A dynasty founded in Syria by one of the generals of Alexander the Great who was his principal successor in the east. This empire of Greek rulers descended from Seleucus I (c 358-281 BC) who founded the dynasty after the death of his leader. From the 4th-1st centuries BC the Seleucid dynasty ruled over an area extending from Asia Minor to the Indus River, in present-day Pakistan. The Seleucids captured Babylon in 312 BC and its capital was at Seleucia on the Tigris, though Seleucus also had a capital in Antioch (Syria). The Seleucid empire was a mix of Hellenistic and Oriental cultures. The eastern provinces (Asia Minor, Bactria, Parthia) broke away and the Parthians captured the capital in 141 BC, marking the decline of the Seleucids. Reduced to Syria only and torn by internal conflicts, the kingdom was finally annexed by Armenia in 83 BC and then by Rome in 64 BC, which reduced it to the status of a province.