Hello all, now for a thought provoking thread: Which of the Hellenistic kingdoms do you think can be awarded the title "most succesful?". Feel free to use any crtieria to justify your opinion, for example if you go for longevity then the Ptolemy would be the obvious choice as the Ptolemic Kingdom outlived both Macedon and the Seleucid state by a good margin. However, if you consider the ability to maintain your immediate post Alexandran borders then Macedon would win as both the Ptolemies (Cilicia, Palestine, Kyrene) and Seleucids (all bar Syria) lost territory which they failed to recover before they collapsed. Or you could go the other way and say that the succesor which gained the most territory, in this case the Seleucids, following their establishment should be considered the most succesful. Or you could use a wide variety of criteria to defend your choice.

You will notice I have left Bactria, Epirus, Pergamun and a variety of other Hellenistic states out as they were either established some time after the Battle of Ipsus (Bactria) or owe their origins not to the Wars of the Diadochi but to other events (Epirus). If, however, you think them to be succesors please do add your thoughts along with why you think they were succesors and whether they were succesfull at that.

There are no right or wrong answers (unless you use outright false facts) but there is a balloon for the most interesting and convincing answer.

Stratigoi, Senators, Chieftains, Kings and Shah's of the EB Forum commence your debate!