Table of Contents

i: Introduction
Prologue: The Death of a King
A History of Kings and Usurpers
Usurpation as an Interpretative Model
1: Central and Local Power in the Seleukid Empire
1.1 Dynasts in all the Land
1.2 The Strength of Local Power
1.3 Between Central and Local Power
1.4 Conclusion
2: Usurpers in Asia Minor: The Third Century
2.1 Late Third-Century Asia Minor and the Loss of Seleukid Control, c. 246-213
2.2 Becoming King in Asia Minor
2.3 Royal Success in Asia Minor: The Limits of the Seleukid Family
3: Usurpers in the Levant and Beyond: The Second Century
3.1 A History of the Seleukid Empire in the Mid-Second Century, c. 162 123
3.2 Images of Kingship: The Royal Offers
3.3 The Reception of Royal Offers: When Audiences Become Agents
3.4 Usurpers in the Second Century: Conclusion
4: Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire
4.1 The Origin of Usurpers
4.2 Royal Reaction: Punishment, Pardon, and Adaptation
5: Kings in the Seleukid Empire: A Story of Usurpation, Monarchy, and Power
5.1 Power and Kingship in the Seleukid Empire
5.2 Kings and Empires: Assessing the Seleukid State
Appendices
A. The Meydancikkale Hoard, and the Recovery of Rough Kilikia under Seleukos II
B. Antiochos Hierax and the city of Magnesia
C. Alexander Balas and the Eagle Coinage
D. Usurpers and the Senate of Rome
Endmatter
Bibliography
i. Primary Material
ii. Secondary Material

About the Author

Boris Chrubasik is Assistant Professor of Historical Studies and Classics at the University of Toronto. Originally from Germany, he earned his doctorate at the University of Oxford and spent a year at the University of Exeter before moving to Toronto. An ancient historian, he has a particular interest in the history of the eastern Mediterranean from the Achaemenid to the late Hellenistic periods, and has published articles on the relationship between Hellenistic
cities and kings and the Attalid state. He is currently in the early steps of a new project on the relationship between ancient empires and local sanctuaries in Ancient Turkey and the Levantine coast.

Reviews

[Chrubasik]'s publication... covers welcome[d] new ground.
*Kyle Erickson, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter, Classical Review*

[Boris Chrubasik] contributes to the strong renewal of Seleucid studies; a field which has experienced unprecedented vitality over the last decade. . . . On reaching the end of this exciting book the reader will be convinced of having read an indispensable contribution to the very current debate on the nature of royal Hellenistic power.
*Laurent Capdetrey, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Bryn Mawr Classical Review [translated from French]*

It can be concluded that Chrubasik has reached his formulated aim. With Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire, he offers not only a very readable, but also an argumentatively persuasive monograph which opens up numerous fascinating avenues for future research on Seleukid history.
*Philip Egetenmeier, Tyche*

In challenging us to rethink our understanding of Seleukid kingship, Chrubasik has made a strong case. He displays a firm command of the historiographical, epigraphical, archaeological, and (especially) numismatic evidence, whose limitations he is careful to acknowledge ... For scholars of the Seleukids as well as other Hellenistic monarchies, the book is a must -- read.
*Jeremy LaBuff, American Journal of Philology*

Overall the book is well taken care, and almost all the bibliography is usefully put to good (which does not happen too often, lately, to some scholarship). The work of Chrubasik is therefore on par with other recent monographs on the Seleucids, contributing substantially to make a clearer framework
*Federicomaria Muccioli, Sehepunkte*

Much of Chrubasik's argument is quite persuasive ... and heuristically powerful: it certainly raises questions that Seleucid historians must address.
*Christopher Tuplin (University of Liverpool), Phoenix: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada*