Academy Travel Lecture Program

The Seleukid Empire was the largest of the Hellenistic successor kingdoms established after Alexander the Great's death, governed by a dynasty descended from his general Seleukos I Nikator. 

At its peak in the third century BCE, it covered an immense area, including Asia Minor, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Iran, and much of Central Asia. Its borders extended from the eastern Mediterranean to the Hindu Kush, connecting Greek-founded cities with longstanding centres of Near Eastern power. Among the major Hellenistic realms, only Greece and Ptolemaic Egypt remained beyond its reach.

Seleukid rulers governed diverse populations in language, religion, and political traditions, necessitating a delicate balance between Macedonian military dominance and local administrative customs.

Over time, however, rivalry from other Hellenistic states, internal uprisings, and the emergence of new powers like Parthia weakened the Seleukid hold. Dr John Tidmarsh discusses the rise and fall of this once mighty empire, which significantly influenced the political and cultural development of the Hellenistic Near East.