Ruling the Seleucid Empire: Seleucid Officials and the Official Experience
This thesis considers the experience of being an official in the Seleucid empire. The empire could not function without the many administrative officials who served the Seleucid kings, for they in their roles as royal representatives and managers of information, infrastructure, wealth and political networks held together the many different regions and peoples under Seleucid rule. By understanding their experience of wielding ruling power on behalf of the kings, we may gain a better sense of how Seleucid rule operated, not just as a governmental structure but as it affected and worked through the lives of the people involved. The discussion of officials is not biographical, but a characterisation of types of officials according to their experiences of hierarchy and participation in rule and a comparison of official types on the basis of differing experiences and circumstances. The available evidence for Seleucid administration, much of it epigraphical, is analysed for the patterns of experience linking together Seleucid officials across the history and distances of the empire, and from these patterns several points are asserted. The experience of office-holding under the Seleucids was characterised by a relationship
Ramsey, Gillian Catherine
Ruling the Seleucid Empire: Seleucid Officials and the Official Experience. This thesis considers the experience of being an official in the Seleucid empire. The empire could not function without the many administrative officials who served the Seleucid kings, for they in their roles as royal representatives and managers of information, infrastructure, wealth and political networks held together the many different regions and peoples under Seleucid rule. By understanding their experience of wielding ruling power on behalf of the kings, we may gain a better sense of how Seleucid rule operated, not just as a governmental structure but as it affected and worked through the lives of the people involved. The discussion of officials is not biographical, but a characterisation of types of officials according to their experiences of hierarchy and participation in rule and a comparison of official types on the basis of differing experiences and circumstances. The available evidence for Seleucid administration, much of it epigraphical, is analysed for the patterns of experience linking together Seleucid officials across the history and distances of the empire, and from these patterns several points are asserted. The experience of office-holding under the Seleucids was characterised by a relationship
ruling seleucid empire seleucid official experience considers experience official seleucid empire empire could function without many administrative official serve seleucid king role royal representative manager information infrastructure wealth political network hold_together many_different region people seleucid rule experience wield rule power behalf king may gain_good sense seleucid rule operate governmental structure affect worked life people involve discussion official biographical characterisation type official accord experience hierarchy participation rule comparison official type basis differ experience circumstance available_evidence seleucid administration much epigraphical analyse pattern experience link together seleucid official across history distance empire pattern several point assert experience office_holding seleucids characterise relationship