- For the Syrian seaport of the same name that figures in the travels of Saint Paul, see Seleucia Pieria. Seleucia Pieria ( Greek Σελεύκεια Πιερία later Suedia) was a town in antiquity the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria Prima.
Seleucia (Greek: Σελεύκεια) was one of the great cities of the world during Hellenistic and Roman times. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial It stood in Mesopotamia, on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the smaller town of Opis (later Ctesiphon). Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great Rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern Opis (Akkadian Upî or Upija; Greek Ὦπις was an ancient Babylonian city on the Tigris, not far from modern Baghdad. For the Spanish saint see Ctesiphon of Vergium. Ctesiphon (قطسيفون تیسفون was one of the great cities of the Persian Empire [1]
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History
Seleucid empire
Seleucia, as such, was founded in about 305 BC, when an earlier city was enlarged and dedicated as the first capital of the Seleucid Empire by Seleucus I Nicator. Events By place Seleucid Empire Seleucus establishes Seleucia on the Tigris River as his capital The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i Seleucus I (surnamed for later generations Nicator, Greek: Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, i Seleucus was one of the generals of Alexander the Great who, after Alexander's death, divided his empire among themselves. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' [1] Although Seleucus soon moved his main capital to Antioch, in northern Syria, Seleucia became an important center of trade, Hellenistic culture, and regional government under the Seleucids. Antioch on the Orontes (Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη Antiochia ad Orontem also Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية The city was populated by Macedonians, Greeks, Syrians and Jews. [2] Standing at the confluence of the Tigris River with a major canal from the Euphrates, Seleucia was placed to receive traffic from both great waterways. The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת During the 3rd and 2nd century BC, it was one of the great Hellenistic cities, comparable to Alexandria, in Egypt, and greater than Syrian Antioch. The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics.
Polybius (5,52ff) uses the Macedonian peliganes for the council of Seleucia, which implies a Macedonian colony, consistently with its rise to prominence under Nicator; Pausanias (1,16) records that Seleucus also settled Babylonians there. Peliganes ( Greek: Πελιγᾶνες were called the Ancient Macedonian Senators (singular Peligan Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq Archaeological finds support the presence of a large population not of Greek culture. In 141 BC, the Parthians under Mithridates I conquered the city, and Seleucia became the western capital of the Parthian Empire. Mithridates I (B 195 BC? D 138 BC was the "Great King" of Parthia from ca Tacitus described its walls, and mentioned that it was, even under Parthian rule, a fully Hellenistic city. Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (ca 56 &ndash ca 117 was a senator and a Historian of the Roman Empire. Ancient texts say that the city had 600,000 people, and was ruled by a senate of 300 people. It was one of the largest cities in the Western world; only Rome, Alexandria and possibly Antiochia were more populous. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια Antiochia or Antiocheia or Antiochea or Antiokheia (Αντιόχεια may refer any of several Hellenistic cities in the Near East
In 55 BC, a battle fought near Seleucia was crucial in establishing dynastic succession of the Arsacid kings. Year 55 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar. Events By place Rome Consuls Marcus Licinius Crassus and In this battle between the reigning Mithridates III (supported by a Roman army of Aulus Gabinius, governor of Syria) and the previously deposed Orodes II, the reigning monarch was defeated, allowing Orodes to reestablish himself as king. Mithridates or Mithradates (in Greek, Mιθριδάτης or Mιθράδάτης) is the Hellenistic form of an Iranian Theophoric Aulus Gabinius, Roman statesman and general and supporter of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, was a prominent figure in the later days of the Roman Orodes II of Parthia (also called Hyrodes) ruled the Parthian Empire from 57 to 38 BC
In about 41 BC, Seleucia was the scene of a massacre of around 5,000 Babylonian Jewish refugees (Josephus, Ant. Year 41 BC was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Josephus (AD 37 – c 100 also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias and after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus xviii. 9, § 9). [2]
In 117 AD Seleucia was burned down by the Roman Emperor Trajan during his conquest of Mesopotamia, but the following year it was ceded back to the Parthians by Trajan's successor, Hadrian, then rebuilt in the Parthian style. Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan ( September 18 53 &ndash August 9 117) was a Roman Emperor who Publius Aelius Hadrianus (January 24 76 &ndash July 10 138 as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after It was finally destroyed by the Roman general Avidius Cassius in 164. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Gaius Avidius Cassius (ca 130&ndashJuly 175 was a Roman usurper who briefly ruled Egypt and Syria in 175 [3]
Sassanid rule
Over sixty years later a new city, Veh-Ardashir, was built on the site by Ardashir I (ruled 226–241), founder of the Sassanid dynasty. The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire There were active Christian churches in Mesopotamia from the first century onwards and sometime during the third or fourth centuries Seleucia became an important centre.
Following the edict of toleration by the Persian Sassanian King Yazdegard,which brought to an end, for the time being, the persecution of Christians which had lasted for 70 years, the remaining Christians set about reorganizing and strengthening the church.
The Synod of Seleucia (The Synod of Mar Isaac) met in AD 410 under the presidency of Mar Isaac, the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. The most important decision of the Synod which had a very far reaching effect on the life of the church, was to declare the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon as the primate of the Persian church; and in recognition of this pre-eminence he was given the title ‘Catholicos’. The Synod confirmed Mar Isaac as Catholicos and Archbishop of all the Orient. The Synod also declared its adherence to the decision of the Council of Nicea and subscribed to the Nicene Creed. The Canons of the Synod leave no doubt as to the authority of the great Metropolitan, the Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Without his approval, no election of bishop would be valid. (Ctesiphon was a twin town on the opposite bank of the River Tigris).
Towards the end of the reign of Yazdegard, the Christians were again persecuted in AD 420. Dadyeshu was elected Catholicos in AD 421 and himself suffered during the persecution and was imprisoned. When he was released he resigned and left Seleucia, but the church refused to accept the resignation and there followed the Synod of Dadyeshu which met in AD 424 in Markabata of the Arabs under the presidency of Mar Dadyeshu. It proved to be one of the most significant of all Persian synods. The first synod of Isaac in AD 410 had decided that the Catholicos of Seleucia Ctesiphon be supreme among the bishops of the East. For the Spanish saint see Ctesiphon of Vergium. Ctesiphon (قطسيفون تیسفون was one of the great cities of the Persian Empire The Synod of Dadyeshu decided that the Catholicos should be the sole head of the Persian church and that no ecclesiastical authority should be acknowledged above him. In particular it was laid down that "easterners shall not complain of their Patriarch to the western Patriarchs; every case that cannot be settled by him shall await the tribunal of Christ. " For the first time, this synod referred to the Catholicos as Patriarch and that their Catholicos was answerable to God alone. This had some effect in reassuraing the Sassandid monarchy that the Persian Christians were not influenced by the Roman enemy.
This city eventually faded into obscurity and was swallowed by the desert sands, perhaps abandoned after the Tigris shifted its course.
Archaeology
The site of Seleucia was rediscovered in the 1920s by archaeologists looking for Opis[4]. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada Opis (Akkadian Upî or Upija; Greek Ὦπις was an ancient Babylonian city on the Tigris, not far from modern Baghdad.
Beginning in 1927, University of Michigan professors Leroy Waterman (1927-1932) and Clark Hopkins (1936-1937) oversaw excavations for the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology on behalf of the American School of Oriental Research of Baghdad with funds supplied by the Toledo Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The University of Michigan Ann Arbor ( U of M, U-M, UM or simply Michigan) is a top-ranked Coeducational public research Leroy Waterman ( July 4, 1875 - May 9, 1972) was a professor of Oriental Languages and Literature at the University of Michigan, an Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA is an Art museum in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland Ohio. From 1964 till 1989 an Italian mission from the University of Turin excavated at the site. They found a Seleucid archive building with about 15 000 seal impressions, all in a fully Greek style.
In an outer wall of the Parthian period, a reused brick dated by stamp to 821 BC, during the Neo-Babylonian period. A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area A brick is a block of Ceramic material used in Masonry construction laid using mortar. Events and trends 828 BC /827 BC (14th year in the era of Gònghé — King Xuan of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China The term Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean refers to Babylonia under the rule of the 11th ("Chaldean" dynasty from the revolt of Nabopolassar
It appears to have incorporated both Greek and Mesopotamian architecture for the public buildings. Architecture was extinct in Greece from the end of the Mycenaean period (about 1200 BC to the 7th century BC when urpeppeeban life and prosperity recovered Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation Finds have indicated an extensive non-Greek population.
Notes
- ^ To distinguish it from the many lesser places named Seleucia, it is sometimes called Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, in reference to its site. Among its other names are, in the Talmud, Selik, Selika, and Selikos; in the Aramaic Targum, Salwaḳia or Salwaḳya; in other languages, Zochasia, Coche, and Mahoza. The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history Aramaic is a Semitic language with A targum ( Hebrew: תרגום plural targumim, lit "translation interpretation" is an Aramaic Translation of the Hebrew
- ^ Seleucia - LoveToKnow 1911
- ^ The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon
- ^ University of Michigan.edu
References
- Richard Talbert, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, (ISBN 0-691-03169-X), p. Richard JA Talbert (born 1947 is a contemporary British-American ancient historian and classicist on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World is a large-format atlas of ancient Europe, Asia, and North Africa, edited by Richard Talbert 91.
- Oxford Classical Dictionary s. The Oxford Classical Dictionary ( OCD) is the standard one-volume Encyclopedia in English of topics relating to Ancient Greece and v.
External links
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