Coskun, Altay/Scolnic, Benjamin E. (Hrsg.) The Seleukids at War. Recruitment, Composition, and Organization

The largest kingdom to emerge from the conquests of Alexander the Great was founded by Seleucus I Nicator (the "Conqueror"). His successors endeavoured to defend the territories from western Asia Minor to Arachosia in the east. The Syrian centre was transformed into a new Macedonia, home to countless veterans whose descendants became the Phalangites of the next generation. Babylonia contributed wealth and soldiers, Media provided the cavalry. At the height of the kingdom's power, Antiochus III Megas was expelled from Greece by the Romans and lost Asia Minor at the Battle of Magnesia (190 BC). The empire recovered and Antiochus IV almost conquered Egypt before retreating at the behest of the Romans. His undiminished army was demonstratively paraded at Daphne near Antioch on the Orontes (166 BC). The narratives of key events are the main sources for systematic studies of the Seleucids' sophisticated war machine, supplemented by Greek and Akkadian inscriptions testifying to garrisons and settled veterans. The authors draw on a variety of sources and the latest scholarship to explain the tactics, manpower and strategy of Seleucid warfare.