100 Interesting facts about the Hellenistic World

Of the latter

46. Of all the diadochoi, the one who cames the closest to reunifying Alexander's Empire was Seleucus I "Nicator. " He had begun his career as one of the most sad-sack of successors, cowering under Ptolemy's skirts in Egypt, without a kingdom or Army. Ptolemy lent him a small force that allowed him to secure a small fief around Babylon, in the shadow of the empire of Antigonus Monophthalmos. Shrewd campaigns and diplomacy in the East, during which he acquired a large heard of Indian elephants, expanded his empire, and he was subsequently a prime beneficiary of the division of spoils in the wake of Ipsus. In 281, he defeated Lysimachus,  and landed triumphantly in Europe, with visions of ruling an empire spaning from Macedonia to India. There he was promptly assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus (the Thunderbolt) the estranged son of his former benefactor, who proclaimed himself king of Macedonia, only to be in turn killed in the Celtic invasions in 279.

Edited by dexippus - 29-Dec-2007 at 15:37