Undergraduate thesis attempts to present the imperial ideology of the hellenistic dynasty of Seleukids, with the emphasis on the period from its founder Seleucus I. until Antiochus IV. Epiphanes. With a multidisciplinary approach it compares works by ancient Roman and Greek authors, as well as eastern Babylonian and Iranian sources. This in turn projects the inevitable difference in interpretations, as modern western historiography has predominantly drawn from the first, while the latter have only in the last few decades been put into the forefront of scientific research. The Seleukid Empire was a heterogeneous community, held together not only by the military might of its Macedonian kings, but also by the extraordinarily syncretistic nature of its state ideology, which was molded from Greek and elements of Syrian, Babylonian and Iranian traditions. By utilizing both material and non-material conduits of this ideology, this thesis attempts to illustrate its influence on the Seleukid world, demonstrating in the process the legacy which has survived until modern era.
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