ANTIOCHOS IV EPIPHANES Seleukid 175BC Zeus Rare R1 Ancient Greek Coin i50371

Greek Coin of

Seleukid Kingdom

Antiochos IV, Epiphanes –
King: 175-164 B.C.
Bronze 18mm (7.94 grams) Struck at the mint of
Antioch on the Orontes
Reference: HGC 9, 654 (S-R1)
Radiate and diademed head of Antiochos IV right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ /
ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ, Zeus standing left, holding
thunderbolt and scepter.

King Antiochus IV, Epiphanes of the Seleucid Kingdom reigned
175-164 B.C. Younger son of Antiochus the Great, Antiochus IV seized the
Seleucid throne in 175 B.C. after having spent the previous twelve years as a
hostage in Rome. He was a vigorous ruler and attempted to extend Seleucid
influence by invading Egypt, though he was obliged to withdraw because of the
Roman opposition. He was also aroused the hatred of the Jews by despoiling the
Temple in Jerusalem and later tearing down the city walls. Antiochus died on
campaign in the east in 164 B.C.

You are bidding on the exact

Guarantee of Authenticity.

In the

ancient Greek

religion,
Zeus
was the “Father of Gods and men” (πατὴρ
ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε)
who ruled the Olympians of

Mount Olympus

as a father ruled the family. He was the

god of sky

and

thunder

in

Greek mythology
.
His

Roman

counterpart is

Jupiter

and

Etruscan

counterpart is

Tinia
.

Zeus was the child of

Cronus

and

Rhea
,
and the youngest of his siblings. In most traditions
he was married to

Hera
,
although, at the oracle of

Dodona
,
his consort was

Dione
:
according to the

Iliad
,
he is the father of

Aphrodite

by Dione. He is known for his erotic escapades.
These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring,
including

Athena
,

Apollo

and

Artemis
,

Hermes
,

Persephone

(by

Demeter
),

Dionysus
,

Perseus
,

Heracles
,

Helen of Troy
,

Minos
,
and the

Muses

(by

Mnemosyne
);
by Hera, he is usually said to have fathered

Ares
,

Hebe

and

Hephaestus
.

As

Walter Burkert

points out in his book, Greek Religion, “Even
the gods who are not his natural children address
him as Father, and all the gods rise in his
presence.” For the Greeks, he was the

King of the Gods
,
who oversaw the universe. As

Pausanias

observed, “That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying
common to all men”. In Hesiod’s

Theogony

Zeus assigns the various gods their roles. In the
Homeric Hymns he is referred to as the chieftain
of the gods.

His symbols are the

thunderbolt
,

eagle
,

bull
,
and

oak
.
In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the
classical “cloud-gatherer” also derives certain
iconographic traits from the cultures of the

Ancient Near
East
, such as the

scepter
.
Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one
of two poses: standing, striding forward, with a
thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or
seated in majesty.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes (“Manifest (God)“, “the Illustrious”
born c. 215 BC; died 163 BC) ruled the
Seleucid Empire
from 175 BC until his death in
163 BC. He was a son of King
Antiochus III the Great
and the brother of
Seleucus IV Philopator
. His original name was
Mithridates; he assumed the name Antiochus after he assumed the throne.

Notable events during the reign of Antiochus IV include his near-conquest of
Egypt
, which led to a confrontation that became
an origin of the metaphorical phrase, “line
in the sand” (see
below
), and the rebellion of the Jewish
Maccabees
.

He assumed divine epithets, which no other
Hellenistic
king had done, such as
Theos
Epiphanes (Greek:
ΘΕΟΣ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΗΣ mean “God Manifest”) and after his defeat of Egypt,
Nikephoros (Greek:
ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΣ mean “Bearer of Victory”). But his often eccentric behavior,
capricious actions and even insanity led some of his contemporaries to call him
Epimanes (“The Mad One”), a word play on his title
Epiphanes.

//

 Rise
to Power

As the son and a potential successor of King
Antiochus III
, Antiochus became a political
hostage of the
Roman Republic
following the
Peace of Apamea
in 188 BC. When his older
brother,
Seleucus IV
followed his father onto the throne
in 187 BC, Antiochus was exchanged for his nephew
Demetrius I Soter
(the son and heir of Seleucus).
After King Seleucus was assassinated by
Heliodorus
, an
usurper
, in 175 BC, Antiochus in turn ousted
him. Since Seleucus’ legitimate heir,
Demetrius I Soter
, was still a hostage in
Rome
, Antiochus, with the help of King
Eumenes II
of Pergamum,
seized the throne
for himself, proclaiming
himself co-regent for another son of Seleucus, an infant named Antiochus (whom
he then murdered a few years later).

 Wars
against Egypt

When the guardians of King
Ptolemy VI of Egypt
demanded the return of
Coele-Syria
in 170 BC, Antiochus launched a
preemptive strike against Egypt, conquering all but
Alexandria
and capturing King Ptolemy. To avoid
alarming Rome
, Antiochus allowed Ptolemy VI to continue
ruling as a Puppet-king. Upon Antiochus’ withdrawal, the city of Alexandria
chose a new King, one of Ptolemy’s brothers, also named
Ptolemy (VIII Euergetes)
. Instead of fighting a
civil war, the Ptolemy brothers agreed to rule Egypt jointly.

In 168 BC Antiochus led a second attack on Egypt and also sent a fleet to
capture Cyprus
. Before reaching Alexandria, his path
was blocked by a single, old Roman ambassador named
Gaius Popillius Laenas
, who delivered a message
from the Roman Senate directing Antiochus to withdraw his armies from Egypt and
Cyprus, or consider themselves in a state of war with the Roman Republic.
Antiochus said he would discuss it with his council, whereupon the Roman envoy
drew a line in the sand around him and said, “Before you cross this circle I
want you to give me a reply for the Roman Senate” – implying that Rome would
declare war if the King stepped out of the circle without committing to leave
Egypt immediately. Weighing his options, Antiochus decided to withdraw. Only
then did Popillius agree to shake hands with him.

 Sacking
of Jerusalem and Persecution of Jews

While Antiochus was busy in Egypt, a rumor spread that he had been killed.
The
deposed
High Priest
Jason
gathered a force of 1,000 soldiers and
made a surprise attack on the city of Jerusalem. The High Priest appointed by
Antiochus,
Menelaus
, was forced to flee Jerusalem during a
riot. On the King’s return from Egypt in 167 BC enraged by his defeat, he
attacked Jerusalem and restored Menelaus, then executed many Jews.

To consolidate his empire and strengthen his hold over the region, Antiochus
decided to side with the
Hellenized Jews
by outlawing
Jewish religious rites and traditions
kept by
observant Jews and by ordering the worship of
Zeus
as the supreme god.^{[
neededcitation]} This was anathema to the Jews and when they
refused, Antiochus sent an army to enforce his decree. Because of the
resistance, the city was destroyed, many were slaughtered, and a military Greek
citadel
called the
Acra
was established.

 Rebellion
of the Maccabees

Jewish historical documents near the time of the event (1 Macc, written c.
135 BC; 2 Macc, written c. 124 BC) painted the
Maccabean Revolt
as a national resistance of a
foreign political and cultural oppression.

Modern scholars argue that the king was intervening in a
civil war
between the traditionalist Jews in
the country and the Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem. According to Joseph P.
Schultz:

Modern scholarship on the other hand considers the Maccabean revolt less
as an uprising against foreign oppression than as a civil war between the
orthodox and reformist parties in the Jewish camp.

It seems that the traditionalists, with Hebrew/Aramaic names like
Onias
, contested with the Hellenizers with
Greek names like
Jason
and
Menelaus
over who would be the
High Priest
. Other authors point to possible
socio/economic motives in addition to the religious motives behind the civil
war.

What began in many respects as a civil war escalated when the Hellenistic
kingdom of Syria sided with the
Hellenizing Jews
in their conflict with the
traditionalists. As the conflict escalated, Antiochus took the side of the
Hellenizers by prohibiting the religious practices that the traditionalists had
rallied around. This may explain why the king, in a total departure from
Seleucid practice in all other places and times, banned the traditional religion
of a whole people.

 Final
years

Taking advantage of Antiochus’ western problems, King
Mithridates I of Parthia
attacked from the east
and seized the city of
Herat
in 167 BC, disrupting the direct trade
route to India and effectively splitting the Greek world in two.

Recognizing the potential danger in the east, but unwilling to give up
control of Judea
, Antiochus sent a commander named
Lysias
to deal with the Maccabees, while the
King himself led the main Seleucid army against the
Parthians
. After initial success in his eastern
campaign, including the reoccupation of Armenia, Antiochus died suddenly of
disease in 163 BC.

 Legacy
of Antiochus IV

The reign of Antiochus was the last period of real strength for the Seleucid
Dynasty, but in some ways his rule was also fatal to the Empire. Technically
Antiochus IV was a usurper, and he left an infant son named
Antiochus V Eupator
as his only heir. The
result was a series of civil wars between rival claimants to the throne,
effectively crippling the Empire during a critical phase in the wars against
Parthia.

 In
Jewish tradition

Antiochus IV ruled the Jews from 175-163 BC. He is remembered as a major
villain and persecutor in the Jewish traditions associated with
Hanukkah
, including the books of
Maccabees
and the “Scroll
of Antiochus“. Rabbinical sources refer to him as הרשע
harasha
(“the wicked”).

 Claimed
to be described in Prophetic Writings of
Daniel

The
Preterist
interpretation of
Daniel 8
holds that Antiochus IV appears in the
prophetic writings of the book of Daniel (dated 536 BC) despite compelling
evidence to the contrary (described below). Daniel 8 describes “the little horn”
that grows from one of the four horns atop the male goat (Daniel
8:9). Preterists cite as evidence that Antiochus IV represents the
“little horn” the fact that the male goat represents the Greek empire under the
rule of Alexander the Great. The four horns that then grow (Daniel
8:8) are the four divisions of the Greek Empire that formed after
Alexander’s death: the
Ptolemaic kingdom
of Egypt, the
Seleucid Empire
in the east, the Kingdom of
Pergamon
in Asia Minor, and Macedon. The
“little horn” grew out of one of the four horns, which Preterists believe is the
Seleucid Empire
and expanded further east,
south and west according to the prophecy. Preterists also hold that
Daniel 8:10-14
describes Antiochus’ dealings
with the Jewish people under his rule which ended with the
Maccabean Revolt
.

The
Historicist
interpretation of
Daniel 8
proposes that the little horn
represents Rome
and not Antiochus IV. In the prophecy of
Daniel 8 the following descriptions are used to identify each power:

It is important to note that the Little Horn power according to the
progression shown in Daniel 8 will have more influence and dominion than did the
Persian Empire which controlled from India to Ethiopia (Esther
1:1) and
Alexander the Great
who conquered the then
known world before the age of 32. The historical evidence shows that the
exploits of Antiochus Epiphanes is lacking in this regard.

The little horn was also to “stand up against the prince of princes”
Daniel 8:25
. That the prince of princes
represents
Jesus Christ
is of little dispute (Revelation
1:5,
Revelation 17:14
,
Revelation 19:16
). Antiochus IV died some 160
years before Jesus Christ was born. Rome, however was the dominant power that
held sway during the attempt to kill Christ as a child (Herod) and His
crucifixion (Acts
4:26-27).

That the little horn is “broken without hands” (Daniel
8:25) seems to be a reference to the events described in (Daniel
2:34) where a stone “cut out without hands” strikes the statue at the
feet representing the divided kingdoms of Rome.

Antiochus IV also paid tribute to Rome. The power that is described as
“exceeding great” would most likely be the power collecting a
tribute
rather than paying one.

Apollo Belvedere
,
ca. 120–140 CE

Apollo  is one of the most important and
complex of the
Olympian deities
in
ancient Greek
and
Roman religion
,
Greek
and
Roman mythology
,
and
Greco
–Roman
Neopaganism
. The
ideal of the
kouros
(a
beardless, athletic youth), Apollo has been
variously recognized as a god of light and the sun,
truth and prophecy, healing, plague, music, poetry,
and more. Apollo is the son of
Zeus
and
Leto
, and has a
twin sister, the chaste huntress
Artemis
. Apollo is
known in Greek-influenced
Etruscan mythology

as Apulu.

As the patron of
Delphi
(Pythian
Apollo), Apollo was an
oracular
god—the
prophetic deity of the
Delphic Oracle
.
Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo,
whether through the god himself or mediated through
his son
Asclepius
, yet
Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring
ill-health and deadly
plague
. Amongst the
god’s custodial charges, Apollo became associated
with dominion over
colonists
, and as
the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the
leader of the
Muses
(Apollon
Musegetes) and director of their choir, Apollo
functioned as the patron god of music and poetry.
Hermes
created the
lyre
for him, and
the instrument became a common
attribute of Apollo
.
Hymns sung to Apollo were called
paeans
.

 

Apollo (left) and
Artemis
.
Brygos

(potter signed), Tondo of an Attic
red-figure cup c. 470 BC,
Musée du Louvre
.

In Hellenistic times, especially during the 3rd
century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became
identified among Greeks with
Helios
,
Titan

god of the sun
, and
his sister Artemis similarly equated with
Selene
, Titan
goddess of the moon

In Latin texts, on the other hand,
Joseph Fontenrose

declared himself unable to find any conflation of
Apollo with
Sol
among the
Augustan poets
of
the 1st century, not even in the conjurations of
Aeneas
and
Latinus
in
Aeneid
XII
(161–215). Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate
beings in literary and mythological texts until the
3rd century CE.

Origins

The
Omphalos

in the Museum of
Delphi
.

The cult centers of Apollo in Greece,
Delphi
and
Delos
, date from
the 8th century BCE. The Delos sanctuary was
primarily dedicated to
Artemis
, Apollo’s
twin sister. At Delphi, Apollo was venerated as the
slayer of
Pytho
. For the
Greeks, Apollo was all the Gods in one and through
the centuries he acquired different functions which
could originate from different gods. In
archaic Greece
he
was the
prophet
, the
oracular god who in older times was connected with
“healing”. In
classical Greece
he
was the god of light and of music, but in popular
religion he had a strong function to keep away evil.

From his eastern-origin Apollo brought the art of
inspection from “symbols and
omina
” (σημεία και
τέρατα : semeia kai terata), and of the
observation of the
omens
of the days.
The inspiration oracular-cult was probably
introduced from
Anatolia
. The
ritualism
belonged
to Apollo from the beginning. The Greeks created the
legalism
, the
supervision of the orders of the gods, and the
demand for moderation and harmony. Apollo became the
god of shining youth, the protector of music,
spiritual-life, moderation and perceptible order.
The improvement of the old
Anatolian
god, and
his elevation to an intellectual sphere, may be
considered an achievement of the
Greek
people.

Healer and god-protector from evil

The function of Apollo as a “healer” is connected
with
Paean
, the
physician of the Gods in the
Iliad
, who
seems to come from a more primitive religion. Paeοn
is probably connected with the
Mycenean
Pa-ja-wo,
but the etymology is the only evidence. He did not
have a separate cult, but he was the personification
of the holy magic-song sung by the magicians that
was supposed to cure disease. Later the Greeks knew
the original meaning of the relevant song “paean”.
The magicians were also called “seer-doctors”, and
they used an ecstatic prophetic art which was used
exactly by the god Apollo at the oracles.

In the Iliad, Apollo is the healer under
the gods, but he is also the bringer of disease and
death with his arrows, similar to the function of
the terrible
Vedic
god of
disease
Rudra
.He sends a
terrible plague to the
Achaeans
. The god
who sends a disease can also prevent from it,
therefore when it stops they make a purifying
ceremony and offer him an “hecatomb” to ward off
evil. When the oath of his priest appeases, they
pray and with a song they call their own god, the
beautiful Paean.

Some common epithets of Apollo as a healer are
“paion” , “epikourios”, “oulios”, and “loimios” . In
classical times, his strong function in popular
religion was to keep away evil, and was therefore
called “apotropaios”  and “alexikakos” , throw away
the evil).
In later writers, the word, usually
spelled “Paean”, becomes a mere epithet of Apollo in
his capacity as a god of
healing
.

Homer illustrated Paeon the god, and the song
both of
apotropaic

thanksgiving or triumph. Such songs were originally
addressed to Apollo, and afterwards to other gods:
to
Dionysus
, to Apollo
Helios
, to Apollo’s
son
Asclepius
the
healer. About the 4th century BCE, the paean became
merely a formula of adulation; its object was either
to implore protection against disease and
misfortune, or to offer thanks after such protection
had been rendered. It was in this way that Apollo
had become recognised as the god of music. Apollo’s
role as the slayer of the
Python
led to his
association with battle and victory; hence it became
the
Roman
custom for a
paean to be sung by an army on the march and before
entering into battle, when a fleet left the harbour,
and also after a victory had been won.

Oracular cult

 

Columns of the
Temple of Apollo

at Delphi, Greece.

Unusually among the Olympic deities, Apollo had
two cult sites that had widespread influence:
Delos
and
Delphi
. In cult
practice,
Delian Apollo
and
Pythian Apollo
(the
Apollo of Delphi) were so distinct that they might
both have shrines in the same locality.Apollo’s
cult
was already
fully established when written sources commenced,
about 650 BCE. Apollo became extremely important to
the Greek world as an oracular deity in the
archaic period
, and
the frequency of
theophoric names

such as Apollodorus or Apollonios and
cities named Apollonia testify to his
popularity. Oracular sanctuaries to Apollo were
established in other sites. In the 2nd and 3rd
century CE, those at
Didyma
and
Clarus
pronounced
the so-called “theological oracles”, in which Apollo
confirms that all deities are aspects or servants of
an
all-encompassing, highest
deity
. “In the 3rd century, Apollo fell
silent.
Julian the Apostate

(359 – 61) tried to revive the Delphic oracle, but
failed

The Seleucid Empire (/dɨˈluːsɪs/;
from
Greek
:
Σελεύκεια,
Seleúkeia)
was a
Hellenistic
state
ruled by the Seleucid dynasty founded by
Seleucus I Nicator

following the division of the empire created by
Alexander the Great
.
Seleucus received
Babylonia
and, from
there, expanded his dominions to include much of
Alexander’s
near eastern

territories. At the height of its power, it included
central
Anatolia
, the
Levant
,
Mesopotamia
,
Kuwait
,
Persia
,
Afghanistan
,
Turkmenistan
, and
northwest parts of
India
.

The Seleucid Empire was a major center of
Hellenistic
culture
that maintained the preeminence of
Greek
customs where
a Greek-Macedonian political elite dominated, mostly
in the urban areas. The Greek population of the
cities who formed the dominant elite were reinforced
by emigration from
Greece
. Seleucid
expansion into
Anatolia
and Greece
was abruptly halted after
decisive defeats
at
the hands of the
Roman army
. Their
attempts to defeat their old enemy
Ptolemaic Egypt

were frustrated by Roman demands. Much of the
eastern part of the empire was conquered by the
Parthians
under
Mithridates I of Parthia

in the mid-2nd century BC, yet the Seleucid kings
continued to rule a
rump state
from
Syria
until the
invasion by
Armenian
king
Tigranes the Great

and their ultimate overthrow by the
Roman
general
Pompey
.

History

Partition of Alexander’s empire

Alexander
conquered
the
Persian Empire

under its last Achaemenid dynast,
Darius III
, within
a short time frame and died young, leaving an
expansive empire of partly Hellenised culture
without an adult heir. The empire was put under the
authority of a regent in the person of
Perdiccas
in 323
BC, and the territories were divided between
Alexander’s generals, who thereby became
satraps
, at the
Partition of Babylon

in 323 BC.

Rise of Seleucus

Coin of
Seleucus I Nicator

The Kingdoms of the
Diadochi

circa 303 BC

Alexander’s generals (the
Diadochi
) jostled
for supremacy over parts of his empire.
Ptolemy
, a former
general and the satrap of
Egypt
, was the
first to challenge the new system; this led to the
demise of Perdiccas. Ptolemy’s revolt led to a new
subdivision of the empire with the
Partition of Triparadisus

in 320 BC.
Seleucus
, who had
been “Commander-in-Chief of the camp” under
Perdiccas since 323 BC but helped to assassinate him
later, received
Babylonia
and, from
that point, continued to expand his dominions
ruthlessly. Seleucus established himself in
Babylon
in 312 BC,
the year used as the foundation date of the Seleucid
Empire. He ruled not only Babylonia, but the entire
enormous eastern part of Alexander’s empire:

“Always lying in wait for the neighboring
nations, strong in arms and persuasive in
council, he [Seleucus] acquired Mesopotamia,
Armenia, ‘Seleucid’ Cappadocia, Persis, Parthia,
Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria, Sogdia, Arachosia,
Hyrcania, and other adjacent peoples that had
been subdued by Alexander, as far as the river
Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were
the most extensive in Asia after that of
Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to the
Indus was subject to Seleucus.”

—
Appian
, The
Syrian Wars

Seleucus
went as
far as
India
, where, after
two years of war
,
he reached an agreement with
Chandragupta Maurya
,
in which he exchanged his eastern territories for a
considerable force of 500
war elephants
,
which would play a decisive role at
Ipsus
(301 BC).

“The Indians occupy [in part] some of the
countries situated along the Indus, which
formerly belonged to the Persians: Alexander
deprived the Ariani of them, and established
there settlements of his own. But
Seleucus Nicator

gave them to
Sandrocottus
in
consequence of a marriage contract, and received
in return five hundred elephants.”

—Strabo, Geographica

Westward expansion

Following his and
Lysimachus
‘ victory
over
Antigonus Monophthalmus

at the decisive
Battle of Ipsus
in
301 BC, Seleucus took control over eastern
Anatolia
and
northern
Syria
.

In the latter area, he founded a new capital at
Antioch on the Orontes
,
a city he named after his father. An alternative
capital was established at
Seleucia on the Tigris
,
north of Babylon. Seleucus’s empire reached its
greatest extent following his defeat of his
erstwhile ally, Lysimachus, at
Corupedion
in 281
BC, after which Seleucus expanded his control to
encompass western Anatolia. He hoped further to take
control of Lysimachus’s lands in Europe – primarily
Thrace
and even
Macedonia
itself,
but was assassinated by
Ptolemy Ceraunus
on
landing in Europe.

His son and successor,
Antiochus I Soter
,
was left with an enormous realm consisting of nearly
all of the Asian portions of the Empire, but faced
with
Antigonus II Gonatas

in Macedonia and
Ptolemy II Philadelphus

in
Egypt
, he proved
unable to pick up where his father had left off in
conquering the European portions of Alexander’s
empire.

An overextended domain

Nevertheless, even before Seleucus’ death, it was
difficult to assert control over the vast eastern
domains of the Seleucids. Seleucus invaded
Punjab region

region of
India
in 305 BC,
confronting

Chandragupta Maurya

(Sandrokottos),
founder of the
Maurya empire
. It
is said that Chandragupta fielded an army of 600,000
men and 9,000 war elephants (Pliny, Natural
History VI, 22.4).

Mainstream scholarship asserts that Chandragupta
received vast territory, sealed in a treaty, west of
the Indus, including the
Hindu Kush
, modern
day
Afghanistan
, and
the
Balochistan

province of
Pakistan
.
Archaeologically, concrete indications of Mauryan
rule, such as the inscriptions of the
Edicts of Ashoka
,
are known as far as
Kandahar
in
southern Afghanistan.

It is generally thought that Chandragupta married
Seleucus’s

daughter, or a
Macedonian

princess
, a gift
from Seleucus to formalize an alliance. In a return
gesture, Chandragupta sent 500
war
–elephants,
a military asset which would play a decisive role at
the
Battle of Ipsus
in
301 BC. In addition to this treaty, Seleucus
dispatched an ambassador,
Megasthenes
, to
Chandragupta, and later
Deimakos
to his son
Bindusara
, at the
Mauryan court at
Pataliputra
(modern
Patna
in
Bihar state
).
Megasthenes wrote detailed descriptions of India and
Chandragupta’s reign, which have been partly
preserved to us through
Diodorus Siculus
.
Later
Ptolemy II Philadelphus
,
the ruler of
Ptolemaic Egypt
and
contemporary of
Ashoka the Great
,
is also recorded by
Pliny the Elder
as
having sent an ambassador named
Dionysius
to the
Mauryan court.

Other territories lost before Seleucus’ death
were
Gedrosia
in the
south-east of the Iranian plateau, and, to the north
of this,
Arachosia
on the
west bank of the
Indus River
.

Antiochus I (reigned 281–261 BC) and his son and
successor
Antiochus II Theos

(reigned 261–246 BC) were faced with challenges in
the west, including repeated wars with
Ptolemy II
and a
Celtic
invasion of
Asia Minor — distracting attention from holding the
eastern portions of the Empire together. Towards the
end of Antiochus II’s reign, various provinces
simultaneously asserted their independence, such as
Bactria
under
Diodotus
,
Parthia
under
Arsaces
, and
Cappadocia
under
Ariarathes III
.

In
Bactria
,
the satrap
Diodotus

asserted independence to form the
Greco-Bactrian
kingdom
c.245 BC.

Diodotus
, governor
for the
Bactrian
territory,
asserted independence in around 245 BC, although the
exact date is far from certain, to form the
Greco-Bactrian

kingdom. This kingdom was characterized by a rich
Hellenistic

culture, and was to continue its domination of
Bactria until around 125 BC, when it was overrun by
the invasion of northern nomads. One of the
Greco-Bactrian kings,
Demetrius I of Bactria
,
invaded India around 180 BC to form the
Greco-Indian

kingdom, lasting until around AD 20.

The Seleucid satrap of Parthia, named
Andragoras
, first
claimed independence, in a parallel to the secession
of his Bactrian neighbour. Soon after however, a
Parthian tribal chief called
Arsaces

invaded the Parthian

territory around 238 BC to form the
Arsacid Dynasty
—
the starting point of the powerful
Parthian Empire
.

By the time Antiochus II’s son
Seleucus II Callinicus

came to the throne around 246 BC, the Seleucids
seemed to be at a low ebb indeed. Seleucus II was
soon dramatically defeated in the
Third Syrian War

against
Ptolemy III of Egypt

and then had to fight a civil war against his own
brother
Antiochus Hierax
.
Taking advantage of this distraction, Bactria and
Parthia seceded from the empire. In Asia Minor too,
the Seleucid dynasty seemed to be losing control —
Gauls had fully established themselves in
Galatia
,
semi-independent semi-Hellenized kingdoms had sprung
up in
Bithynia
,
Pontus
, and
Cappadocia
, and the
city of
Pergamum
in the
west was asserting its independence under the
Attalid Dynasty
.

Revival (223–191 BC)

Silver coin of
Antiochus III the
Great
.

The Seleucid Empire in 200 BC (before
expansion into
Anatolia

and
Greece
).

A revival would begin when Seleucus II’s younger
son,
Antiochus III the Great
,
took the throne in 223 BC. Although initially
unsuccessful in the
Fourth Syrian War

against Egypt, which led to a defeat at the
Battle of Raphia

(217 BC), Antiochus would prove himself to be the
greatest of the Seleucid rulers after Seleucus I
himself. He spent the next ten years on his
anabasis
through
the eastern parts of his domain and restoring
rebellious vassals like Parthia and
Greco-Bactria
to at
least nominal obedience. He won the
Battle of the Arius

and
besieged the Bactrian capital
,
and even emulated Alexander with an expedition into
India where he met with king
Sophagasenus

receiving war elephants:

“He (Antiochus) crossed the Caucasus and
descended into India; renewed his friendship
with Sophagasenus the king of the Indians;
received more elephants, until he had a hundred
and fifty altogether; and having once more
provisioned his troops, set out again personally
with his army: leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus
the duty of taking home the treasure which this
king had agreed to hand over to him”.
Polybius 11.39

When he returned to the west in 205 BC, Antiochus
found that with the death of
Ptolemy IV
, the
situation now looked propitious for another western
campaign. Antiochus and
Philip V of Macedon

then made a pact to divide the Ptolemaic possessions
outside of Egypt, and in the
Fifth Syrian War
,
the Seleucids ousted
Ptolemy V
from
control of
Coele-Syria
. The
Battle of Panium

(198 BC) definitively transferred these holdings
from the Ptolemies to the Seleucids. Antiochus
appeared, at the least, to have restored the
Seleucid Kingdom to glory.

Expansion into Greece and War with Rome

Following his erstwhile ally
Philip’s
defeat by
Rome in 197 BC, Antiochus saw the opportunity for
expansion into Greece itself. Encouraged by the
exiled
Carthaginian

general
Hannibal
, and
making an alliance with the disgruntled
Aetolian League
,
Antiochus launched an invasion across the
Hellespont
. With
his huge army he was intent upon establishing the
Seleucid empire as the foremost power in the
Hellenic world but these plans put the empire on a
collision course with the new superpower of the
Mediterranean, the
Roman Republic
. At
the battles of
Thermopylae
and
Magnesia
,
Antiochus’s forces were resoundingly defeated and he
was compelled to make peace and sign the
Treaty of Apamea
in
(188 BC), the main clause of which saw the Seleucids
agree to pay a large indemnity, retreat from
Anatolia
and to
never again attempt to expand Seleucid territory
west of the
Taurus Mountains
.
The
Kingdom of Pergamum

and the
Republic of Rhodes
,
Rome’s allies in the war, were given the former
Seleucid lands in Anatolia. Antiochus died in 187 BC
on another expedition to the east, where he sought
to extract money to pay the indemnity.

Roman power, Parthia and Judea

The reign of his son and successor
Seleucus IV Philopator

(187-175 BC) was largely spent in attempts to pay
the large indemnity, and Seleucus was ultimately
assassinated by his minister
Heliodorus
.

Seleucus’ younger brother,
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
,
now seized the throne. He attempted to restore
Seleucid power and prestige with a successful war
against the old enemy,
Ptolemaic Egypt
,
which met with initial success as the Seleucids
defeated and drove the Egyptian army back to
Alexandria
itself.
As the king planned on how to conclude the war, he
was informed that Roman commissioners, led by the
Proconsul

Gaius Popillius Laenas
,
were near and requesting a meeting with the Seleucid
king. Antiochus agreed, but when they met and
Antiochus held out his hand in friendship, Popilius
placed in his hand the tablets on which was written
the decree of the senate and telling him to read it.
When the king said that he would call his friends
into council and consider what he ought to do,
Popilius drew a circle in the sand around the king’s
feet with the stick he was carrying and said,
“Before you step out of that circle give me a reply
to lay before the senate.” For a few moments he
hesitated, astounded at such a peremptory order, and
at last replied, “I will do what the senate thinks
right.” He then chose to withdraw rather than set
the empire to war with Rome again.

The latter part of his reign saw a further
disintegration of the Empire despite his best
efforts. Weakened economically, militarily and by
loss of prestige, the Empire became vulnerable to
rebels in the eastern areas of the empire, who began
to further undermine the empire while the Parthians
moved into the power vacuum to take over the old
Persian lands. Antiochus’ aggressive Hellenizing (or
de-Judaizing) activities provoked a full scale armed
rebellion in
Judea
—the
Maccabean Revolt
.
Efforts to deal with both the Parthians and the Jews
as well as retain control of the provinces at the
same time proved beyond the weakened empire’s power.
Antiochus died during a military expedition against
the Parthians in 164 BC.

Civil war and further decay

Coin of
Antiochus IV
Epiphanes
.

Silver coin of
Alexander Balas
.

After the death of
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
,
the Seleucid Empire became increasingly unstable.
Frequent civil wars made central authority tenuous
at best. Epiphanes’ young son,
Antiochus V Eupator
,
was first overthrown by Seleucus IV’s son,
Demetrius I Soter

in 161 BC. Demetrius I attempted to restore Seleucid
power in
Judea
particularly,
but was overthrown in 150 BC by
Alexander Balas
—
an impostor who (with Egyptian backing) claimed to
be the son of Epiphanes. Alexander Balas reigned
until 145 BC, when he was overthrown by Demetrius
I’s son,
Demetrius II Nicator
.
Demetrius II proved unable to control the whole of
the kingdom, however. While he ruled
Babylonia
and
eastern
Syria
from
Damascus
, the
remnants of Balas’ supporters — first supporting
Balas’ son
Antiochus VI
, then
the usurping general
Diodotus Tryphon
—
held out in
Antioch
.

Meanwhile, the decay of the Empire’s territorial
possessions continued apace. By 143 BC, the
Jews
in form of the
Maccabees
had fully
established their independence.
Parthian
expansion
continued as well. In 139 BC, Demetrius II was
defeated in battle by the Parthians and was
captured. By this time, the entire Iranian Plateau
had been lost to Parthian control.

Demetrius Nicator’s brother,
Antiochus VII Sidetes
,
took the throne after his brother’s capture. He
faced the enormous task of restoring a rapidly
crumbling empire; one facing threats on multiple
fronts. Hard-won control of
Coele-Syria
was
threatened by the Jewish Maccabee rebels.
Once-vassal dynasties in Armenia, Cappadocia, and
Pontus were threatening Syria and northern
Mesopotamia
; the
nomadic Parthians, brilliantly led by
Mithridates I of Parthia

had overrun uppland Media (home of the famed
Nisean horse
herd);
and Roman intervention was an ever-present threat.
Sidetes managed to bring the Maccabees to heel;
frighten the Anatolian dynasts into a temporary
submission; and then, in 133, turned east with the
full might of the Royal Army (supported by a body of
Jews under the Maccabee prince, John Hyrcanus) to
drive back the Parthians.

Sidetes’ campaign initially met with spectacular
success, recapturing Mesopotamia, Babylonia and
Media; defeating and slaying the Parthian Satrap of
Seleucia-on-Tigris

in personal combat. In the winter of 130/129 BC, his
army was scattered in winter quarters throughout
Media and Persis when the Parthian king,
Phraates II
,
counter-attacked. Moving to intercept the Parthians
with only the troops at his immediate disposal, he
was ambushed and killed. Antiochus Sidetes is
sometimes called the last great Seleucid king.

After the death of Antiochus VII Sidetes, all of
the recovered eastern territories were recaptured by
the Parthians. The Maccabees again rebelled, civil
war soon tore the empire to pieces, and the
Armenians began to encroach on Syria from the north.

Collapse (100–63 BC)

By 100 BC, the once formidable Seleucid Empire
encompassed little more than
Antioch
and some
Syrian cities. Despite the clear collapse of their
power, and the decline of their kingdom around them,
nobles continued to play kingmakers on a regular
basis, with occasional intervention from
Ptolemaic Egypt
and
other outside powers. The Seleucids existed solely
because no other nation wished to absorb them —
seeing as they constituted a useful buffer between
their other neighbours. In the wars in Anatolia
between
Mithridates VI
of
Pontus
and
Sulla
of Rome, the
Seleucids were largely left alone by both major
combatants.

Mithridates’ ambitious son-in-law,
Tigranes the Great
,
king of
Armenia
, however,
saw opportunity for expansion in the constant civil
strife to the south. In 83 BC, at the invitation of
one of the factions in the interminable civil wars,
he invaded Syria, and soon established himself as
ruler of Syria, putting the Seleucid Empire
virtually at an end.

Seleucid rule was not entirely over, however.
Following the Roman general
Lucullus
‘ defeat of
both Mithridates and Tigranes in 69 BC, a rump
Seleucid kingdom was restored under
Antiochus XIII
.
Even so, civil wars could not be prevented, as
another Seleucid,
Philip II
,
contested rule with Antiochus. After the Roman
conquest of Pontus, the Romans became increasingly
alarmed at the constant source of instability in
Syria under the Seleucids. Once Mithridates was
defeated by
Pompey
in 63 BC,
Pompey set about the task of remaking the
Hellenistic East, by creating new client kingdoms
and establishing provinces. While client nations
like
Armenia
and
Judea
were allowed
to continue with some degree of autonomy under local
kings, Pompey saw the Seleucids as too troublesome
to continue; and doing away with both rival Seleucid
princes, he made Syria into a Roman province.

Culture

Bagadates I

(Minted 290–280 BC) was the first
indigenous Seleucid satrap to be
appointed.

The Seleucid empire’s geographic span, from the
Aegean Sea
to what
is now
Afghanistan
and
Pakistan
, created a
melting pot of various peoples, such as
Greeks
,
Armenians
,
Persians
,
Medes
,
Assyrians
, and
Jews
. The immense
size of the empire, followed by its encompassing
nature, made the Seleucid rulers have a governing
interest in implementing a policy of racial unity
initiated by Alexander.

The
Hellenization
of
the Seleucid empire was achieved by the
establishment of Greek cities throughout the empire.
Historically significant towns and cities, such as
Antioch
, were
created or renamed with more appropriate
Greek
names. The
creation of new
Greek
cities and
towns was aided by the fact that the Greek mainland
was overpopulated and therefore made the vast
Seleucid empire ripe for colonization. Colonization
was used to further Greek interest while
facilitating the assimilation of many native groups.
Socially, this led to the adoption of Greek
practices and customs by the educated native classes
in order to further themselves in public life and
the ruling
Macedonian
class
gradually adopted some of the local traditions. By
313 BC, Hellenic ideas had begun their almost
250-year expansion into the Near East, Middle East,
and Central Asian cultures. It was the empire’s
governmental framework to rule by establishing
hundreds of cities for trade and occupational
purposes. Many of the existing cities began — or
were compelled by force — to adopt Hellenized
philosophic thought, religious sentiments, and
politics.

Synthesizing Hellenic and indigenous cultural,
religious, and philosophical ideas met with varying
degrees of success — resulting in times of
simultaneous peace and rebellion in various parts of
the empire. Such was the case with the Jewish
population of the Seleucid empire because the Jews
posed a significant problem which eventually led to
war. Contrary to the accepting nature of the
Ptolemaic
empire
towards native religions and customs, the Seleucids
gradually tried to force Hellenization upon the
Jewish people in their territory by outlawing
Judaism. This eventually led to the
revolt of the Jews

under Seleucid control, which would later lead to
the Jews achieving independence.