Study Guide for Weeks 9-10 (Outlines 13-15)

Assignment (for weeks 9-10)

week 9
3/17 (Outline 13) finishing up from week 8	no new assignment, but you might want to read ahead
3/19 (Outline 14) The Seleucid Empire in the 3rd c. BC	1. Walbank, ch. 7, pp. 123-140; 2. Austin nos. 141, 186; 3. Reader)
discussion section	1. Reader, p. 189 (Borsippa cylinder)
week 10
3/24 (Outline 15) The Golden Age of Ptolemaic Egypt. Part I	1. Walbank, ch. 6, pp. 100-122; 2. Austin nos. 218, 219, 223, 224, 225, 236, 260
3/26 (no new outline) The Golden Age of Ptolemaic Egypt. Part II	no new assignment
discussion section	1. Reader, pp. 191-196

Study Guide:

The following Study Guide will serve more as a review for the next Midterm than as navigational tool for the readings in Walbank. They will make better sense to you after the lectures and discussion sections of these next two weeks. Nonetheless, read through the questions before you read the assignments and look for answers to the questions posed here. Note that you should be able to identify all underlined items. Remember to look for the special Study Guides for the discussion sections, weeks 9 and 10.

I. Seleucus and the Seleucid Empire: Outline 14; Discussion Section week 9

1. You should be able to trace the important events in Seleucid history from the settlement at Triparadeisus (320 BC) to the Third Syrian War (246-241 BC). The following events and chronological periods will assist you in doing this.

• 320 BC Settlement at Triparadeisus
• 313 BC battle at Gaza
• 308-301 BC (What did Seleucus do during these years?)
• 301 BC battle at Ipsus
• 281/0 BC battle at Corupedium and its aftermath
• 279 BC agreement of Antigonus Gonatas and Antiochus I
• 279-275 BC War of Antiochus I with the Gauls (see Burstein nos. 16; 23 in Reader)
• 274-271 BC First Syrian War (see Austin no. 141)
• 260's BC (What did Antiochus I do during these years?)
• 260-253 BC Second Syrian War
• 246-241 BC Third Syrian War (AKA the Laodicean War)

2. After the death of Alexander the Great, the Successors ruled as generals and satraps on behalf of Alexander's descendants. With the elimination of the last of the descendants, the Successors claimed the title of "king" but had no real basis for rule. How did Antiochus I set about to establish his rule as dynastic (and so justified) rule OR "kingship translated from a one-man show into the task of a hereditary family"?

3. What features of Achaemenid (Persian) kingship did the Seleucids adopt? Consider in this connection the cylinder of Antiochus I from Borsippa (discussion section week 9).

4. Be prepared to discuss the Seleucid kingdom in terms of the following:

• antecedents (organization under the Persian Empire; relation of Seleucus I and Alexander the Great-- remember the story about the foundation of Antioch)
• administrative organization (Persian satrapies vs. diversity of local government-- for example: Greek poleis, Lydian villages, temple states in central Turkey)
• types of settlement and the varied relations of these settlements with the Seleucid kings (for example: ancient non-Greek urban centers, old Greek cities, new foundations, katoikiai)
• economy
• the Seleucid army (remember to consider the role of military aggression in the royal ideology of the Persian kings!)
• the nature of Seleucid kingship (for example: construction of the dynasty; royal cult; royal ideology)
• extent of Hellenization (Greek cities as a mechanism for Hellenization; use of non-Greeks in the administrative bureaucracy)

5. In addition to the terms underlined above, be able to identify:

• Stratonice, wife of Antiochus I
• Nicomedes of Bithynia
• Memnon of Heraclea (see Burstein no. 16 in Reader)
• Galatian Tax
• Parthian Kingdom

II. Ptolemaic Egypt: Outline 15; Discussion Section week 10

1. You should be able to trace the important events in Ptolemaic history during the third century BC. The following events and chronological periods will assist you in doing this.

• 323-283 BC (reign of Ptolemy I-- especially his economic policies)
• 274-271 BC First Syrian War
• 260-253 BC Second Syrian War
• 246-241 BC Third Syrian War (AKA the Laodicean War)
• 219-217 BC Fourth Syrian War
• 217 BCE battle at Raphia
• 2nd century BCE (in general terms how is this century of Ptolemaic history characterized?)

2. After the death of Alexander the Great, the Successors ruled as generals and satraps on behalf of Alexander's descendants. With the elimination of the last of the descendants, the Successors claimed the title of "king" but had no real basis for rule. How did the early Ptolemies (especially Ptolemy I and II) set about to establish their rule as dynastic (and so justified) rule OR "kingship translated from a one-man show into the task of a hereditary family"? What part did the royal cult play in this process?

3. Be prepared to discuss the Ptolemaic kingdom in terms of the following:

• antecedents (How did Egypt's past contribute to the development of Ptolemaic Egypt? What contribution did Alexander, alive and dead, make to the development of Ptolemaic Egypt and Ptolemaic kingship?)
• administrative organization (Alexandria; dioiketes; nomes; toparchies; villages)
• types of settlement (think in terms of Alexandria vs. Kerkeosiris)
• economy (different types of land-- crown lands; temple lands; clerouchies;
• Ptolemaic army (machimoi)
• foreign policy (see Austin no. 223)
• extent of Hellenization (Greek language as a mechanism for Hellenization; political organization; social customs; religion; relations between the elite and the native Egyptians)