Seleucid army
| Seleucid Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 312–63 BC |
| Country | Seleucid Empire |
| Allegiance | Seleucid dynasty |
| Role | Army of the Seleucid Empire under the Seleucid dynasty |
| Size | 62,000 (c. 217 BC) 57,000–70,000 (c. 190 BC) 22,000 (c. 160 BC) |
| Engagements |
Third War of the Diadochi Fourth War of the Diadochi Galatian invasions Syrian Wars Anabasis of Antiochus III Seleucid–Parthian wars Roman–Seleucid War Maccabean Revolt Parthian War Seleucid Dynastic Wars |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Seleucus I Nicator Antiochus I Soter Molon Antiochus III the Great Bacchides Diodotus Tryphon |
The Seleucid army was the army of the Seleucid Empire, one of the numerous Hellenistic states that emerged after the death of Alexander the Great.
As with the other major Hellenistic armies, the Seleucid army fought primarily in the Greco-Macedonian style, with its main body being the phalanx. The phalanx was a large, dense formation of men armed with small shields and a long pike called the sarissa. This form of fighting had been developed by the Macedonian army in the reign of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great. Alongside the phalanx, the Seleucid armies used a great deal of native and mercenary troops to supplement their Greek forces, which were limited due to the distance from the Seleucid rulers' Macedonian homeland.
The distance from Greece put a strain on the Seleucid military system, as it was primarily based around the recruitment of Greeks as the key segment of the army. In order to increase the population of Greeks in their kingdom, the Seleucid rulers created military settlements. There were two main periods in the establishment of settlements, firstly under Seleucus I Nicator and Antiochus I Soter and then under Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The military settlers were given land, "varying in size according to rank and arm of service'. They were settled in 'colonies of an urban character, which at some point could acquire the status of a polis". Unlike the Ptolemaic military settlers, who were known as Kleruchoi, the Seleucid settlers were called Katoikoi. The settlers would maintain the land as their own and in return they would serve in the Seleucid army when called. The majority of settlements were concentrated in Lydia, northern Syria, the upper Euphrates and Media. The Greeks were dominant in Lydia, Phrygia and Syria. For example, Antiochus III brought Greeks from Euboea, Crete and Aetolia and settled them in Antioch.
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