Adieu to Seleucus II- but not quite just yet. Before we pass the torch on to the next generation, we will spend some time looking at how far we've come since 246 BCE and giving Seleucus his well-deserved epithet.

In terms of sources, this episode is based on episodes 47 to 63 inclusive.

Attalus of Pergamon seems to have become enough an issue that Seleucus is trying to stabilise Syria ahead of an incursion. It's time to mete out some Seleucid wrath to Anatolia- or is it...?

Sources for this episode:

• Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur.
•  Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Seleucus II Callinicus (online) (Accessed 28/03/2024).

Seleucus may have been losing territory around the edges, but life in the centre of the empire is no bed of roses either. The moral of the story? If you're a Seleucid royal, rejecting a proposal by your aunt may have consequences...

Sources for this episode:

•  Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Demetrius II Aetolicus (online) (Accessed 28/03/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Nicomedes II of Bithynia (online) (Accessed 28/03/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Nicomedes III of Bithynia (online) (Accessed 28/03/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Nicomedes IV of Bithynia (online) (Accessed 28/03/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Prusias I of Bithynia (online) (Accessed 28/03/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Prusias II of Bithynia (online) (Accessed 28/03/2024).

Our reign thus far has had a buzzing little princeling incessantly causing problems. Well, even the bravest hawk must someday get shot down and hit the ground. Hard.

Sources for this episode:

• Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur.
•  Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook).

Bactria is the other big power in our eastern question. Today we will be introducing the state, as well as covering the efforts of Seleucus II to retake the east of his empire.

Sources for this episode:

• Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur.
•  Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Diodotus I (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Diodotus II (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).

Seleucus is beginning to head out eastwards again- somewhere we haven't been for a long time. Let's familiarise ourselves with Andragoras, governor of Parthia, and the Parsi who we last discussed in episode 42...

Sources for this episode:

• Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur.
• Broderson, K. (1986), The Date of the Secession of Parthia from the Seleucid Kingdom. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 35(3): 378-381.
• Dobbins, K. W. (1974), Mithridates II and his Successors: A Study of the Parthian Crisis 90-70 B.C. Antichthon 8: 63-79.
• The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Andragoras (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).
• Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook).
• Lendering, J., Livius (2018, last changed 2020), Arsaces II (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).
• Lendering, J., Livius (2018, last changed 2020), Arsaces III Phriapatius (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).
• Olbrycht, M. J. (2014), The genealogy of Artabanos II (AD 8/9- 39/40), King of Parthia. Miscellanea Antrhopologica et Sociologica 15(3): 92-97.
• Rawlinson, G. (1871), A Manual of Ancient History, From the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. Comprising the History of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judaea, Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Andragoras (Seleucid satrap) (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Priapatius (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).

After Hierax evicted Seleucus from Anatolia, the peninsula descended into chaos. But one of the monarchs of the Hellenistic period would not stand for that. It's time for Attalus I of Pergamon to step up to the plate...

Sources for this episode:

• Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur.
• Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook).
• Norwich, J. J. (2013), A Short History of Byzantium. London: The Penguin Group.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Attalus I (online) (Accessed 29/02/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Kingdom of Pergamon (online) (Accessed 01/03/2024).

Antiochus Hierax and Seleucus II are finally going to have something of a showdown in the Fraternal War. Ancyra is waiting for us- but the results might not be pretty.

Sources for this episode:

• Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur.
• The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Ankara (online) (Accessed c. 01/03/2024).
• Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook).

239 BCE saw the death of someone who has been in the background of our Seleucid story for what feels like forever. As such, we should give him a proper sendoff. Say goodbye to Antigonus II...

Sources for this episode:

• Bennett, J. E., Li, G., Foreman, K., Best, N., Kontis, V., Pearson, C., Hambly, P. and Ezzati, M. (2015), The future of life expectancy and life expectancy inequalities in England and Wales: Bayesian spatiotemporal forecasting. Lancet 386: 163-170.
• Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur.
• Bevan, E. R. (1914), A History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty. London: Methuen & Co., Ltd.
• Harju, O. (2018), Male Heirs, Bastard King, Catholic England and Other Alternatives: A Counterfactual History Analysis of Henry VIII's Three Sons. Bachelor's thesis submitted to the University of Oulu.
• Keynes, M. (2005), The personality and health of King Henry VIII (1491–1547). Journal of Medical Biography 13.3: 174-183.
• Volkmann, H., Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Antigonus II Gonatas (online) (Accessed 27/02/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Antigonus II Gonatas (online) (Accessed 27/02/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Demetrius II Aetolicus (online) (Accessed 27/02/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign (online) (Accessed 27/02/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Philip V of Macedon (online) (Accessed 27/02/2024).

Hierax is making his move and Seleucus II is doing his best to counteract it. Let's see how he does in the early phases of what is known as the Fraternal War.

Sources for this episode:

• Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur.
• The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Ankara (online) (Accessed c.27/02/2024).
• The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Lydia (online) (Accessed c.27/02/2024).
•  Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Mithridates II of Pontus (online) (Accessed 27/02/2024).