Culture and Ideology under the Seleukids: Unframing a Dynasty

by: Anagnostou-Laoutides, E. Pfeiffer, S.

About this book
The volume offers a timely (re-)appraisal of Seleukid cultural dynamics. While the engagement of Seleukid kings with local populations and the issue of “Hellenization” are still debated, a movement away from the Greco-centric approach to the study of the sources has gained pace. Increasingly textual sources are read alongside archaeological and numismatic evidence, and relevant near-eastern records are consulted.
Our study of Seleukid kingship adheres to two game-changing principles: 1. We are not interested in judging the Seleukids as “strong” or “weak” whether in their interactions with other Hellenistic kingdoms or with the populations they ruled. 2. While appreciating the value of the social imaginaries approach (Stavrianopoulou, 2013), we argue that the use of ethnic identity in antiquity remains problematic.
Through a pluralistic approach, in line with the complex cultural considerations that informed Seleukid royal agendas, we examine the concept of kingship and its gender aspects; tensions between centre and periphery; the level of “acculturation” intended and achieved under the Seleukids; the Seleukid-Ptolemaic interrelations. As rulers of a multi-cultural empire, the Seleukids were deeply aware of cultural politics.

Author information
Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides, Macquarie University, Australia; Stefan Pfeiffer, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.

Frontmatter
Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction Un-Framing Seleukid Ideology
Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides and Stefan Pfeiffer

I REPRESENTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS: IDEOLOGY AND THE BEGINNINGS OF A MONARCHY
The Seleukid Royal Family as a Reigning Triad
Alex McAuley
Alexander vs. Soter vs. Nikator. Die Rolle Alexanders, Ptolemaios? I. und Seleukos? I. in der politischen Legitimation ihrer Nachfolger
Gunnar R. Dumke
Coinage and the Creation of the Seleukid Kingdom
Matthew Trundle and Christopher de Lisle
Seleucus and the Typology of Heracles
Daniel Ogden
Memory and Ideology of the First Successors of Alexander the Great as inscribed on Roman Mosaics from Apameia of Syria
Marek T. Olszewski

II POLITICAL CULTURE: A CONTESTED MONARCHY
Wars of the Brothers: the Contested Coalescence of Seleukid Statehood in mid-Third-Century Asia Minor
Paul McKechnie
The Reception of Seleukid Ideology in Second-Century BCE Judaea
Altay Coşkun
Popular Resistance to Seleukid Claims of Hegemony
Richard Wenghofer

III LOCAL IDEOLOGY: THE BABYLONIAN TRADITION AND GREEK CULTURE
How to understand Seleukids as Babylonian “Great Kings”
Andreas Mehl
Au sujet de la puissance symbolique des vêtements du souverain en Babylonie et dans l?Orient grec hellénistiques
Patrick M. Michel and Marie Widmer
Flexing Mythologies in Babylon and Antioch-on-the-Orontes: Divine Champions and their Aquatic Enemies under the Early Seleukids
Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides
The Death of Antiochos IV in the Context of Babylonian Hellenistic Historiography
Paul-Alain Beaulieu

IV CULTURAL INTERDEPENDENCIES: EMPIRES AND IDEOLOGIES IN DIALOGUE
The Influence of Seleukid Coinage upon the Bithynian and Pontic Monarchies to the Reign of Mithridates VI
Daniel Hunter
Kingship and Ruler Cult in Hellenistic Bactria: Beyond the Numismatic Sources
Rachel Mairs
Great King Ptolemy III and Great King Antiochos III: Remarks on the Significance of a “Persian” Title in their Representation
Stefan Pfeiffer
Mehr als Schall und Rauch? Das Seleukidenreich und seine antiken Namen
Thomas Brüggemann
Notes on Contributors (in alphabetical order)
Index

Culture and Ideology under the Seleukids: Unframing a Dynasty

by: Anagnostou-Laoutides, E. Pfeiffer, S.

• ISBN-13: 9783110755572 / 978-3-11-075557-2
• ISBN-03: 3110755572 / 3-11-075557-2
• Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 2022