What if the Seleucids adopt Buddhism before the reign of Antiochus IV?

raharris1973

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Does ruling family's adoption of Buddhism and patronage of temples and monasteries boost Buddhism among the general populace? Does it set Buddhism up for greater spreading in the Ptolemaic Empire, Greece or Western Mediterranean?

Would Buddhist Seleucids have an easier time or a harder time quelling Jewish revolt compared to the OTL Seleucids? This could mess with the story of the Maccabees and Hannukah.
 
Why would the Seleucids convert to Buddhism? I don't know much about the relationship between the Seleucids and Buddhism, I'd love to learn more about it and why this could possibly happen!
 
i mean it might not make sense, but there's this one weird factor that's sincere belief, and even hellenistic backstabbers can fall for it.
a personal conversion of an emperor might be on the cards after a personal experience in a campaign, for example.
 
Because Buddhism can syncretise happily with the pagan beliefs of most of their subjects, whereas Zoroastrianism cannot?

Zoroastrianism has been the state religion of
Persia for a few centuries at this point, who’s to say it’s not the majority faith of Seleucid subjects? Moreover, it can easily be associated with Persian prestige and power, of which Alexander himself was very fond.

Personal belief.

Fair enough.
 
Because Buddhism can syncretise happily with the pagan beliefs of most of their subjects, whereas Zoroastrianism cannot?
Zoroastrianism under Achaemenids syncretised easily enough, especially with Babylonian religion.
Most of Persian subject who were nominally Zoroastrian were actually following their local gods, and even Zoroastrianism "proper" borrowed deities from other religions that were subjects of Persia.
It was only under Sassanids that Zoroastrianism become properly monotheistic.
 
I don't see the Seleucids converting to Buddhism if they don't shift their centre of power to the east. Most Seleucids diplomatic and military operations were directed against the west, Egypt, Greece and later Rome. They lost Bactria and western India after some decades, and after another couple of years gave up Persia.

If the Seleucids decided to set their focus on Persia and Bactria (but why should they do this? Asia Minor with its Greek cities seems much more valuable than not-urbanized areas in the east), then I could see them converting to Buddhism, just like the Bactrian rulers did in OTL.
 
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