Seleucus ( el, Σέλευκος ''Seleukos'') was in 30 BC a commandant of the eastern Egyptian border-fortress Pelusium. In the final stage of the decisive war between

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

and

Octavian Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

for the sole rule of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

Antony and his lover, the Egyptian queen

Cleopatra VII Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

, withdrew after their defeat in the

Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between a maritime fleet of Octavian led by Marcus Agrippa and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII Philopator. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, ...

(September 2, 31 BC) to Egypt. In summer of 30 BC Octavian’s troops advanced from the West and the East against Egypt. At that time Seleucus was the commandant of Pelusium. But this eastern border-fortress surrendered so fast that Seleucus was suspected of having treacherously handed it over. The ancient biographer

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

also mentions the rumour that Seleucus had given it up with the consent of Cleopatra, but this assertion is doubted in the modern research. In any case the queen handed over Seleucus’s wife and children to Antony for execution. If the family members of Seleucus were really executed is unknown.Plutarch, ''Antony'' 74.1-2; compare

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

(''Roman history'' 51.9.5-6), who represents the treacherous surrender of Pelusium at the orders of Cleopatra as certain and gives for this as one motive, that the queen allegedly believed in love declarations of Octavian. There is also no information about the further fate of Seleucus.

Notes

References

* Michael Grant: ''Kleopatra''. Bastei-Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1998, , p. 304. *Christoph Schäfer: ''Kleopatra''. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2006, , p. 240 with note. 108. *Felix Staehelin: ''Seleukos 14''. In: '' Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft'', vol. II A,1, Stuttgart 1921, col. 1247. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seleucus 1st-century BC births 1st-century BC deaths Ptolemaic generals 1st-century BC Greek people