This article is about the specific polity Seleucid Kingdom and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
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A Hellenistics state, it was one of the successors of the Macedonian Empire. It was founded by the Macedonian general Seleucus. Initially it controlled the entire eastern region of the former Macedonian Empire (modern-day eastern Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria), but it slowly lost most of its territories and was reduced to a rump state controlling only Syria when it was conquered by the Romans.
Establishment
January 313 BC: Death of Peithon, who was one of the Diadochi. Media fell under the rule of Macedonian general Seleucus.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of conflicts that were fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule his empire following his death.
1.1.Third War of the Diadochi
Was a war between Macedonian Generals that saw Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander fight against Antigonus.
January 311 BC: By the end of the 4th century BC, Drangiana was part of the Seleucid Empire.
1.2.Consolidation of the borders after the Third War of the Diadochi
Were a series of events and military operations after the Third war of the Diadochi that led to the consolidation of the borders between the successor states of the Macedonian Empire.
January 296 BC: Zipoites establishes the Kingdom of Bithynia.
January 293 BC: Seleucus took most of Cilicia.
1.3.Babylonian War
Was a conflict fought in 311-309 BC between Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Seleucus I Nicator, ending in a victory for Seleucus.
June 311 BC: The Babylonian War was a conflict fought between the Diadochi kings Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Seleucus I Nicator. Seleucus, reinforced with Macedonian veterans from Harran, reached his former capital Babylon. He was soon recognized as the new ruler.
December 311 BC: Antigonus' satraps in Media and Aria, Nicanor and Euagoras, now decided to intervene with an army of 10,000 infantry and 7,000 horsemen, but Seleucus and an army of 3,000 infantry and 400 cavalry had been waiting for them near the Tigris since September. By hiding his men in one of the marshes and attacking by night, Seleucus was able to defeat the Macedonian soldiers in the army of Nicanor and Euagoras, after which the Iranian soldiers decided to side with the ruler of Babylonia.
June 310 BC: News of the defeat of Nicanor and Euagoras must have reached Antigonus at about the time of his signing the Peace of the Dynasts (December 311 BC). He ordered his son Demetrius Poliorcetes to restore order; he arrived in the early spring of 310 BC.
June 310 BC: Seleucus drives Demetrios out of Babylon.
September 310 BC: The forces of general Antigonus leave Babylon.
November 310 BC: Without any problems, Seleucus could move through the Zagros Mountains, occupy Ecbatana (the capital of Media), and continue to Susa (the capital of Elam). He now controlled southern Iraq and the greater part of Iran.
April 309 BC: Antigonos is repulsed from Babylon.
January 308 BC: The victor now moved to the east and reached the Indus valley, where he concluded a treaty with Chandragupta Maurya. The Mauryan emperor received the eastern parts of the Seleucid Empire, which included Afghanistan, Pakistan and west India, and gave Seleucus a formidable force of five hundred war elephants.
1.4.Fourth War of the Diadochi
Was a war between Macedonian generals that saw Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander fight against Antigonus and Demetrios.
September 301 BC: Battle of Ipsos: Antigonus falls, Seleucus annexes Syria and Cappadocia, Lysimachus annexes Hellespont, Phrygia and Ionia. Cilicia went to Cassander's brother Pleistarchus (as an indipendent reign). Demetrius, retained control of Cyprus, the Peloponnese, and many of the Aegean islands, as well as the Aegean coast.
1.5.Fifth War of the Diadochi
Was a war between Macedonian Generals that saw Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Seleucus fight against Demetrios.
January 286 BC: In -287, Ptolemy I Soter, the founder of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt, took over the territories of Sidon and Tyre. These cities were important Phoenician ports known for their trade and naval power. Ptolemy's conquest further expanded his influence in the region.
1.6.Sixth War of the Diadochi
Was a war between Macedonian Generals that saw Lysimachus fight against Seleucus.
April 281 BC: Seleucus, after appointing his son Antiochus ruler of his Asian territories, defeated and killed Lysimachus at the Battle of Corupedium in Lydia.
Military campaign of Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan Empire.
2.1.Seleucid-Mauryan war
Was a ware waged by the Seleucid Kingdom to conquer back former Macedonian Satrapies in the Indus Valley from the Mauryan Empire.
January 302 BC: The emerging and expanding Mauryan Empire came into conflict with Seleucus over the Indus Valley. Seleucus invaded the Punjab region of India, confronting Chandragupta Maurya. Maurya finally gained all the macedonian satrapies in the Indus valley.
January 302 BC: Expansion of the Magadha Kingdom until 301 BC.
January 302 BC: Later Eudemus took over Taxila briefly, however he was killed by Malayketu after which Chandragupta Maurya conquered Alexander's satraps in the sub-continent by BC, and joined hands with Porus earlier, in around 322 BC. Some state that after Alexander's departure from India, Takshashila became a free kingdom, and that's when Porus conquered Takshashila and there, he may have killed Taxiles. However, it still remains unsure what happened to Taxiles, and whether he was deposed or assassinated.
January 302 BC: It seems probable that Oxyartes must have died before the Seleucus's diplomatic/military foray into South Asia, as Seleucus ceded Paropamisadae to Chandragupta Maurya without any mention of Oxyartes.
January 300 BC: After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Chandragupta led a series of campaigns in 305 BC to retake satrapies in the Indus Valley and northwest India. When Alexander's remaining forces were routed, returning westwards, Seleucus I Nicator fought to defend these territories. Not many details of the campaigns are known from ancient sources. Seleucus was defeated and retreated into the mountainous region of Afghanistan.
The two rulers concluded a peace treaty in 303 BC, including a marital alliance. Under its terms, Chandragupta received the satrapies of Paropamisadae (Kamboja and Gandhara) and Arachosia (Kandhahar) and Gedrosia (Balochistan). Seleucus I received the 500 war elephants that were to have a decisive role in his victory against western Hellenistic kings at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC.
Were a series of six wars between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, successor states to Alexander the Great's empire, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC mainyl over the region then called Coele-Syria.
3.1.First Syrian War
Was one of the wars between the Seleucid Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Kingdom over the domain in the Levant.
January 273 BC: The Seleucid Empire annexed Coele-Syria.
January 270 BC: Ptolemy II Philadelphus reconquered territories in Syria and Cilicia.
3.2.Second Syrian War
Was one of the wars between the Seleucid Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Kingdom over the domain in the Levant.
January 260 BC: Antioch was conquered by the Seleucids during the Third Syrian War.
January 260 BC: Antiochus II Theos regained Miletus and Ephesus.
3.3.Third Syrian War
Was one of the wars between the Seleucid Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Kingdom over the domain in the Levant.
January 245 BC: After 246, for about half a century, the Ptolemies, a dynasty of Macedonian Greek origin, ruled over the territory of nan. The Ptolemaic Kingdom was established by Ptolemy I Soter, a general of Alexander the Great, after his death in 323 BC.
January 245 BC: Ptolemaic forces conquered several cities of the coast of Propontic Thrace during the Third Syrian War around 246 BC.
January 245 BC: Seleucid presence was replaced by that of the Ptolemies, who established a satrapy in coastal Thrace.
January 240 BC: Antiochus II left two ambitious mothers in a competition to put their respective sons on the throne of the Seleucid Kingdom, Laodice and Berenice. Berenice asked her brother Ptolemy III, the new Ptolemaic king, to come to Antioch and help place her son on the throne. When Ptolemy arrived, Berenice and her child had been assassinated.
Ptolemy declared war on Laodice's newly crowned son, Seleucus II, in 246 BC, and campaigned with great success. In exchange for a peace in 241 BC, Ptolemy was awarded new territories on the northern coast of Syria, including Seleucia Pieria, the port of Antioch.
3.4.Fourth Syrian War
Was one of the wars between the Seleucid Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Kingdom over the domain in the Levant.
3.4.1.Invasion of Phoenicia
Was a Seleucid military campaign in Pheonicia to reconquer the region from the Ptoleamic Kingdom during the Fourth Syrian War.
January 218 BC: Upon taking the Seleucid throne in 223 BC, Antiochus III the Great (241-187 BC) set himself the task of restoring the lost imperial possessions of Seleucus I Nicator. Egypt had been significantly weakened by court intrigue and public unrest. The rule of the newly inaugurated Ptolemy IV Philopator (reigned 221-204 BC) began with the murder of queen-mother Berenice II. The young king quickly fell under the absolute influence of imperial courtiers.
Antiochus sought to take advantage of this chaotic situation. He finally began the Fourth Syrian War in 219 BC. He recaptured Seleucia Pieria as well as cities in Phoenicia, amongst them Tyre.
3.5.Fifth Syrian War
Was one of the many wars between the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Seleucid Kingdom over the region of Coele-Syria.
January 199 BC: The death of Ptolemy IV in 204 BC was followed by a bloody conflict over the regency as his heir, Ptolemy V, was just a child. The regency was passed from one adviser to another, and the kingdom was in a state of near anarchy.
Seeking to take advantage of this turmoil, Antiochus III staged a second invasion of Coele-Syria. After a brief setback at Gaza, he delivered a crushing blow to the Ptolemies at the Battle of Panium near the head of the River Jordan which earned him the important port of Sidon.
January 197 BC: Antiochus completed the subjugation of Coele-Syria in 198 BC and went on to raid Ptolemy's remaining coastal strongholds in Caria and Cilicia.
3.6.Sixth Syrian War
Was one of the wars between the Seleucid Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Kingdom over the domain in the Levant.
3.6.1.Conquest of Pelusium
The Seleucids conquered Pelusium, in Egypt.
December 170 BC: The Seleucids, led by King Antiochus IV, captured the strategic city of Pelusium in -170. This victory allowed the Seleucid Kingdom to expand its territory and exert control over key trade routes in the region.
3.6.2.Egypt becomes a Seleucid puppet state
Seleucid King Antiochus took Egyptian King Ptolemy VI (who was his nephew) under his guardianship, giving him effective control of Ptolemaic Egypt. .
December 169 BC: The Egyptians realised their folly in starting the war, Eulaeus and Lenaeus were overthrown and replaced by two new regents, Comanus and Cineas, and envoys were sent to negotiate a peace treaty with Antiochus. Antiochus took Ptolemy VI (who was his nephew) under his guardianship, giving him effective control of Egypt.
3.6.3.Revolt of Egypt against the Seleucids
Egypt revolted against Antiochus IV and expelled the Seleucids.
January 168 BC: The people of Alexandria proclaimed Ptolemy Physcon as sole king. Antiochus besieged Alexandria but he was unable to cut communications to the city so, at the end of 169, he withdrew his army.
3.6.4.Intervention of Rome in the Sixth Syrian War
Due to the intervention of Rome, the Seleucid King Antiochus IV was forced to leave the territories conquered from the Ptolemaic Kingdom during the Sixth Syrian War.
January 167 BC: At Eleusis, on the outskirts of the capital, Antiochus met Popilius Laenas, with whom he had been friends during his stay in Rome. But instead of a friendly welcome, Popilius offered the king an ultimatum from the Senate: he must evacuate Egypt and Cyprus immediately. Antiochus begged to have time to consider but Popilius drew a circle round him in the sand with his cane and told him to decide before he stepped outside it. Antiochus chose to obey the Roman ultimatum. The "Day of Eleusis" ended the Sixth Syrian War and Antiochus' hopes of conquering Egyptian territory.
The Cappadocian Kingdom - which was relatively indipendant since the death of Alexander the Great - gained its independence during the reign of Ariarathes III.
January 254 BC: The Cappadocian Kingdom, which was relatively indipendant since the death of Alexander the great, gained its independence during the reign of Ariarathes III.
Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BC.
January 249 BC: Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BC.
January 245 BC: Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria, founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire. The ancient sources are contradictory, and the exact date of Bactrian independence has not been settled.
On the death of his father, in 246 BCE, Antiochus Herax waged war on his brother Seleucus II Callinicus, the ruler of the Seleucid Kingdom, in order to seize Anatolia for himself as an independent kingdom.
January 238 BC: On the death of his father, who was the ruler of the Seleucid Empire, Antiochos Herax waged war on his brother Seleucus II Callinicus, in order to seize Anatolia for himself as an independent kingdom. He defeated his brother at the Battle of Ancyra.
Was the rebellion of Seleucid General Ahaoios II in Asia minor.
7.1.Secession of Asia Minor (Ahaios II)
Was the rebellion of Seleucid General Ahaoios II in Asia minor.
January 220 BC: Ahaios, who governed the satrapies of Anatolia, revolted against the Seleucid king and established his own kingdom.
7.2.Seleucid reconquest of Asia minor (221 BC)
The Seleucid Kingdom reconquered a part of the territories of rebel General Ahaios II.
January 220 BC: Achaeus, who had accompanied Seleucus III, assumed control of the army. He was offered and refused the kingship in favor of Seleucus III's younger brother Antiochus III the Great, who then made Achaeus governor of Seleucid Asia Minor north of the Taurus. Within two years Achaeus had recovered all the lost Seleucid territories, "shut up Attalus within the walls of Pergamon", and assumed the title of king.
7.3.Pergamon invades the Kingdom of Ahaios
The Kingdom of Pergamon invaded the domains of rebel general Ahaios II.
January 217 BC: Attalus recaptured his former territories with the help of some Thracian Gauls.
January 217 BC: After a period of peace, in 218 BC, while Achaeus was involved in an expedition to Selge south of the Taurus, Attalus, with some Thracian Gauls, recaptured his former territories. However Achaeus returned from victory in Selge in 217 BC and resumed hostilities with Attalus.
7.4.Seleucid reconquest of Asia minor (213 BC)
Rebel Seleucid General Ahaios II was defeated.
January 212 BC: At first, Ahaios is tolerated by Antiochos III then he is attacked in Sardis, defeated and killed by him in 213 BC.
Was a war between the Kingdom of Pergamon and the Seleucid Kingdom where Pergamon gained control over all of Seleucid Asia Minor north of the Taurus Mountains.
January 219 BC: Within two years he recovered the lost territories and forced Attalus within the walls of Pergamon.
Was the invasion by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom that had separated from the Seleucid Kingdom 50 years before.
January 209 BC: Euthydemus was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. He then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra, before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler, and to offer one of his daughters to Euthydemus's son Demetrius.
January 206 BC: Euthydemus was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. He then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra, before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler, and to offer one of his daughters to Euthydemus's son Demetrius.
Were the wars between the secessionist Parthian kingdom and the Seleucid Kingdom.
January 208 BC: Antiochus III was an ambitious Seleucid king who had a vision of reuniting Alexander the Great's empire under the Seleucid dynasty. In 209 BC he launched a campaign to regain control of the eastern provinces, and after defeating the Parthians in battle, he successfully regained control over the region. The Parthians were forced to accept vassal status and now only controlled the land conforming to the former Seleucid province of Parthia.
January 189 BC: At the battle of Magnesia, Seleucids were defeated by Romans in 190 BC. Parthia and Atropatene considered Rome a threat to their independence and therefore allied themselves in the struggle against Rome.
January 186 BC: After the defeat in the battle of Magnesia Antiochus began an expedition into Iran, but was killed in Elymaïs. The Arsacids then took power in Parthia and declared their full independence from the Seleucid Empire.
January 175 BC: Phraates I was the king of the Parthian Empire from 176-171 BC. He successfully expanded Parthia's territory beyond the Gates of Alexander by occupying Apamea Ragiana, a strategic city in the region. This conquest solidified Parthia's control over the area and demonstrated Phraates I's military prowess.
January 169 BC: Margiana, located in present-day Turkmenistan, was conquered by the Parthians under the rule of Mithridates I of Parthia around 170 BC. Mithridates I was a prominent ruler of the Parthian Empire known for expanding its territories through military conquests.
January 147 BC: In 148 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates I invaded Media.
January 146 BC: Parthian conquest of Babylonia in Mesopotamia, where Mithridates had coins minted at Seleucia in 141 BC and held an official investiture ceremony.
January 146 BC: After suffering a defeat, Mithridates retreated to Hyrcania. His forces then conquered the kingdoms of Elymais and Characene before taking control of Susa, a significant city in the region. This event took place in -147 and marked a significant expansion of the Parthian Empire's territory.
January 140 BC: In 141 BC the Parthians captured the major Seleucid city of Seleucia. These victories gave Mithridates control over Mesopotamia and Babylonia.
January 138 BC: In 139 BC the Parthians defeated a major Seleucid counterattack, breaking the Seleucid army, and captured the Seleucid King, Demetrius II, thus effectively ending Seleucid claims to any land east of the Euphrates river.
January 99 BC: By 100 BC, the once formidable Seleucid Empire encompassed little more than Antioch and some Syrian cities.
10.1.Secession of Parthia
Taking advantage of the uncertain political situation in the Seleucid Kingdom, Andragoras, the Seleucid governor of Parthia, proclaimed his independence.
January 246 BC: Following the death of Antiochos II, Ptolemy III seized control of the Seleucid capital at Antioch. Taking advantage of the uncertain political situation, Andragoras, the Seleucid governor of Parthia, proclaimed his independence and began minting his own coins.
January 245 BC: After spending some time in exile among the nomadic Apasiacae tribe, Arsaces led a counterattack and recaptured Parthia.
January 245 BC: Diodotus II formed an alliance with Arsaces against the Seleucids, but Arsaces was temporarily driven from Parthia by the forces of Seleucus II Callinicus.
10.2.Independance of the Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire became completely independent from the Seleucid Kingdom.
January 175 BC: The Seleucids were unable to further intervene in Parthian affairs following increasing encroachment by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid defeat at Magnesia in 190 BC. Phriapatius of Parthia succeeded Arsaces II, and Phraates I of Parthia eventually ascended the throne. Phraates I ruled Parthia without further Seleucid interference.
10.3.Wars of Antiochus VII
Were the military campaigns of Seleucid King Antiochus VII Sidetes against several usurpers.
Were a seris of conflicts between the Roman Republic and Antigonid Macedonia over control of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean Basin. .
11.1.Second Macedonian War
Was a war fought by Rome, allied with the Kingdoms of Pergamons and Rhodes, against Antigonid Macedonia.
January 203 BC: In 205 BC. Ptolemy IV Pharaoh of Egypt died, leaving his six-year-old son Ptolemy V Epiphanes on the throne. Philip V of Macedonia and Antiochus III the Great, king of the Seleucid Empire, decided to exploit the young pharaoh's weakness by stipulating a secret pact which promised the Macedonian king hegemony in the Aegean and Antiochus hegemony over Coele-Syria, Cilicia, the Phenicia and Palestine. Philip first focused on the Greek city-states in Thrace and the Dardanelles area. His advance in the area, with the conquest of Cio, alarmed Rhodes and Pergamum.
Was fought by King Philip V of Macedon, the Aetolian League, many Cretan cities (of which Olous and Hierapytna were the most important) and Spartan pirates against the forces of Rhodes and later Attalus I of Pergamum, Byzantium, Cyzicus, Athens, and Knossos.
January 200 BC: Philip of Macedon seized the city of Myus and gave it to the Magnesians.
January 200 BC: He took the island of Samos from Ptolemy V.
January 200 BC: Philip Macedon seized the cities of Iasos, Bargylia, Euromus and Pedasa in quick succession.
January 199 BC: In -200, the Macedonians, led by King Philip V of Macedon, advanced on the Thracian Chersonese and captured several cities including Perinthus, Sestos, Elaeus, Alopeconnesus, Callipolis, and Madytus. This expansion of territory was part of Philip V's efforts to strengthen his control over the region.
Were a series of succesful military campaigns by Antiochus III to expand Selecuid territories in Asia Minor.
13.1.Conquest of territories of Pergamon
Was a military campaign led by Antiochus III the Great against the Kingdom of Pergamon.
January 197 BC: Taking advantage of the Second Macedonian War between Rome and Philip V, Antiochos led an ambitious policy which led him to intervene in Asia Minor and Thrace with the intention, it seems, of restoring the empire of Seleucus. It clashes with the kingdom of Pergamum from 198 BC and occupies the territories taken by Attale I in Achaios, without Eumenes II being able to intervene. He also got along with Prusias of Bithynia, to whom he offered a portion of Phrygia.
13.2.Conquest of the territories in Asia minor up to the the Hellespont
Was a military campaign led by Seleucid ruler Antiochus III the Great that resulted in conquests up to the Hellespont.
January 196 BC: In the spring of 197, Seleucid ruler Antiochos III reached the Hellespont and then occupied the Straits, subjugating the Greek cities that were autonomous or formerly under Antigonid authority. He made Ephesus his main naval base in the Aegean Sea. In Ionia its successes are more limited: Miletus and Magnesia of the Meander remain independent.
13.3.Conquest of Thracia
Was a succesful military campaign led by Seleucid ruler Antiochus III in Thrace.
January 195 BC: Seleucid ruler Antiochus conquered Thrace.
Was a military conflict between two coalitions led by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire. The fighting ended with a clear Roman victory. In the Treaty of Apamea, the Seleucids were forced to give up Asia Minor, which fell to Roman allies.
January 191 BC: Seleucid Invasion of Greece up to the Thermopylae.
January 189 BC: After the defeat of Antiochus III in 190 BC they were included among the provinces annexed by the Romans to the dominions of Eumenes of Pergamum.
January 189 BC: Probably not ocntrolled anymore by the seleucids when armenia was created.
14.1.Treaty of Apamea
Was a peace treaty conducted in 188 BC between the Roman Republic and Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid Empire. It ended the Roman-Seleucid War.
January 187 BC: The Romans sent an army to Greece which defeated Antiochus' army at Thermopylae. This defeat proved crushing, and the Seleucids were forced to retreat from Greece.
Was a war between the Galatian Gauls and the Roman Republic supported by their allies Pergamon in 189 BC.
January 188 BC: The Romans turned their attention to the Celtic tribes of the Galatians settled in Galatia and defeated them in a battle on Mount Olympus, where the entire Galatian army was annihilated.
February 188 BC: The Roman army leaves Mount Olympus.
Was a Jewish rebellion, lasting from 167 to 160 BCE, agains the Seleucid Kingdom.
January 159 BC: The Hasmonean Kingdom becomes de facto indipendant.
Were a series of military campaigns (against the Seleucid Kingdom and the Nabateans) by the Hasmonean Kings to expand their territory.
17.1.Conquest of Jonathan
Military campaigns of Hasmonean King Jonathan.
January 146 BC: Conquests of Jonathan (Hasmonean Kingdom).
17.2.Conquests of Simon
Military campaigns of Hasmonean King Simon.
January 138 BC: Conquests of Simon (Hasmonean Kingdom).
17.3.Conquests of Hyrcanus
Military campaigns of Hasmonean King Hyrcanus I.
January 109 BC: Conquests of Hyrcanus (Hasmonean Kingdom).
17.4.Conquests of Aristobulus
Military campaigns of Hasmonean King Aristobulus.
January 102 BC: Conquests of Aristobulus (Hasmonean Kingdom).
17.5.Conquests of Alexander Jannaeus
Military campaigns of Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus.
January 95 BC: Conquests of Alexander Jannaeus (Hasmonean Kingdom) by 96 BC.
17.6.Battle of Gadara
Was a battle between the Hasmoneans and the Nabataeans in 93 BC.
January 92 BC: The Hasmoneans lost the territories acquired in Transjordan during the 93 BC Battle of Gadara, where the Nabataeans ambushed Jannaeus and his forces in a hilly area. The Nabataeans saw the acquisitions as a threat to their interests, and used a large number of camels in the form of a bulldozer to push the Hasmonean forces into a deep valley where Jannaeus was "lucky to escape alive". Jannaeus returned to fierce Jewish opposition in Jerusalem after his defeat, and had to cede the acquired territories to the Nabataeans so that he could dissuade them from supporting his opponents in Judea.
Were a series of wars of succession that were fought between competing branches of the Seleucid royal household for control of the Seleucid Empire.
January 144 BC: Alexander Balas reigned until 145 BC when he was overthrown by Demetrius I's son, Demetrius II Nicator. Demetrius II proved unable to control the whole of the kingdom, however. While he ruled Babylonia and eastern Syria from Damascus, the remnants of Balas' supporters - first supporting Balas' son Antiochus VI, then the usurping general Diodotus Tryphon - held out in Antioch.
January 138 BC: Parthian expansion continued as well. In 139 BC, Demetrius II was defeated in battle by the Parthians and was captured. By this time, the entire Iranian Plateau had been lost to Parthian control.
18.1.Secession of Molon
Was the rebellion of Seleucid General Molon in the Satrapies of Persia and Media.
January 221 BC: Molon, governor general of the higher Seleucid satrapies (including Persia and Media) revolted. Molon forced the strategists of the royal army into retirement by occupying the country east of the Tigris. King Antiochos sent only a mercenary strategist named Xenoitas against him who get beaten.
18.1.1.Defeat of Molon
Rebel Seleucid General Molon was defeated.
January 220 BC: Antiochos found himself in a difficult situation, having to deal with this uprising while trying in vain to reconquer Coele-Syria from Ptolemy III. The king ends up deciding to go to the East himself on the advice of Epigenes. The campaign is conducted relatively effectively as Molon is defeated and commits suicide.
18.2.Timarchus Usurpation
Revolt of the Satrap of the Seleucid Kingdom Timarchus in the Persian east.
January 162 BC: Timarchus was a usurper in the Seleucid empire between 163-160 BC who managed to extend his realm into Babylonia (162 BC), where records of his reign were inscribed into the astronomical calendars.
January 159 BC: Timarchus' forces were however not enough for the legal Seleucid king: Demetrius defeated and killed Timarchus in 160 BC, and the Seleucid empire was temporarily united again.
Was fought between Greek Seleucid under king Antiochus XII Dionysus of Syria, and the Arab Nabataean Kingdom.
January 83 BC: The battle of Cana was fought between Greek Seleucid under king Antiochus XII Dionysus of Syria, and the Arab Nabataean Kingdom. Antiochus was slain during the combat and the battle became a decisive Nabataean victory and demoralized army fled and perished from starvation in the desert afterwards.
February 83 BC: The battle of Cana was fought between Greek Seleucid under king Antiochus XII Dionysus of Syria, and the Arab Nabataean Kingdom. Antiochus was slain during the combat and the battle became a decisive Nabataean victory and demoralized army fled and perished from starvation in the desert afterwards.
Military conquests of Armenian King Tigranes the Great.
20.1.Armenian Occupation of Syria
Military campaign of Armenian King Tigranes the Great to conquer the Seleucid Kingdom, which at the time was reduced mainly to Syria.
January 82 BC: In 83 BC, after bloody strife for the throne of Syria, governed by the Seleucids, the Syrians decided to choose Tigranes as the protector of their kingdom and offered him the crown of Syria. Magadates was appointed as his governor in Antioch. He then conquered Phoenicia and Cilicia, effectively putting an end to the last remnants of the Seleucid Empire.
January 301 BC: Pharnavaz, victorious in a power struggle, became the first king of Iberia (c.302- c.237 BC).
January 300 BC: Following the defeat of Antigonus and Demetrius in the battle of Ipsus (301 BC), there was a vacuum of power in Asia Minor, which Mithridates exploited to create an independent domain.
January 279 BC: In the following years he expanded the influence of his domain, defending it from the aims of Seleucus I, and in 281 or 280 BC he was able to declare himself Βασιλεύς (Basileus «ruler») of the territories of northern Cappadocia and eastern Paphlagonia.
January 278 BC: In 279 BC Miletus was taken from Seleucid king Antiochus II by Egyptian king Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
January 278 BC: Sakarya wiver and Amastris conquered by Kingdom of Pontus.
January 268 BC: Either in 275 or 269 BC Seleucid king Antiochos' army faced the Galatians somewhere on the plain of Sardis in the Battle of Elephants. In the aftermath of the battle the Celts then settled in northern Phrygia, a region that eventually came to be known as Galatia.
January 262 BC: Ephesus came under Egyptian rule between 263 and 197 BC.
January 251 BC: Antiochus II campaigned in the Thracian interior in around 252 BC.
January 249 BC: The history of the Kuninda Kingdom is documented from around the 2nd century BC. They are mentioned in Indian epics and Puranas. One of the first kings of the Kuninda was Amoghbhuti, who ruled in the mountainous valley of the Yamuna and Sutlej rivers (in today's Uttarakhand and southern Himachal in northern India).
January 249 BC: The Zenon papyri, a collection of documents from the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, provide evidence of the Nabataeans expanding into the Hauran region around -250 BC. This marked the Nabatean Kingdom's territorial expansion and influence in the area during this period.
January 236 BC: Iberian kin Saurmag, Colchis regained its independence.
January 222 BC: In 223 BC a Seleucid attack toward Atropatene resulted in victory. Consequently, the king of Atropatene, Artabazan, accepted the ascendency of Seleucids and became dependent on it.
January 204 BC: In 206-205 BC Antiochos III (222-187 BC) seems to have recovered Drangiana for the Seleucids during his Anabasis.
January 199 BC: In the second half of the 3rd century BC it was at least temporarily annexed by Euthydemos I of Bactria.
January 199 BC: After 246 BC, for about half a century, the Ptolemies, a dynasty of Macedonian Greek origin, ruled over the territory of Nan. However, in -200 BC, the territory was conquered by the Seleucid Kingdom, a Hellenistic state founded by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals.
January 199 BC: After the departure of the Seleucid army, the kingdom seems to have expanded, in particular towards the west, probably incorporating portions of the Parthian territory, whose ruler Arsaces II had been defeated by Antiochus III.
January 199 BC: Remained in their control through 200 BC.
January 199 BC: After the departure of the Seleucid army, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, under the rule of King Euthydemus I and his son Demetrius I, experienced maximal northern expansion on the map around -200. This expansion marked a significant period of territorial growth and influence for the kingdom.
January 189 BC: The defeat of the Seleucid King Antiochos III by the Romans at Magnesia Sipylus in 190 BC redraws the political map of the Middle East. Under the terms of the Peace of Apamea (188 BC), Antiochus III could no longer intervene north of the Taurus, creating a political vacuum which was immediately filled by new independent kingdoms. From 190 BC. BC, the satrap of Armenia Artaxias, with whom the Carthaginian Hannibal took refuge, founded on his advice the city of Artaxates (south of present-day Yerevan) on the banks of the Araxes, and makes it the capital of a kingdom of Armenia of which he proclaims himself king, with the blessing of the Romans.
January 188 BC: The Kingdom of Gordiene emerged with the decline of the Seleucid Empire.
January 188 BC: After the defeat of Antiochus III in the battle of Magnesia against the Romans, two Seleucid generals, Artaxias and Zariadres, declared themselves independent kings of Sophene in -189 BC.
January 163 BC: Coinage implies the establishment of a kingdom in Adiabene around 164 BC, following the disintegration of Greek Seleucid rule in the Near East.
January 161 BC: The Hellenistic kingdom of Commagene, bounded by Cilicia on the west and Cappadocia on the north, arose in 162 BC when its governor, Ptolemy, a satrap of the disintegrating Seleucid Empire, declared himself independent.
January 146 BC: The Kingdom of Elymais was autonomous state of the 2nd century BC.
January 140 BC: The Seleucids had suffered heavy defeats by the Iranian Parthian Empire; in 148/7 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates I (r. 171-132 BC) conquered Media and Atropatene, and by 141 BC, was in the possession of Babylonia. The menace and proximity of the Parthians caused Hyspaosines to declare independence.
January 131 BC: Osroene, or Edessa, was one of several states that acquired independence from the collapsing Seleucid Empire through a dynasty of the nomadic Nabataean Arab tribe from Southern Canaan and North Arabia, the Osrhoeni, from 136 BC.
Disestablishment
January 82 BC: In 83 BC, after bloody strife for the throne of Syria, governed by the Seleucids, the Syrians decided to choose Tigranes as the protector of their kingdom and offered him the crown of Syria. Magadates was appointed as his governor in Antioch. He then conquered Phoenicia and Cilicia, effectively putting an end to the last remnants of the Seleucid Empire.
Selected Sources
Schwartzberg,J. E. (1992): A Historical Atlas of South Asia, Minneapolis (USA), Plate III.B.4b (p.18) and Plate XIV.1a-c (p.145).
Seleucid Kingdom
