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Why was Seleucus I assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus?
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Hellenistic age
The figure, who is possibly Dionysus, riding a panther, a Hellenistic opus tessellatum emblema from the House of Masks in Delos, Greece, 2nd century bce.
In 281 BCE, Seleucus I Nicator was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus while attempting to enter Macedonia to claim the throne.1
Ptolemy Ceraunus was the son of Ptolemy I Soter, the ruler of Egypt. He was motivated to commit the murder because he had been passed over by his father as the successor to the Egyptian throne. By assassinating Seleucus, Ceraunus eliminated a powerful rival and sought to advance his own political ambitions during the volatile power struggles of the Hellenistic Age.12