Seleucus I clashed several times with his southern rival for power, the Ptolemaic Dynasty. The Ptolemaic Dynasty controlled most of Egypt and the lands around it, and would fight the Seleucid Empire on many occasions for control of Syria. Seleucus I conquered much of Anatolia, and was preparing to invade Macedonia, when he was assassinated. This momentarily put an end to the Seleucid Empire's ambitions in Greece. After Seleucus I died, his heirs spent much of their time and money trying to maintain the enormous empire they had inherited. In this, they were rather successful, but the vastness of the empire defied attempts by the successors of Seleucus to control it effectively.
Westmorland
Westmorland (an older spelling is "Westmoreland", an even older spelling is "Westmerland") is an area of north west England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It was an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now is part of Cumbria.
At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 the county was said to form part of Yorkshire.
The historic county borders are with Cumberland to the north, County Durham and Yorkshire to the east, and Lancashire to the south and west.
The highest point of the county is Helvellyn at 950m (3,117 ft). According to the 1831 census its area was 485,990 acres.
Appleby, the historic county town, was also a historic borough until it was reformed in 1885.
According to the 1971 census, Westmorland was the second smallest administrative county with people in England, after Rutland. The spead of population was as follows:
In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the county was abolished and its former area was combined with Cumberland and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire to form the new county of Cumbria. The former county now forms part of the districts of South Lakeland and Eden.
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of UK They were used for various functions for several hundred years and continue to form the basis of modern local government. They are alternatively known as "ancient counties" and "traditional counties".
The historic counties are as follows:
Ceremonial counties of England
The Ceremonial counties of England are areas of England are defined by the government with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England. They are also often called geographic counties.
† ceremonial county covers larger area than the non-metropolitan county
The Lieutenancies Act 1997 defines the "ceremonial counties" in terms of local government areas created by the Local Government Act 1972 as amended. Schedule 1, paragraphs 2–5 defines them as:
Counties of England
The counties of England are territorial divisions of England that have many different purposes, such as local government. Most counties began as Anglo-Saxon shires, and duchies.
The names, boundaries and functions of these divisions have changed many times. A series of local government reforms from the 19th century onwards has left the exact definition of the term 'county' unclear, and many counties have more than one definition in law.
Therefore, the term "counties of England" does not refer to a unique set of names or boundaries. There are specific sets of counties that serve a purpose in government (e.g. ceremonial county, registration county or former postal county) or are cultural regions that are sometimes loosely defined (e.g. historic county).
Two definitions have a purpose in present-day government:
For example, Leicester is not in the administrative county of Leicestershire, but is in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire.
The 39 historic, ancient or traditional counties, developed from the 12th to the 16th centuries, though many of the specific areas are much older. They were not used for census reporting since 1841. Most of the historic counties continue to form part of the local government structure, often with reformed boundaries.
Registration counties existed from 1851 to 1930 and were used for census reporting from 1851 to 1911.
Elected county councils were set up in England in 1889, taking over many of the administrative functions of the Quarter Sessions courts, as well as being given other powers over the years. A County of London was created from parts of Kent, Middlesex and Surrey. The counties were divided into administrative counties (the area controlled by a county council) and independent county boroughs. Some counties were covered by several administrative counties; they were Suffolk, Sussex, Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
1965 saw a minor change as the original County of London became instead the 'administrative area' of Greater London.
On 1 April 1974 the Local Government Act 1972 came into force. This abolished the existing local government structure in England and Wales (except in Greater London) and replaced it with a new entirely two-tier system. It abolished the previously existing administrative counties and county boroughs (but not the previous non-administrative 'counties') and created a new set of 46 'counties' in England, 6 of which were metropolitan and 40 of which were non-metropolitan.
Some of the counties established by the Act were entirely new, such as Avon, Cleveland, Cumbria, Hereford and Worcester, and Humberside, along with the new metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire. The counties of Cumberland, Herefordshire, Rutland, Westmorland and Worcestershire were abolished and the county boroughs as well.
A further local government reform in the 1990s grouped the counties into regions, created many small unitary authorities with county level status (re-establishing in effect if not in name the old county boroughs), and restored Herefordshire, Rutland and Worcestershire as administrative entities.
There are now 81 county level entities outside Greater London. Of these, 34 are so-called 'shire counties' with both county councils and district councils, and 40 are unitary authorities. Six are metropolitan counties. The remaining one is Berkshire, whose county council has been abolished and its districts have become unitary authorities.
Because of the local government reforms in the 1990s, the distinction between the counties used for local government and those used for Lieutenancy, abolished in 1974, was revived, and a new term, 'ceremonial county', coined. Most unitary authorities remained associated with the same county for Lieutenancy, and in a few areas the old ceremonial counties were restored (Bristol, East Riding of Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Rutland, Worcestershire).
These are also known as the geographic counties and are generally used to describe a place's location in England. They are also taken into consideration by the boundary commission when they draw up boundaries for constituencies, for example.
The former postal counties as used by the Post Office are no longer required on addresses. They included most of the 1974 changes, but did not acknowledge Greater Manchester or Greater London as postal counties. They went out of official use in 1996.
Lord Lieutenant
The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representatives around the United Kingdom, usually in a county, with varying tasks throughout history. Usually a retired local notable, senior military officer, peer or business person is given the post honourarily. Both men and women are eligible for the post.
In England and Wales and Ireland, the lord lieutenant was the principal officer of his county. His creation dates from the Tudors.