The article deals with the question of the validity of the use of the concept of "dominant ethnic class" by Charles Edson and P. Briand in the study of Seleucid society. The perception of the Seleucid state by its contemporaries as a Syrian kingdom, the absence of a tendency for the ruling dynasty to consider itself Macedonians, as well as the internal policy of the Seleucids towards their Eastern subjects prove that the social classes of the Seleucid period were multiethnic, and therefore it is not possible to consider the Greek-Macedonians as the dominant class in society. Key words: dominant ethnic class, Seleucids, Macedonians. Among experts on Hellenism, it is widely believed that the emergence of the Seleucid empire was marked by a complete break with Eastern polytheism.- page 12Alexander the Great and the consolidation of the dominant position of the Greek-Macedonian conquerors who enslaved the local population [Tarn, 1949, p. 133, 143; Edson, 1958, p. 156, 164; Bokshchanin, 1960, p. 138, 155; Will, 1966, p. 243; Preaux, 1978, p. 680; Bryant, 1978, p. 92; Koshelenko, 1979, p. 32, 49; Frye, 1984, p. 173; Levesque, 1989, p. 75; Marinovich, 1990, p. 90-91; Walbank, 1993, p. 14-15,63,65, 125]. Such an understanding of the nature of the Seleucid state could not but lead to the perception of the invaders as the dominant element in society. This view was quite clearly formulated in the article by Ch. Edson, who, however, avoided using the term "class" and preferred to refer to the Macedonians as "imperial" or "dominant people" [Edson, 1958, p. 156, 164]. Reasoning of Ch. Edson's research was based solely on terminology. Having raised the question of how the Seleucid empire was perceived by ancient and Byzantine authors, he came to the conclusion that its generally accepted and official designation as Macedonian can only be explained by the dominant role of the corresponding ethnic group [Edson, 1958, p. 164]. This approach was supported by F. A. Koshelenko, with the ... Read more