Seleucus

Seleucus
Seleucus I Nicator is the current King of the Selucids and ruler of the Seleucid Empire. One of the Diadochi The Selucids rule over a rich and ancient land, including the once powerful Persia.

Early Life
Seleucus (c. 358-281 B.C.), son of Antiochus (one of Philip's generals), fought in the Companion cavalry and later became commander of the crack heavy infantry formation, the Hypaspistae. He took Perdiccas' side immediately after Alexander's death, but was later instrumental in his murder following the failure of the Egyptian campaign. Antipater appointed him governor of Babylon in 321.

But in 316 Antigonus drove him out of Babylon and he fled to Egypt, where he joined Ptolemy in the war against Antigonus. He returned to Babylon in 312 and steadily extended his authority over the eastern provinces.

Seleucus, one of said generals, established himself in Babylon in 312 BC, which was used as the foundation date of the Seleucid Empire. He ruled over not only Babylonia, but the entire enormous eastern part of Alexander's Empire

King
Since becoming King, Seleucus fought wars with his neighbours in an effort to prove he was the true successor to Alexander of Macedon.

He believes himself to be a god. And this arrogance is shown in everything he does. In battle he still leads his troops. This is true with the recent successful expandions into Palmyra. The lead to the first Selucid War with the Antigonids.

The First Selucid War
This war started after the Egyptian invasion of Judea, Seleucus began his march after General Nimlot's defeat in Syria. The Egyptians served their purpose in his plans to invade the Antigonids. His real plan was to sweep in and seize Syria to the Nile valley. But Ptolemy II saw through the plan, and made peace with the Antigonids.

This lead to a large battle, The Battle of Tarsus. The siege failed to take the city and even more, Demetrius had arrived on his flank and later began to affect Seleucid supply lines. Forcing Seleucus to withdraw from the Antigonid realm.