Fall of the Seleukid Empire 187-75 BC

The concluding part of John D Grainger's history of the Seleukids traces the tumultuous last century of their empire. In this period it was riven by dynastic disputes, secessions and rebellions, the religiously-inspired insurrection of the Jewish Maccabees, civil war and external invasion from Egypt in the West and the Parthians in the East. By the 80s BC, the empire was disintegrating, internally fractured and squeezed by the converging expansionist powers of Rome and Parthia. This is a fittingly, dramatic and colourful conclusion to John Grainger's masterful account of this once-mighty empire. AUTHOR: John Grainger, a former teacher and now full-time historian is the author of numerous books on both classical and twentieth-century history. He has a particular interest in the history of the Near and Middle East and Constantinople in particular. His many previous books (more than twenty-five withPen & Sword alone) include: The Straits from Troy to Constantinople and The Forty Sieges of Constantinople.