One of Pothos' results II

Discuss the wars of Alexander's successors

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system1988
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One of Pothos' results II

Post by system1988 »

Antiochus III called "the Great" was son of Seleukos II called "the God". The first is known for the expansion of his kingdom that reached India. He went to war against the Romans and forged an alliance with Hannibal who abandonded Carthage to seek refuge near him. The danger of a possible alliance of Hannibal and such powerful a monarch to whom cosmocratic desires were attributed ignited panic in Rome resulting to the election of General Popius Conrelius Scipii also known as "African".

Antiochia was the capital of the Seleucids. In 196 BC Antiochus III left as vice reagent in his stead his first born son also called Antiochus. That Antiochus married his sister Laodiki in order for his reign to last. His daughter was also called Laodiki.

In all this extremely confusing story where Romans, Hannibal, Ptolemy V, his daughter Cleopatra etc appear only to dissappear and reappear, there is a stele, found in Nehannend, Iran. The stele in ancient greek can be found here:

http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/IamSy ... t=3&page=1


The letter is adressed to the lords of Laodiki town (Iran) -not to be confused with Laodiki town near the Mediterranean. With this letter the worship of Laodiki (his sister-wife) is made official. The first priestress of the temple becomes their daughter, also named Laodiki.


Here is the translation

Menedimos greet Apolodoros and the lords and the city of Laodiki
We have attached a copy of the order sent by the king
so follow his orders and take care to carve the order on a stone stele
and place it at the city's most famous spot.
Greetings year 119 the tenth day of the month Panemos.

The king Antiochus greets Menedimos. because we want to increase even more
the honors towards our sister Laodiki and we think that this is imperative to us
not only because she lives with us and showing compassion and care, but also
because of her respect to the gods and for also the other things we must do to honor her,
we do them with care and we decide, as we dictate as the arch-priests of the entire land,
and you appoint for her (Laodiki) priestresses, in those same lands, who will bear golden wreaths
with her figure on them and the wreaths wlil also be depicted on contracts after
the names of the arch- priests of our ancestors and mine (the king). Because of Laodiki having being appointed
as the priestress of the lands of your jurisdiction, let everything being carried out as we have
already written and let steles be carved with copies of the letters and be placed on the most known lands
so that now and in the future our favors towards our sister is shown.

the year 119 the month Xandikos


A few simple observations:

For Alexander's successors, incest was but a footnote towards their struggle to keep their kingdoms intact (even if incest is rare amongst their individual stoties).
Secondly, it was customary for them to portray themselves as gods in the eyes of their subjects.

All this came from a boy who wanted to immitate Achilles and ventured as soon as he was able into the East. Who knows how history would have gone if he ever met Hannibal in combat.
Last edited by system1988 on Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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agesilaos
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Re: One of Pothos' results II

Post by agesilaos »

Typo in the first date, both should read year 119(theta,iota,rho), which is 194BC, two years before his unsuccessful showdown with Rome on the Greek mainland.
When you think about, it free-choice is the only possible option.
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