ἀνδριάντες δὲ χαλκοῖ κεῖνται πρὸ μὲν τῆς στοᾶς Σόλων ὁ τοὺς νόμους Ἀθηναίοις γράψας, ὀλίγον δὲ ἀπωτέρω Σέλευκος, ᾧ καὶ πρότερον ἐγένετο ἐς τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν τὴν μέλλουσαν σημεῖα οὐκ ἀφανῆ. Σελεύκῳ γάρ, ὡς ὡρμᾶτο ἐκ Μακεδονίας σὺν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ, θύοντι ἐν Πέλλῃ τῷ Διὶ τὰ ξύλα τὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ κείμενα προύβη τε αὐτόματα πρὸς τὸ ἄγαλμα καὶ ἄνευ πυρὸς ἥφθη. τελευτήσαντος δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρου Σέλευκος Ἀντίγονον ἐς Βαβυλῶνα ἀφικόμενον δείσας καὶ παρὰ Πτολεμαῖον φυγὼν τὸν Λάγου κατῆλθεν αὖθις ἐς Βαβυλῶνα, κατελθὼν δὲ ἐκράτησε μὲν τῆς Ἀντιγόνου στρατιᾶς καὶ αὐτὸν ἀπέκτεινεν Ἀντίγονον, εἷλε δὲ ἐπιστρατεύσαντα ὕστερον Δημήτριον τὸν Ἀντιγόνου.
ὡς δέ οἱ ταῦτα προκεχωρήκει καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγον τὰ Λυσιμάχου κατείργαστο, τὴν μὲν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ πᾶσαν ἀρχὴν παρέδωκεν Ἀντιόχῳ τῷ παιδί, αὐτὸς δὲ ἐς Μακεδονίαν ἠπείγετο. στρατιὰ μὲν καὶ Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβάρων ἦν παρὰ Σελεύκῳ· Πτολεμαῖος δὲ ἀδελφὸς μὲν Λυσάνδρας καὶ παρὰ Λυσιμάχου παρʼ αὐτὸν πεφευγώς, ἄλλως δὲ τολμῆσαι πρόχειρος καὶ διʼ αὐτὸ Κεραυνὸς καλούμενος, οὗτος ὁ Πτολεμαῖος, ὡς προσιὼν ὁ Σελεύκου στρατὸς ἐγένετο κατὰ Λυσιμάχειαν, λαθὼν Σέλευκον κτείνει, διαρπάσαι δὲ ἐπιτρέψας τὰ χρήματα τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἐβασίλευσε Μακεδονίας, ἐς ὃ Γαλάταις πρῶτος ὧν ἴσμεν βασιλέων ἀντιτάξασθαι τολμήσας ἀναιρεῖται ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων· τὴν δὲ ἀρχὴν Ἀντίγονος ἀνεσώσατο ὁ Δημητρίου.
Σέλευκον δὲ βασιλέων ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα πείθομαι καὶ ἄλλως γενέσθαι δίκαιον καὶ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβῆ. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ Σέλευκός ἐστιν ὁ Μιλησίοις τὸν χαλκοῦν καταπέμψας Ἀπόλλωνα ἐς Βραγχίδας, ἀνακομισθέντα ἐς Ἐκβάτανα τὰ Μηδικὰ ὑπὸ Ξέρξου· τοῦτο δὲ Σελεύκειαν οἰκίσας ἐπὶ Τίγρητι ποταμῷ καὶ Βαβυλωνίους οὗτος ἐπαγόμενος ἐς αὐτὴν συνοίκους ὑπελίπετο μὲν τὸ τεῖχος Βαβυλῶνος, ὑπελίπετο δὲ. τοῦ Βὴλ τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ περὶ αὐτὸ τοὺς Χαλδαίους οἰκεῖν.
There are bronze statues of Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, and Seleucus. The former stands in front of the colonnade, the latter a little farther off. To Seleucus were vouchsafed beforehand no obscure tokens of his future greatness; for as he was sacrificing to Zeus at Pella, before setting out from Macedonia with Alexander, the wood lying on the altar advanced of itself to the image and took fire without any light being applied to it. After the death of Alexander, Seleucus, fearing Antigonus, who had come to Babylon, fled to Ptolemy, son of Lagus; but returning to Babylon, he vanquished the army of Antigonus and slew Antigonus himself; and when Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, afterwards marched against him, Seleucus took him prisoner. Being thus successful, and having shortly afterwards vanquished Lysimachus, he committed the whole empire of Asia to his son Antiochus, and hastened in person to Macedonia.
He had with him an army of Greeks and barbarians. But when his army had advanced to Lysimachia he was assassinated by Ptolemy, brother of Lysandra. This Ptolemy had fled to him from Lysimachus, and was called Thunderbolt from his daring character. The assassin gave up the treasures to the guards to plunder, and reigned over Macedonia until, venturing to give battle to the Gauls (he was the first king we know of who did so), he was slain by them, and Antigonus the son of Demetrius regained the sovereignty.
Seleucus I believe to have been one of the justest and most pious of kings; for he sent back to the Milesians at Branchidae the bronze Apollo which had been carried off by Xerxes to Ecbatana in Media; and when he founded Seleucia on the river Tigris, and brought Babylonian colonists to it, he left standing both the walls of Babylon and the sanctuary of Bel, and allowed the Chaldeans to dwell round about the sanctuary as before.
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