#seleucids

[secular-jew]

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When Arabs try to deny the Jewish people’s indigeneity to the Levant, and to Judea and to Samaria and to Jerusalem - remind them that they’re simply ignorant assholes, and probably juts basic antisemite Jew haters.

[jeannereames]

Here come the interviews, folks!

First one with Dr. Graham Wrightson, discussing the Macedonian sarissa. These are longer than the ones I'm doing just me. I think it's easier to listen longer with two people. But also, it's harder to have them on multiple times to break up discussions into shorter segments.

And as it's no longer a secret, as I mention it at the end, my next guest later in April is none other than the great Dr. Sabine Müller, coming to talk about Perdikkas II, probably one of the most under-rated Argead kings. I have two more folks I'm in talks with for probably June or July--more names several of you will recognize!

[classicstober]

#ClassicsTober24 Day 27. Menander I Soter

Picked by Derek: The Hellenistic Age Podcast

[aboutanancientenquiry]

"Examining the evolution of kingship in the Ancient Near East from the time of the Sumerians to the rise of the Seleucids in Babylon, this book argues that the Sumerian emphasis on the divine favour that the fertility goddess and the Sun god bestowed upon the king should be understood metaphorically from the start and that these metaphors survived in later historical periods, through popular literature including the Epic of Gilgameš and the Enuma Eliš. The author’s research shows that from the earliest times Near Eastern kings and their scribes adapted these metaphors to promote royal legitimacy in accordance with legendary exempla that highlighted the role of the king as the establisher of order and civilization. As another Gilgameš and, later, as a pious servant of Marduk, the king renewed divine favour for his subjects, enabling them to share the 'Garden of the Gods'. Seleucus and Antiochus found these cultural ideas, as they had evolved in the first millennium BCE, extremely useful in their efforts to establish their dynasty at Babylon. Far from playing down cultural differences, the book considers the ideological agendas of ancient Near Eastern empires as having been shaped mainly by class — rather than race-minded elites."

Table of Contents

Introduction: Laying the groundwork / Dying kings in the ANE: Gilgameš and his travels in the garden of power / Sacred marriage in the ANE: the collapse of the garden and its aftermath / Renewing the cosmos: garden and goddess in first millennium ideology / The Seleucids at Babylon: flexing traditions and reclaiming the garden / Synthesis: cultivating community memory.

Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides is a senior Lecturer in Classical Studies at Monash University, Australia. She holds degrees from Aristotle University, Greece, and the Universities of Leeds and Kent at Canterbury in the UK. She studied Akkadian through Macquarie University, Australia. She has published extensively on ancient comparative literature and religion and her work has appeared in a number of journals including The Classical Quarterly, Viator, GRBS, American Journal of Philology, The Classical Journal, Arethusa, Maia and Latomus.

Source: https://www.routledge.com/In-the-Garden-of-the-Gods-Models-of-Kingship-from-the-Sumerians-to-the/Anagnostou-Laoutides/p/book/9780367879433

Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides

[yr-hen-ogledd]

I’m seeing if I can clear a bit of space in the old cabinet, so these thorakitai are now up on ebay for those of you in the UK! And very much priced to move. If you want your own bunch of stabby Hellenic dudes, hit the link >>here<<

And they’re gone! That’s a nice chunk of fresh air in the cabinet.

[imperium-romanum]

The Rise and Demise of the Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state that existed between the 4th and 1st centuries BC. It was established by Seleucus I Nicator

By Wu Mingren

“The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state that existed between the 4th and 1st centuries BC. It was established by Seleucus I Nicator (meaning ‘victor’ or ‘conqueror’), one of the diadochi, or successors, of Alexander the Great. Seleucus gained control of the eastern provinces, and his empire was the largest among the successor states of Alexander’s Macedonian Empire . At its greatest extent, the Seleucid Empire stretched from Thrace in the west to the border of India in the east.”

“Nevertheless, the size of the Seleucid Empire was both its strength and its weakness, as the resources of the Seleucids were overstretched, making it difficult for them to hold on to their territories. The Seleucids were constantly at war with the other successors of Alexander , most notably the Ptolemies. In the end, however, neither were able to overcome the other and it was the Romans who emerged victorious over both the Seleucids and the Ptolemies.”

Continue reading

[labormyego]

Everything he'd hoped for turned out wrong. He'd seen himself doing great things, ending the humiliation that had kept his country down ever since the battle of Magnesia- seen himself making Syria a powerful state again, with her armies, her fleets, her big fortresses, her wealth. He'd suffered in Rome, become bitter when he sensed in the talk of friends, young men of the great families, that in spite of all their delicacy, their politeness toward him, the son of King Selefkos Philopator- when he sensed that in spite of this there was always a secret contempt for the Hellenized dynasties: their heyday was over, they weren't fit for anything serious, were completely unable to rule their peoples. He'd cut himself off, indignant, swearing it would be quite different from the way they thought. Why, wasn't he himself full of determination? He would act, he would fight, he would put it all right again. If he could only find a way of getting to the East, only manage to escape from Italy, then all this inner strength, all this energy, he'd pass on to his people. Only to be in Syria! He was so young when he left his country he hardly remembered what it looked like. But in his mind he'd always thought of it as something sacred that you approach reverently, as a beautiful place unveiled, a vision of Greek cities and Greek ports. And now? Now despair and sorrow. They were right, the young men in Rome. The dynasties resulting from the Macedonian Conquest can't be kept going any longer. It doesn't matter. He'd made the effort, fought as much as he could. And in his bleak disillusion there's only one thing in which he still takes pride: that even in failure he shows the world his same indomitable courage. The rest: they were dreams and wasted energy. This Syria -it almost seems it isn't his country- this Syria is the land of Valas and Herakleidis.

--- C. P. Cavafy,  "Of Dimitrios Sotir (162-150 B.C.)"

[archaeologicalnews]

Drones Help Discover Lost City With Ties to Alexander the Great

With the help of drones, archaeologists discovered a lost city with ties to Alexander the Great, according to the British Museum in London.

Qalatga Darband, an ancient city located in what is now Iraqi Kurdistan, lies along the Darband-I Rania, or a pass at the Zagros Mountains. What’s so significant about this path? Besides being a historic route from Mesopotamia to Iran, Alexander the Great traveled the path more than 2,000 years ago.

Declassified spy satellite images from the 1960s first gave explorers a glance at this city, which had never been deeply explored. In addition to ground surveying, researchers used drones to take images. The team discovered buried buildings after analyzing images taken via drone, according to the British Museum. Read more.