Even in his own lifetime (358 B.C.E. – 281 B.C.E.) legends and stories of Seleucus’ s heroic status abounded. His mother told him (on his embarking on Alexander, The Great, ‘s military campaign to conquer The Persian Empire,) that he, Seleucus, was a son of the god, Apollo.

Seleucus had a birthmark, an anchor. When he was about to reclaim his satrap of Babylonia, he stumbled upon an old anchor, Some of his soldiers thought that this was an ill omen; Ptolemy, who gave his friend, Seleucus, soldiers and cavalry to enable him to retake Babylon, argued that it was a symbol of security and strength – a good omen. When he finally took Babylonia and began the conquest of the Eastern provinces of Alexander’s Empire, Seleucus began minting coins with the anchor image.

His mother gave Seleucus a ring with the anchor engraved on it. It was prophesied that where he lost that ring, he would rule as king. He lost the ring in the East where his dynasty ruled for over two hundred years.

Alexander once was about to sacrifice a bull. The animal broke its restraints. It was the mighty Seleucus, who wrestled it to the ground.

The mighty kings of old conquered lands and built cities. Seleucus, like Alexander The Great, built many cities over his empire. One of the most famous was Antioch in Syria.

The building of Seleucus’s new capital city on The Tigris River, Seleucia, was – according to legend – commenced with a divine command.

Finally, before this glimpse into one of the greatest of Alexander’s Successors, ends, the elderly Seleucus gave his second wife, Stratonice, (the daughter of Demetrius, the son of Antigonus,) to his son and heir, Antiochus, who was, according to all the sources, dying for love for his step-mother.

Seleucus was one of the greatest rulers of the Hellenistic world who rose from a secondary rank under Alexander The Great as one of Ptolemy’s officers, to founding the greatest of the Hellenistic Empires, but he could not conquer the greatest enemy of Mankind – Sin and Death.

The Eleventh Chapter of Daniel is leading up from Cyrus the Great (who died in 530 B.C.E. ,) through over five hundred years, to the greatest conqueror of all, The One Who Conquered The Greatest Enemy, Death, JESUS, THE SON OF DAVID, THE SON OF ABRAHAM;

THE ONE WHO ASCENDED TO THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER IN HEAVEN;

and Founded A Glorious and Eternal City, The New Jerusalem.

Next Week: Daniel 11:6 The Tragic History of ‘The King’s Daughter of The South’