SELEUCID,®
1720
SELIM I
SELEUCJA-ON-THE~TIGRIS was built by Seleucus Nicator, 40 miles northeast of Babylon, as the successor of that capital, which was despoiled to furnish it with building material. It grew fast, and at one time had a population of 600,000. It was partly burned by Trajan and razed to the ground b}r Avidius Cassius in 162 A. D. in the reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
SELEUCIA PIERTA (pl-e'ri-d), founded by Seleucus Nicator, n ar the mouth of the Orontes in Syria, was the seaport of Antioch. It was a city of importance during the wars between the Seleucidae and the Ptolemies for the possession of Syria. A remarkable tunnel, i,088 yards long, dug out of the solid rock, the only connection between the city and the sea, and the ruins of its threefold line of walls, fortress, temple and amphitheater speak of its former splendor.
Seleucidae (se-lu's^-de), the royal house to whom fell Syria, a large part of Asia Minor and Persia, Bactria and other eastern provinces of Alexander the Great. Seleucus Nicator was driven to Egypt by Antigonus. The date of his return to Babylon, 312 B. C., was the beginning of the Seleucian empire. Susiana, Media and the provinces as far as the Oxus and the Indus fell into his hands. Joining the confederacy headed by Ptolemy, he gained Syria, and later all Asia Minor fell to nis share on the defeat of Antigonus by the allies. Planting Greek colonies and founding many cities — some of which, as Seleucia-on-the-Tigris and Antioch, became among the largest and richest in the world— were some of his plans to create a great empire. Seleucus was murdered by one of his officers in 280 B. C. Antiochus II allowed the great Parthian kingdom to rise in the east. The two ablest successors of Seleucus I were Antiochus III, the first great eastern king to come into collision with the Romans, and Antiochus IV, whose cruelties would have perhaps succeeded in supplanting the Jewish religion by the Greek worship, had it not been for the patriotic resistance of the Maccabees (q. v.). Antiochus died a raving lunatic. In derision his subjects changed his surname of Epiphanes or the Illustrious into Epimanes or the Madman. Syria, the last Seleucian possession, was conquered by Ptolemy in 65 B. C.
Self=Activity. In the process of education there seem to be two principal factors. On the one hand are the instincts, impulses and interests of the individual, whether child or adult; and on the other hand are certain sensations and stimuli which operate from without. The name of self-activity is given to the native tendencies of the individual. These include instincts, impulses and interests. Every instinct, indeed, involves an impulse and tends to create an interest. The factor of self-activity in the process of education has been chiefly emphasized b)r the school of Froebel. By Froebel selectivity
was regarded as the divinely set spark of the fire of life or the seed of all development. It was regarded as a datum of unity in the soul. However, it is a question whether one should speak of self-activity or only of self-activities. An analysis of self-activity would seem to involve something like the classification of instincts by Professor James in Principles of Psychology. Self-activity would then involve not only the natural physical tendencies but the inclinations towards imitation, emulation, pugnacity, sympathy, hunting, fear, acquisitiveness, constructive-ness, play, curiosity, sociability, shyness, secretiveness, cleanliness, shame and love. It seems absurd to regard these self-activities as reducible to a single type and equally absurd to regard them as wholly independent of one another. It follows that original self-activity is neither a mere unity nor a mere set of different activities, but rather a germ both of unity and of difference. This is important for the theory of the will. The will is partly given and partly achieved. The will, indeed, simply is the unity of self-activity. Self-activity, therefore, is encouraged in education as the basis of will, effort and interest. It seems to be best developed by its own exercise. Such occupations as manual training, which involve doing rather than imitating, are therefore regarded as concessions to the doctrine of education by self-activity. Education by self-activity practically is education by development. The nature of the child is followed and not constrained. Yet it is clear that the child has to meet certain social demands. These demands are represented by the curriculum, which must be mastered. The curriculum itself can only to a limited extent cater to self-activity. It is method, therefore, rather than curriculum, which is founded upon a study of self-activity or upon child-study. Education according to self-activity emphasizes child-nature, individuality, psychological method and the principles of heredity. In general, the treatment of self-activities in education should be sympathetic but not servile. The teacher is not to eliminate them, as if they represented original sin; but he is not to pander to them where duty demands a sacrifice. They are not to be destroyed, nor yet followed ; they are to be guided and controlled according to the social conception of the good.
Self-Pollina'tfon (in plants), the transfer of pollen from a stamen to the stigma of the same flower. It is the same as close-pollination. See POLLINATION.
Se'lim I, sultan of Turkey, was born in 1467, dethroned his father, Bajazet II, by the aid of the janizaries in 1512, and put his father, brothers and nephews to death. In 1514, after massacring 40,000 Shiites, he declared war against Persia and defeated Shah Ismail near Tabriz. Three years later
