Extract

Seleuceia (2) in Pieria was founded c.300 by *Seleucus (1) I after his victory at the battle of *Ipsus (301) secured him north Syria. Seleuceia was built near the mouth of the river *Orontes, providing the Seleucids with a naval base of strategic and economic importance, linked by the Orontes to *Antioch (1). Seleucus I was buried here by his son *Antiochus (1) I, who ‘built a temple over him and surrounded it with a sanctuary and called the sanctuary Nikatoreion’ (belonging to the Nicator (Conqueror) i.e. Seleucus I; Appian, Syr. 63), housing a cult of uncertain character for the dead king. *Polybius (1) (5. 59–61) describes a well-fortified city, built on the foothills of Mt. Coryphaeum with its suburbs, business quarter, fine temples, and civic buildings. Most of the archaeological remains are of Roman date, including the theatre. The civic institutions of the Hellenistic polis, including magistrates, priests, and governor, are revealed by Seleucid period inscriptions and by the Gurob papyrus, which attests the ceremonial welcome given to *Ptolemy (1) III when he conquered the city in 246 (FGrH160).