Geographic HistoryMap of the Seleucid Empire
On the Geographic History map, the Seleucid Empire appears from 321 BC to 83 BC. It reaches its largest mapped extent in 282 BC: about 4.2 million km² across 110 provinces.
The Seleucid Empire grew out of Alexander's conquests in Asia and was founded by his general Seleucus I Nicator in 312 BC, with Antioch as its main capital. At first it reached from Anatolia and Syria to Central Asia and the borders of India, but it steadily lost ground to Parthia in the east and Rome in the west. In 63 BC Pompey made what remained of it the Roman province of Syria.
Mapped area over time
The Seleucid Empire on the world maps
Largest other states in 282 BC
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Maurya Empire | 3.3 million km² |
| Ptolemaic Kingdom | 1.2 million km² |
| Qin | 770 thousand km² |
| Yuezhi | 620 thousand km² |
| Chin | 550 thousand km² |
| Babyllinioi | 500 thousand km² |
| Chu State | 490 thousand km² |
| Carthage | 490 thousand km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
