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ABSTRACT: This article presents a new analysis of the origins of the Seleucid Era, and its relationship to early Seleucid imperialism. Contrary to recent assessments of the Era as a radical and early invention of Seleucus I, designed to promote imperial homogenisation, we argue that it emerged gradually out of diadochic competition and pre-existing temporal systems, as Seleucus and the other successors attempted to assert control over the territories conquered by Alexander. Moreover, even when the year count established by Seleucus became an Era, most likely to facilitate dynastic succession, it took two forms, adapted to the different calendrical systems of the empire. This undermines the idea that the early Seleucid rulers sought to repress local difference.
Keywords: Seleucid Era - Seleucus I - Diadochi - Hellenistic imperialism - Hellenistic kingship - Ancient calendars
The early Hellenistic age was a period of imperial experimentation.· As the diadochi fought to establish and retain control over the fragmenting empire of Alexander the Great, they were forced to grapple with challenges which were entirely new in a Graeco-Macedonian context: how to control and administer massive swathes of territory with limited military forces; how to manage politically and culturally diverse populations; how to create a stable and distinctive legitimacy for themselves and their families in the vacuum left by the death of Alexanders blood heirs and in a world of competing contenders for the diadem. During the final decades of the fourth century and the early years of the third, the first rulers of the major Hellenistic dynasties developed a variety of practical and ideological strategies in order to stake and solidify their imperial claims. Some of these were standard imperial techniques trans-historically: a 'chameleonic approach to local diversity; the creation of initial royal legitimacy based on military prowess and personal efficacy.1 Others were more unique, especially by contemporary standards, such as the apotheosis of dead, and even living rulers, or the institution of co-regency.2
While some of these innovations were abandoned early, the most successful developments subsequently came to be so much a part of the toolkit of 'ancient imperialism' - deployed across the Hellenistic kingdoms, Rome, and beyond - that they can seem natural or inevitable in retrospect. At their inception, however, these imperial strategies were...