Neither had responsibility for Mesopotamia (Polybios 5.40.6–7). The command structure was traditional and in principle adequate for the needs of the gigantic empire. The king himself sat at the center and could devote himself to the needs of the empire as a whole, whether from Antioch or from Seleukeia on the Tigris. One of the first requirements for a Seleukid king was to acquire a suitable wife, and she was quickly found in Antiochos’ cousin Laodike, daughter of Mithridates of Pontic Kappadokia and Antiochos’ aunt (also a Laodike). The importance of binding the independent kingdom of Pontos to the Seleukids at the time when Achaios was campaigning to restore Seleukid rule in the rest of Asia Minor cannot be overestimated. Two years after the wedding, a son and potential successor, almost inevitably called Antiochos, was born; six or seven more children followed, including two more sons, at short intervals. The dynasty, it must have seemed, was well on the way to recovery and to perpetuating itself after the dissensions of the last two decades.

Figure 9 Official coin portrait of Achaios wearing the diadem; the reverse names him “King Achaios.” Issued by him at Sardeis, 220–213. Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon. Photo: Reinaldo Viegas, digit: Magda Gomes, April 2007.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.