Why wasn't there a native Persian Dynasty after Alexander

Why was Seleucus able to hold down Persia after Alexander's death if the Macedonians were just foreign conquerors. Shouldn't Iran have crumbled beneath him and raised up an new Persian dynasty?
 
I think the limited nationalism and multi-cultural (and multi-hegemonic) nature of the Persian Empire had a bunch to do with it.

What I mean by that is the 'Persian' Empire did not simply contain multiple nations - including Greeks - but had previously been the Median Empire, who had taken much of it from the Babylonians and so on. A foreign King of Kings didn't really worry either the people or the satraps as long as it was business - tax - as usual, especially with a bit of clever propaganda
 
Because the Seleucids, much like the Ptolemies, were smart to adopt the traditional cultural norms and traditions of the peoples they ruled over, especially in Mesopotamia and Media. In fact, natives had more of a say in the Seleucid empire than an Egyptian ever did in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Seleucids had partial descent from the Achaemenids and employed Persians to rule as satraps in their stead.

Now the question as to why a Persian dynasty never came to be after Seleucid hegemony? Simply because there wasn't the opportunity for one to rise up. By the time the Seleucid empire was in irreversible decline, the Parthians were the ones in control over Persia. Perhaps if the Seleucid empire collapsed a lot more sooner, perhaps during the reign of Antiochus I, would a Persian dynasty rise up and seize control of the east.
 

jahenders

Banned
I agree -- the empire was so diverse in "nationality" and culture that they had a long history of rule by some remote, semi-"foreign" ruler. Alexander and Seleucus were both just more in a long list. Apparently they had a mindset like, "OK, you're in charge now -- keep things running smoothly and we'll serve you (as well as we served the last guy) whether you're black, brown, white, green; Persian, Median, Greek, or Martian."

I think the limited nationalism and multi-cultural (and multi-hegemonic) nature of the Persian Empire had a bunch to do with it.

What I mean by that is the 'Persian' Empire did not simply contain multiple nations - including Greeks - but had previously been the Median Empire, who had taken much of it from the Babylonians and so on. A foreign King of Kings didn't really worry either the people or the satraps as long as it was business - tax - as usual, especially with a bit of clever propaganda
 
Because the Seleucids, much like the Ptolemies, were smart to adopt the traditional cultural norms and traditions of the peoples they ruled over, especially in Mesopotamia and Media. In fact, natives had more of a say in the Seleucid empire than an Egyptian ever did in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Seleucids had partial descent from the Achaemenids and employed Persians to rule as satraps in their stead.

Now the question as to why a Persian dynasty never came to be after Seleucid hegemony? Simply because there wasn't the opportunity for one to rise up. By the time the Seleucid empire was in irreversible decline, the Parthians were the ones in control over Persia. Perhaps if the Seleucid empire collapsed a lot more sooner, perhaps during the reign of Antiochus I, would a Persian dynasty rise up and seize control of the east.

This. Also, IIRC, the Seleucids treated Persia in particular extra delicately and granted the province privileges other satrapies did not have.
 
Why was Seleucus able to hold down Persia after Alexander's death if the Macedonians were just foreign conquerors. Shouldn't Iran have crumbled beneath him and raised up an new Persian dynasty?

Well, the Macedonians were not the first foreigners to rule over other nation(s) / people(s) / countrie(s).
I wonder why it surprises you.

The Macedonians went against the huge multinational Empire ruled by the Persians.
The Persians had enough time to send several armies against the invaders - each time the Persians gathered all their available troops including their numerous warlike subjects of Non-Persian origin.
The Persians carefully chose the places for their battles, first they tried to get protection behind the rivers; then they tried an open field to make advantage of their (supposedly) superior cavalry.

And... the Persians lost every time.

It was pretty obvious to everybody (including the Persians themselves) that the gods (the fate, the luck, whatever) left the Persians and sided with the Macedonians.

It was a fair game, both parties knew the rules good: if you lose - you lose.
There was no conception of "mandate of heaven" in this part of the Earth, but figuratively speaking the Persians lost the "mandate of heaven" and the Macedonians got it.

The Persians understood that they lost when they used the resources of the Empire against the Macedonians.
And now you want the Persians fight the Macedonians when these Macedonians have the imperial resources on their side?

It should be noted that the Macedonians in general (and the Seleucids in particular) were good empire-builders.
All the non-Persian peoples admitted that the Macedonians were no worse than the Persians, so there was no hope that the non-Persians would support the Persian resurrection against the Macedonian rule.

The Seleucids treated the Persians good, even used their bureaucratic managerial skills. But the Macedonians were smart enough not to allow too many former owners of the Empire into the Macedonian army (after the initial unsuccessful attempt of Alexander the Great, which actually failed after his death).

The core of the army stayed Macedonian/Greek. There were non-Macedonian (non-Greek) military detachments: Median cataphractes in the cavalry, the Jewish infantry garrisoning fortification, etc.
But the bulk stayed Macedonian/Greek, especially 'Grand army'.
And you hardly meet a lot of Persians in the imperial Seleucid army, as an exception maybe.

* As a side note - when the Parthians were taking the Empire from the Macedonians (which received a death wound from Rome), there was a resurrection of the local non-Macedonian population against the new Iranian pretenders in favor of the old masters, the Macedonians. This resurrection took place in Mesopotamia, but it was wholeheartedly supported by the Persia proper. Go figure...
 
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