Temples to Selecus

[johhny-turbo]

Was there really a cult dedicated to Selecus Nicator? How widespread was it and why was there not a similar one for Alexander?

[Sakkura]

Hmm, well Alexander was proclaimed son of Zeus. Maybe Seleucus saw the propaganda value of such divine association and expanded on the idea?

[Spoofa]

grr, wheres my temple to Alexander for Makedonia that gives +5 experience and morale to all units trained in Pella.........

[russia almighty]

^That is somehow usable by everyone INCLUDING the Parthians and Armenians?

[Landwalker]

My chronology may be a little fuzzy, but the basic gist is this:

During his legendary campaign, Alexander was in western Egypt at a temple and managed to get himself proclaimed son of Zeus or Ra or Osiris or some such. He then went on to lay waste to the Persian Empire under Darios. During the course of the Persian campaign, Alexander tried to integrate certain eastern (Persian/Indian) political ideologies and practices into his own rule. One of these was paying obeisance to the emperor by lying prostrate on the ground before him. For the Greeks and Macedonians, this action was only practiced in the worship of gods, so Alexander's Hellenic contingents vehemently opposed/resisted the notion, because it amounted to god-worship.

I believe that the basic thrust of all this was that Alexander assumed the position, in his own mind and conduct, of something of a demigod, and did his darnedest to spread the idea. Given that the Seleucid Empire is, essentially, the most easternly-influenced of the successor states of the diadochoi, it doesn't seem surprising that the general who came into possession of these territories would also espouse a relatively eastern concept of regal divinity.

Cheers.

[gran_guitarra]

Actually Alexander had been rumoured to be the son of Zeus and a descendant of Achilles (thus having divine blood from both sides of his family) for a veeery long time. In a temple in Egypt (I think it was either in Alexandria or Tyre) he asked an oracle to answer him three questions.
The first was whether his father's (Phillip of Makedon) murderers had all been punished, to which the oracle answered yes. The second was whether he would reach his goals, to which the oracle said he would reach lands that had only been seen by the Great Heroes of Old. The final one was whether he was the son of Zeus or a mortal, to which the oracle answered go to "Insert name of some city with a temple to Zeus whose name I can't remember" and burn a sacrifice in his honor. When you are done, you will have his blessing.

Or something along those lines.

[Sakkura]

During his legendary campaign, Alexander was in western Egypt at a temple and managed to get himself proclaimed son of Zeus or Ra or Osiris or some such..

Yep, son of Zeus/Amun. The Egyptian god Amun was identified as the same god as Zeus.