The name of the settlement honored Seleucus I Nicator, one of the Diadochi successors to the empire of Alexander the Great, although it may have been a foundation by his son and successor Antiochus. It was distinguished from other cities named Seleucia by reference to Belus or the Belus, a toponym which was variously applied to Syria's Limestone Massif, which lies to the city's north, and to various rivers in Syria. In this case, it appears that the name Belus was a title of the Orontes.