The Seleucid Empire was a powerful kingdom founded by his subordinate Seleucus I after Alexander's Empire, with Syria as its center. In Chinese history books, we call it "Tiaozhi".
The Seleucid Empire inherited Alexander's way of fighting, with a balance of infantry, cavalry, war elephants and other arms, and should have swept thousands of troops on the battlefield, but it failed to continue Alexander's brilliant achievements, and suffered many defeats in battles with Parthia, and the territory also shrank.
The reason for this is that Parthia and the Seleucid Empire originally belonged to the same land, but as history progressed, Parthia became an independent state, while the Seleucid Empire fell into internal crisis and conflict with the Ptolemaic dynasty.
In addition, the rise of Parthia was also inseparable from the participation of the nomadic tribe of Parni, who opposed Seleucid rule and successfully became independent under the leadership of the governor of Andragoras, establishing the Asasis dynasty.
Parthia became independent from the Seleucid Empire, and although they shared a common origin with the Seleucid Empire, their cultural and political patterns also changed due to differences in civilization and customs.
Although there were frequent divisions and mergers between nations, the people had become accustomed to it. The relationship between Parthia and Seleucid has a long history, lasting for hundreds of years. In ancient Europe, wars often broke out between neighboring countries, because proximity to proximity caused friction.
Antiochus III invaded Parthia, captured Hepylos, defeated Ardaban I, and forced him to sue for peace and make Sabbath a vassal state. However, Seleucus was defeated in the war with Rome and lost its hegemony in the Mediterranean, powerless to stop the development of Parthia.
Parthian territory expanded beyond Alexandria's gates, and Mithridates I invaded Media, opening the way to the valley of the two rivers and conquering Ecbatana and Seleucia.
In 142 BC, the Seleucid Empire rebelled within and was unable to retaliate against the Parthian invasion. Two years later, the Seleucid Empire launched a war against aggression, but it ended in defeat with the capture of Dmitry II.
After Dmitry II was captured, he was escorted to Hilcania, but he was entertained by his guests. Later, Mithridates I also gave him his daughter.
In 130 BC, Antiochus VII of the Seleucid kingdom launched an attack on the region of Mesopotamia and successfully captured Babylonia and Susa. However, the Seleucid army had been stationed in the Medes for too long and consumed a lot of resources, which led to a rebellion against Antiochus VII, which allowed the Parthian Empire to seize the opportunity and finally succeed in clearing the enemy army.
There have been many battles in the history of the Seleucid and Parthian empires, but the Seleucid victory rate was not high. In fact, it is unusual for the Parthian Empire, which was initially a small branch of the Seleucid Empire to be defeated in several wars.
The Seleucid Empire, as one of the three "successor states" of Alexander's Empire, had superior war readiness resources and should be invincible. However, in the middle and late periods of foreign wars, Seleucus rarely won, why is that?
First of all, Seleucid itself was constantly facing contradictions and challenges. The Seleucid kingdom was governed in a way that followed the Persian Empire's political system, and the king's power was great and deified, so the king was crucial to the decision-making of the country's relevant policies.
In the early days of Seleucus, Seleucus I tried to expand into other regions, and although it had some success, he eventually died.
The Seleucid Empire experienced successive defeats in its foreign expansion, and neither Antiochus III nor Demetrius II was able to achieve a real victory in the war.
Internal disputes are also endless, and the disputes between families not only involve personal interests, but also involve the maternal relatives and state power behind them. Among them, the "family affairs" caused by the two widows of Antiochus II for the royal power caused by the turmoil of the country.
In addition, the defeat of Seleucid's army at the Battle of Magnesia with the Roman Republic, although strong, also exposed their internal problems. Seleucid rule seems to have been plagued by a hefty affair of household chores and civil strife, which consumed a lot of resources and left the country in a state of weakness.
The Seleucid army was well-armed with chariots, elephants, heavy cavalry, and infantry phalanxes, but Antiochus III made a fatal mistake at the beginning of the campaign when he sent heavy cavalry to pursue the Roman infantry legions, which not only missed the crucial moment to pursue the enemy, but also exposed his right side directly to the enemy's scythe.
In addition, the Seleucid army hired a large number of Greek mercenaries, and although they were able to provide great combat effectiveness, the mercenaries were not as stable as ordinary soldiers, which was also a disadvantage for the outcome of the battle.
The generals are incompetent and tired to death. "No matter how powerful the ** equipment is, if it is not used properly, it is like a gable that does not move, no matter how hard the enemy tries, it will break through one day.
Antiochus III was not a leader who could not fight, but when facing an opponent of equal strength like the Roman Republic, any mistake could lead to defeat.
Seleucus was defeated despite a strong line-up, which shows that simply piling up war supplies could not solve all problems. On the other hand, the comprehensive conditions of Parthia were more superior.
Although Parthia was an independent country from Seleucus, while Seleucus was suffering from war, Parthia was seeking development, expanding abroad, and maintaining friendly relations with the Han Dynasty, with frequent exchanges of envoys.
In addition, Parthia also used the Silk Road to solve the problem of uneven development among cities in the country, and promoted the development of the country and the process of civilization. In the later stages, Parthia had enough resources to renew its army** and strengthen its war reserves, which made Seleucid's advantage less obvious.
In ancient times, the scientific and technological development of various civilizations was roughly the same, and the confrontation between cold weapons and musket explosives had not yet appeared. With sufficient money, a country with a large population can defeat a country with a low population.
By the time of Demetrius II's captivity, the population of Parthia was already approaching six million, while Seleucus was in a downhill period. The morale of the two armies is self-evident. The main part of Seleucid was located on the Mediterranean coast, and its warlike authority was gained through the external expansion of Seleucus I and Antiochus III.
However, at the Battle of Magnesia, Seleucus was defeated by the Roman Republic and signed an unequal treaty, relinquishing hegemony in the Mediterranean. This was a fatal blow to Seleucus.
In addition, Seleucid was an emigrant, and the whole country was Hellenized, making it difficult to integrate with the natives. The Greeks were the bulk of the army, but with a large number of them missing, Seleucus had to hire Greeks from other regions.
A series of destabilizing factors were hidden in Seleucid, waiting for one day to erupt. There are thousands of reasons for the defeat of the Seleucid Empire, and it seems that even the heavens are tilting in favor of the enemy.
It is narrow and absurd that the failure of a country cannot be attributed to a certain general or a certain wrong decision.