Possible Purpose of the Summoning of the Troops to Antioch on the Orontes in 250 BC
Keywords:
Antiochus II, Cyrenaica, Thrace, Byzantium, Ziaelas of Bythinia, Babylonia, Bactria
Abstract
In the article, I focused on the fragmentary cuneiform evidence of the Babylonian astronomical diaries from 250/249 BC. It shows how someone unknown had gathered his troops and chariots and departed from Antioch. This evidence contains 4 interrelated questions: 1) Who had gathered the troops? 2) When did it happen? 3) Where were the troops gathering? 4) What was the purpose of the campaign? By now communis opinio was formed as answers to 3 questions: 1) The troops were gathered by the Seleucid king Antiochus II; 2) the event took place between mid-April and mid-July 250 BC; 3) the place of the gathering was Antioch on the Orontes. To this I can add that the stay of Antiochus II in Antioch is indirectly indicated by the agreement between this king and the Cretan polis Lyttus from April 250 BC. Also, this agreement may testify for Antiochus’ short-term interest in the situation in Cyrenaica after the death of its king Magas. Initially, such interest could be caused the gathering of the troops in Antioch too. At the present stage, there are 3 hypotheses regarding the purpose of the royal campaign: 1) the implementation of the European expansion; 2) the assistance Ziaelas – a contender for the Bithynian throne; 3) the pacification of eastern Seleucid regions. An objection to the first two hypotheses is the logistical inexpediency of the summoning troops from Antioch to Northern coast of Asia Minor. Also, the evidence of majority of sources is against the dating of the European expedition of Antiochus to 250 BC; and a military help to Ziaelas did not require a personal participation of the powerful Seleucid. Most likely, the purpose of Antiochus' campaign was to counteract the centrifugal processes that were beginning in the Seleucid Bactria. At least, there are no chronological and logistical objections to this hypothesis.
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References
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Avram, A. Les étrangers dans la diplomatie des cités grecques de la mer noire (époques hellénistique et impériale). Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz, vol. 23, 2012, pp. 181-193.
Balakhvantsev, A. S. «Novyy» reskript Ziyela Vifinskogo. Vestnik drevney istorii [Journal of Ancient History], № 1, 2011, s. 74-92. (In Russian)
Balakhvancev, A. S. Politicheskaya istoriya ranney Parfii. Moskva, 2017. (In Russian)
Bennett, Ch. Egyptian Royal Genealogy. 2001-2013. http://www.instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/ptolemies.htm. Accessed: 24 Apr. 2022.
Berzon, E. Achaios the Elder in the Astronomical Diaries? Some Comments on AD I – 273B ʹrev. 29. Ricerche ellenistiche, vol. 2, 2021, pp. 17-23.
Berzon, E. M. Politicheskaya istoriya i instituty vlasti gosudarstva Selevkidov (po dannym klinopisnykh tekstov): dis. kand. ist. Moskva, 2021. (In Russian)
Berzon, E., Gabelko, O. New data on Seleucid politics in the Pontic region? Seventh International Congress on Black Sea Antiquities. The Black Sea: Hub of Peoples and Cultures (8th century BC-5th/6th century AD) Dedicated to the Memory of Prof. Alexandru Avram (Thessaloniki – 26-30 September 2022). Abstracts of Papers. Thessaloniki, 2022, pp. 11.
Boiy, T. Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylonia. Leuven, 2004.
Bosnakis, D., Hallof, K. Alte und neue Inschriften aus Kos VI. Chiron, Bd, 20, 2020, pp. 287-326.
Brun, P. Les Lagides a Lesbos: essai de chronologie. Zeitschrift für papyrologie und epigraphik, Bd. 85, 1991, pp. 99-113.
Carrez-Maratray, J. Y. Bérénice II d’Égypte, une reine dans les étoiles. Paris, 2014.
Chaniotis, A. Die Verträge zwischen kretischen Poleis in der hellenistischen Zeit. Stuttgart, 1996.
Cohen,G. M. The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands, and Asia Minor. Berkeley – Los Angeles – Oxford, 1995.
Cohen, G. M. The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa. Berkeley, 2006.
Cohen, G. M. The Hellenistic settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India. Berkeley – Los Angeles, 2013.
De Giorgi, A. U. Ancient Antioch: from the Seleucid Era to the Islamic Conquest. Cambridge, 2016.
Del Monte, G. F. Testi dalla Babilonia Ellenistica. Vol. I: Testi Cronografici. Pisa – Roma, 1997.
Dumitru, A. G. Some thoughts about Seleucid Thrace in the 3rd century BC. In: G. R. Tsetskhladze, A. Avram, J. Hargrave (eds), The Danubian Lands between the Black, Aegean and Adriatic Seas (7th Century BC – 10th Century AD. Oxford – Belgrade, 2015, pp. 293-298.
Engels, D. Iranian identity and Seleukid allegiance: Vahbarz, the Frataraka and early Arsakid coinage. In: K. Erickson (ed), The Seleukid Empire, 281-222 bc: War within the Family. Swansea, 2018, pp. 173-196.
Engels, D. Mais où sont donc passés les soldats babyloniens ? La place des contingents « indigènes » dans l’armée séleucide. In: A. Coşkun, D. Engels (eds), Rome and the Seleukid East. Selected Papers from the Seleukid Study Day V, Brussels, 21-23 August 2015. Bruxelles, 2019, pp. 403-434.
Gabelko, O. L. Istoriya Vifinskogo tsarstva. Moskva, 2005. (In Russian)
Gabelko, O., Kuzmin, Yu. A Case of Stratonicas: Two Royal Women between Three Hellenistic Monarchies. In: R. Oetjen (ed), New Perspectives in Seleucid History, Archaeology and Numismatics. Studies in Honor of Getzel M. Cohen. Berlin – Boston, 2020, pp. 202-224.
Grainger, J .D. The rise of the Seleukid Empire (323-223 BC): Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley, 2014.
Grainger,J. D. The Syrian Wars. Leiden – Boston, 2010.
Iliev, J. The Campaign of Antiochus II Theos in Thrace. History studies, № 1, 2013, pp. 211-222.
Keeping Watch in Babylon: the Astronomical Diaries in Context. Ed. J. Haubold, J. Steele, K. Stevens. Leiden – Boston, 2019.
Ladynin, I. A., Gabelko, O. L., Kuz’min, Yu. N. Novaya kontseptsiya dinasticheskoy istorii ellinizma? Razmyshleniya po povodu monografii D. Ogdena (Ogden D. Polygamy, Prostitutes and Death. The Hellenistic Dynasties. London; Swansea: Duckworth; The Classical Press of Wales, 1999. XXXIV, 317 p.). Antichnyy mir i arkheologiya [Ancient World and Archaeology], vyp. 13, 2009, s. 120-148. (In Russian)
Le Bohec, S. Antigone Dôsôn: roi de Macédoine. Nancy, 1993.
McAuley, A. Princess and Tigress: Apama of Kyrene. In: A. Coşkun, A. McAuley (eds), Seleukid Royal Women: Creation, Representation and Distortion of Hellenistic Queenship in the Seleukid Empire. Stuttgart, 2016, pp. 175-189.
Monerie, J. D'Alexandre à Zoilos. Dictionnaire prosopographique des porteurs de nom grec dans les sources cunéiformes. Stuttgart, 2014.
Ogden, D. Polygamy, Prostitutes and Death. The Hellenistic Dynasties. London – Swansea, 1999.
Olbrycht,, M. J. Early Arsakid Parthia (ca. 250-165 B.c.): At the Crossroads of Iranian, Hellenistic, and Central Asian History. Leiden – Boston, 2021.
Paganoni, E. Forging the Crown. A History of the Kingdom of Bithynia from its Origin to Prusias I. Roma – Bristol (CT), 2019.
Parker, R. A., Dubberstein, W. H. Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. – A.D. 75. Providence (RI), 1956.
Paschidis, P. Between city and King. Prosopographical Studies on the Intermediaries Between the Cities of the Greek Mainland and the Aegean and the Royal Courts in the Hellenistic Period (322-190 BC). Athens, 2008.
Stern, S. Calendars in Antiquity: Empires, States, and Societies. Oxford, 2012.
van Oppen de Ruiter, B. Berenice II Euergetis. Essays in Early Hellenistic Queenship. New York, 2015.
Vilcu, A., Petac, E. The Second Syrian War and Gold Staters of Alexander Type struck at Istros. American Journal of Numismatic, vol. 24, 2012, pp. 53-60.
Wenghofer, R. Retliinking the relationship between Hellenistic Baktria and the Seleukid Empire. In: K. Erickson (ed), The Seleukid Empire, 281–222 bc: War within the Family. Swansea, 2018. pp. 151-171.
Zelinskyi, A. L. Antiokh II i Rodos vo vremya II Siriyskoy voyny: vozmozhnaya tsel’ voyennogo al’yansa. Starodavnie Prychornomoria [The Ancient Black Sea region], vyp. XIII, 2021, s. 158-164. (In Russian)
Zelinskyi, A. L. Vid basylevsiv-faraoniv do faraoniv-basylevsiv: pershi 100 rokiv ptolemeyivs'koyi monarkhiyi. Vinnytsya – Kyiv, 2020. (In Ukrainian)
Zelins'kyi, A. L. Zovnishn'opolitychni oriyentyry vifins'koho tsarya Ziela u svitli novykh kos'kykh napysiv. Visnyk Kharkivs'koho natsional'noho universytetu imeni V. N. Karazina. Seriya "Istoriya" [The Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series: "History"], Vyp. 60, 2021, s. 27-48. (In Ukrainian)
Published
2022-06-27
How to Cite
Zelinskyi, A. (2022). Possible Purpose of the Summoning of the Troops to Antioch on the Orontes in 250 BC. The Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series History, (61), 183-201. https://doi.org/10.26565/2220-7929-2022-61-08
Section
History of the World
Copyright (c) 2022 Andrii Zelinskyi
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