Customer Reviews

Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom

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Seleukos Nikator "the Victorious" was a contemporary of Alexander the Great, one of his junior officers at the beginning of his campaigns in Asia, and the last man standing of Alexander's immediate successors. He would fail to re-establish Alexander's empire, but he would leave an empire to his own successors, almost the Persian empire that Alexander conquered, except for Greece, Egypt and India, that would endure for a couple of centuries before invaders from the east and the Romans from the west swept it away. Only Macedonian Egypt survived longer, but only as a client of Rome.

This is a very readable and informative book. The author has mastered the sources, understanding the problems of the partial or non-existent information from the period under study, and is able to identify the motes in the eyes of previous historians who have speculated in these gaps, while pointing out the potential beams in his own hypotheses regarding some of them. However, he is very plausible, and is quite happy to say "we don't know" where there is no room for speculation.

The book is a narrative history, and the reliability of the sources are discussed as they appear in the story, without detracting from the narrative, as understanding the sources is essential to understanding the period. There were many 'propaganda' stories created and circulated by the various contending parties during the period, and there are interesting discussions of the meaning and purpose of these, and their likely sponsors. There is even an entire war missing from the sources, the campaign by Antigonos against Seleukos from about 311-308BC. Page 88: "The existing records can be interpreted to yield a story of sorts, And more information will turn up, as excavations in areas such as Iraq, Iran, Soviet Central Asia, and Afghanistan are made". This book was published in 1990. I think we must reconcile ourselves to a long wait for further information.

There are 5 useful maps at the back of the book, along with copious notes. The author, as befits a discussion of a Greek subject, uses lots of "K"s in the names, such as Kyros (Cyrus), Karrhai (Carrhae), Kilikia (Cilicia), Kappadocia (Cappadocia) and Kassandros (Cassander). It may take a while for us older readers more used to the "C" spelling to change modes to follow the pronunciation. The book does not look at the cut & thrust of battles or their tactics, but does discuss the campaigns, as they are an integral part of the story, the main protagonists all fighting for an empire, and Seleukos is called "the victorious", after all. This is a very clear and readable book on Seleukos and his world.

See The Wars of Alexander's Successors 323 - 281 BC: Commanders and Campaigns v. 1 and The Wars of Alexander's Successors 323-281 BC: Battles and Tactics v. 2 for further reading on the purely military side of things.

Further recommended reading by John D. Grainger:
The League of Aitolians (Mnemosyne, Supplements)
The Syrian Wars (Mnemosyne, Supplements)
The Roman War of Antiochos the Great (Mnemosyne, Supplements)
Hellenistic and Roman Naval Warfare 336BC - 31BC
Alexander the Great Failure: The Collapse of the Macedonian Empire (Hambledon Continuum)
Hellenistic Phoenicia

Note - I borrowed this book from a library. Make your taxes work for you!