Post-conflict settlement in the Seleukid kingdom throughout the third and second centuries BC

Abstract

My thesis aims to assess developments of post-conflict settlement measures enacted by the Seleukid kingdom throughout the third and second centuries BC. The reason for undertaking this research is to present a comprehensive study of epigraphic, literary and recent archaeological evidence pertinent to this topic, which has hitherto remained largely overlooked. I argue that the Seleukid administration primarily utilised the support of local institutions and powerholders as the most effective means of achieving political aims of territorial re-organisation. Extensive measures of garrisoning and appointment of royal officials with diplomatic, administrative, and military specialisations supplemented this goal. These strategic considerations were achieved through what I propose was a three-pronged model of civic benefaction, military consolidation, and monarchic ideology. Assessing the administrative continuity and adaptation of these consolidatory processes is another aim of this thesis. The thesis is organised according to geographical regions, involving a city-by-city examination of two regions in the kingdom which provide the most comprehensive evidence for this undertaking: western Asia Minor and the southern Levant.

The first section, which consists of chapter one, provides an introductory overview of Seleukid ideology which ultimately justified post-conflict settlement measures. The second section examines all relevant case studies from Asia Minor during the third century BC. The second and third chapters open with the Seleukid king Antiochos III’s reconstruction of the regional capital of Sardeis in western Asia Minor, from 213 through 205/204 BC, following a revolt by Achaios the Younger, the king’s cousin and former general. I consider this an ideal case-study of post-conflict settlement, given the abundant epigraphic, literary, and archaeological evidence.1 The re-stabilisation of Sardeis serves as a core comparative case-study for examples to be discussed throughout the following chapters of the thesis.

The fourth chapter in the second section examines other cities in western Asia Minor affected by Seleukid campaigns. Most of this evidence, recorded in an extensive epigraphic dossier of royally and locally issued decrees, dates to the time-frame of what scholars have dubbed the ‘Fifth Syrian War’ (ca. 203-192 BC). This campaign was a continuation of Antiochos III’s attempts to annex the region from the rival Ptolemaic and Antigonid kingdoms. Given the fragmentary evidence for this campaign, I will focus on one city from each subregion of Asia Minor, including Karia, Ionia, Lydia and Lykia, all of which show support for Sardeis’ successful settlement.

The third section consists of all relevant case-studies from the southern Levant. The fifth through eighth chapters of the thesis examine the Maccabean Revolt, a local conflict which erupted in the southern Levant in the early 160’s BC. Despite the primarily literary narratives for this conflict – the First and Second Books of Maccabees – emphasising a story of Seleukid weakness and failure, I argue that several passages from these sources actually reveal a number of successful strategies. These strategic considerations were again achieved through the establishment of long-term support in Jerusalem, a city in Judaea which was one of the primary locations for the eruption of the revolt. This support was successfully maintained through attention to local property rights and the appointment of royal and local officials who ensured aims of political stability within the Seleukid kingdom. Dynastic policies of garrisoning throughout the revolt were only implemented during moments of urgent instability, and at the request of local supporters.

The thesis concludes that the overall success of the proposed three-pronged model of civic benefaction, military consolidation, and monarchic ideology was only possible when the stability of the Seleukid centre of power, the royal court, was not compromised and external conflicts did not interfere in monarchic involvement with annexed cities. These exceptional disruptions included inter-dynastic strife within the Seleukid court of the mid-second century BC, which was ultimately detrimental to Seleukid means of achieving well-organised strategies of post-conflict settlement. However, the most successful demonstration of these successful outcomes was the establishment of political ties through ideological means, which came about through a support and reliance upon local institutions and powerholders within the kingdom.