Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, one of his commanders, Seleukos Nikator, rose over a period of forty years from being a landless refugee to the most successful of the Successor kings. This biography, first published in 1990, makes use of both historical and archaeological sources to trace the stages of Seleukos’ life as he added province to province, kingdom to kingdom, gradually building an empire which stretched from India to Greece and founding a state which lasted for the next two centuries. This strangely neglected figure in ancient history emerges as a modestly proficient general, an excellent strategist, a consummate diplomat, and an inventive and constructive ruler, the diversity of his empire demanding intelligence of a high order to hold it together. Seleukos Nikator will be of interest to students of ancient history and the politics of the Hellenistic world.

When the vast empire of Alexander the Great broke up, the Macedonian general Seleucus secured the lion’s share for himself and went on to become the longest-lived of Alexander’s successors. His tactical skills and his military innovations – including his use of war elephants on a scale never seen before in the West – earned him the epithet Nicator, “victorious”. When he died at the hands of an assassin in 281 BC, Seleucus ruled over a larger territory than any Hellenistic monarch before or since his time, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. This book is a study of his life and achievements, his time and his legacy. It is based on Graeco-Roman and Babylonian written sources as well as on the rapidly growing body of archaeological evidence. Lise Hannestad is professor emerita of Classical Archaeology at Aarhus University. Her main research areas are the Near East in the Hellenistic period, the Etruscans and Black Sea archaeology.

Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, one of his commanders, Seleukos Nikator, rose over a period of forty years from being a landless refugee to the most successful of the Successor kings. This biography, first published in 1990, makes use of both historical and archaeological sources to trace the stages of Seleukos’ life as he added province to province, kingdom to kingdom, gradually building an empire which stretched from India to Greece and founding a state which lasted for the next two centuries. This strangely neglected figure in ancient history emerges as a modestly proficient general, an excellent strategist, a consummate diplomat, and an inventive and constructive ruler, the diversity of his empire demanding intelligence of a high order to hold it together. Seleukos Nikator will be of interest to students of ancient history and the politics of the Hellenistic world.

This authoritative and sweeping compendium, the second volume in Getzel Cohen's organized survey of the Greek settlements founded or refounded in the Hellenistic period, provides historical narratives, detailed references, citations, and commentaries on all the settlements in Syria, The Red Sea Basin, and North Africa from 331 to 31 BCE. Organized geographically, the volume pulls together discoveries and debates from dozens of widely scattered archaeological and epigraphic projects. Cohen's magisterial breadth of focus enables him to provide more than a compilation of information; the volume also contributes to ongoing questions and will point the way toward new avenues of inquiry.

Dedicated to Getzel M. Cohen, a leading expert in Seleucid history, this volume gathers 45 contributions on Seleucid history, archaeology, numismatics, political relations, policy toward the Jews, Greek cities, non-Greek populations, peripheral and neighboring regions, imperial administration, economy and public finances, and ancient descriptions of the Seleucid Empire. The reader will gain an international perspective on current research.