Replica of the bust of the Seleucid monarch Antiochus III. Antiochus III managed to re-impose Seleucid rule in the east, but he was defeated and humiliated by the Romans at the Battle of Magnesia. The Treaty of Apamea forced the Seleucid king to renounce his conquests in southeastern Europe and in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) west of the Taurus. (The Gallery Collection/Corbis)
From 209 to 205 BCE, Antiochus III embarked on an eastern campaign to reestablish Seleucid rule over Iran. One of the principal goals of this campaign was to neutralize the threat posed by the newly emerging Arsacid (Parthian) state, which had established itself in northeastern Iran. In 212 BCE, before embarking on his eastern campaign, Antiochus arranged a marriage between his sister, Antiochis, and King Xerxes of Armenia, who acknowledged his status as a vassal of the Seleucid monarch. Antiochus led his army into Iran and captured Hecatompylos (City of a Hundred Gates), present-day Shahr-e Qumis near Damghan in northern Iran. The Arsacid monarch Arsaces II fought the Seleucid army, estimated at 100,000 men and 20,000 horses, “with great bravery,” but he eventually made a tactical retreat and agreed to an alliance with Antiochus (Justin: XLI.5). Antiochus also “found it prudent to make peace and a treaty of alliance” with the Arsacids (Debevoise: 18). Thus, the Arsacid kingdom survived.
Aside from the Parthians, Antiochus also attempted to neutralize the threat posed by Euthydemus, the ruler of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom based in present-day northern Afghanistan. As with the Parthians, this campaign also resulted in limited success. A Seleucid army failed to capture Bactria, and in return for accepting the nominal sovereignty of the Seleucid king, Euthydemus was allowed to retain his position and title. From Bactria, Antiochus crossed the Hindu Kush mountain range and entered the Kabul Valley in present-day central Afghanistan. He then moved on to Arachosia (present-day Qandahar or Kandahar in southern Afghanistan) and, marching through the southeastern Iranian provinces of Drangiana (Sistan-Baluchistan) and Carmania (Kerman), reached Persis, present-day Fars province in southern Iran, the birthplace of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty, in 205 BCE. Having reestablished a network of vassal kingdoms in Iran, Antiochus assumed the Persian Achaemenid title “Great King.” His Greek subjects honored him with the title “Antiochus the Great.”
After he returned to Syria, Antiochus used the booty he had collected on his eastern campaign to attack Egypt. The death of the king of Egypt, Ptolemy IV, offered Antiochus an opportunity to seize southern Syria as well as the southern coastal regions of Asia Minor and the island of Cyprus. After concluding an alliance with Philip V of Macedonia, who sought to impose his rule over the western regions of Asia Minor, Antiochus attacked and defeated the Ptolemaic army sent against him in 200 BCE. With this victory, the Seleucid monarch emerged as the master of southern Syria and Palestine. Meanwhile, the military operations of Antiochus’s ally, Philip of Macedonia, forced the smaller and more vulnerable states of the eastern Aegean seacoast and western Asia Minor, particularly Rhodes and Pergamum, to appeal to Rome for protection. Their plea allowed Rome to intervene militarily. Roman forces marched against Philip of Macedonia and defeated him. Instead of rushing to the rescue of his Macedonian ally, however, Antiochus used the war between Rome and Philip V to attack and occupy the possessions of the king of Egypt, Ptolemy V, in southern Syria and Asia Minor. Confident of his power, Antiochus now decided to incorporate Thrace and Greece into his empire. This move posed a direct threat to the position and status of Rome. Despite repeated diplomatic efforts by Rome that warned Antiochus against crossing into Europe, the Seleucid monarch continued with his westward push into mainland Greece. In 190 BCE, the Romans finally crossed into Asia. Antiochus, whose fleet had already been destroyed by the combined naval forces of Rome, Rhodes, and Pergamum, sued for peace, but the Romans now demanded that he withdraw his forces from all his possessions north and west of the Taurus Mountains in present-day southern Turkey. Antiochus rejected the Roman demand and opted for military confrontation. When the two armies joined battle at Magnesia near Mount Sipylus in western Asia Minor in late 190 BCE, Antiochus and his heterogeneous army of 70,000 suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a much smaller Roman army of 30,000. In the Treaty of Apamea signed in 188 BCE, Antiochus renounced his claims to all territories north and west of the Taurus mountain range in southern Asia Minor. He also agreed to send a group of hostages, including his own son, the future Antiochus IV, to Rome; pay a heavy war indemnity to the Romans; and surrender his fleet and elephants (Appian: 11.8.38–40). With the defeat at the hands of the Romans, the Seleucid kingdom was reduced to Syria, Mesopotamia, and parts of Iran. The humiliation at Magnesia undermined the credibility of the Seleucids and convinced the pretenders to power in the east, particularly the Arsacids based in northeastern Iran, and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in northern Afghanistan to resume their campaigns of territorial expansion. In 187 BCE, Antiochus was killed near Susa in southwestern Iran. He was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV Philopator.
See also: K&Q, Arsacid/Parthian: Arsaces I; Arsaces II; K&Q, Seleucid: Seleucus II Callinicus; Seleucus III Soter; Seleucus IV Philopator; Peoples: Arsacid Parthian Empire; Arsacids; Seleucids
Further Reading
Appian. Appian’s Roman History. Translated by Horace White. London and New York: William Heinemann, 1912.
Bickerman, E. “The Seleucid Period.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 3–20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Debevoise, Neilson C. A Political History of Parthia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938.
Diodorus Siculus. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. London: William Heinemann, 1933.
Justin. The History of the World. Translated by G. Turnbull. London, 1746.
Sherwin-White, Susan M., and Amélie Kuhrt. From Samarkand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
The eighth king of the Seleucid monarchy, which ruled Mesopotamia and parts of Iran from its capital at Antioch from 175 to 164 BCE. Antiochus IV was “called Epiphanes (the Illustrious) by the Syrians” (Appian: 11.8.45). Antiochus IV was the third son of the Seleucid monarch Antiochus III and the brother of the Seleucid king Seleucus IV. When Antiochus III was defeated by the Romans in the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BCE, he was forced to renounce all his claims to any territorial possessions north and west of the Taurus mountain range of southern Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). He had also agreed to send his son, the future Antiochus IV, as a hostage to Rome; pay a heavy war indemnity; and surrender his fleet and elephants. Antiochus IV’s stay in Rome between 189 and 175 BCE allowed him to familiarize himself with the manners and policies of Rome. When his brother Seleucus IV sent his own son Demetrius to Rome as the new Seleucid hostage, Antiochus returned home. In 175 BCE, after Seleucus IV was assassinated in a conspiracy by one of his courtiers, Helliodorus, Antiochus seized the throne. Early in his reign, the conflict between the Seleucids and the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt erupted once again over the control of southern Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia. Both Egypt and the Seleucid state, which had been significantly weakened by decades of warfare and interdynastic rivalries, appealed to Rome for intervention, but the Roman Senate refused to become involved. In 173 BCE, Antiochus paid in full the remainder of the war indemnity imposed on his father by Rome in 188 BCE. In 169 and again in 168 BCE, he invaded and occupied Egypt, but an ultimatum from Rome forced him to withdraw, although he managed to retain his control over southern Syria.
Antiochus organized a military campaign against the Arsacids of northeastern Iran, who were pushing their territorial possessions westward, threatening Seleucid-held Media in present-day western Iran. Before moving against the Arsacids, however, Antiochus prepared the ground for his invasion by appointing his trusted confidant and minister Timarchus as satrap of Babylonia. Once he assumed the leadership of his campaign, Antiochus marched against Armenia and imposed his suzerainty over the Armenian king Artaxia
s. Antiochus then led his forces to Elam in southwestern Iran to plunder the treasures of the temple of Nanaia. In Parsa (Persis) in southern Iran, the people revolted against him and forced the Seleucid monarch and his army to withdraw from their province. He then went to Ecbatana (modern-day Hamedan in western Iran), the capital of Media, where he injured himself after falling from his chariot. Antiochus IV died at Gabae (present-day Isfahan) in central Iran in 164 BCE. The planned invasion of Parthia never materialized.
See also: K&Q, Seleucid: Antiochus III; Antiochus V Eupator; Seleucus IV Philopator; Peoples: Seleucids
Further Reading
Appian. Appian’s Roman History. Translated by Horace White. London and New York: William Heinemann, 1912.
Bickerman, E. “The Seleucid Period.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 3–20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Diodorus Siculus. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. London: William Heinemann, 1933.
Sherwin-White, Susan M., and Amélie Kuhrt. From Samarkand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
Antiochus V Eupator
The ninth king of the Seleucid dynasty, which ruled parts of Iran and Mesopotamia from its capital at Antioch in Syria (present-day southern Turkey). Antiochus V ascended the throne at the age of nine after his father, Antiochus IV, died in Iran in 164 BCE. Because of his young age, Antiochus V was aided by a guardian named Lysias. The position of the new Seleucid dynast was exceedingly weak. Since the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BCE when Antiochus III had suffered a devastating defeat and been forced to agree to the humiliating Treaty of Apamea (188 BCE), Rome had emerged as the supreme power in Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. Antiochus III not only had renounced all his claims to any territorial possessions north and west of the Taurus Mountains in southern Asia Minor but had also agreed to send his son, the future Antiochus IV, as a hostage to Rome; pay a heavy war indemnity; and surrender his fleet and elephants. With this defeat at the hands of the Romans, the Seleucid kingdom was reduced to Syria, Mesopotamia, and parts of Iran. At the time Antiochus V ascended the throne in 164 BCE, Demetrius, the son of Seleucus IV and a cousin of the nine-year-old Antiochus V, was living as a hostage in Rome. Many viewed Demetrius as the legitimate heir to the Seleucid throne. In 162 BCE he escaped from Rome and was welcomed in Syria as the legitimate king. Antiochus V and his regent, Lysias, were detained and subsequently executed.
See also: K&Q, Seleucid: Antiochus IV Epiphanes; Demetrius I Soter; Peoples: Seleucids
Further Reading
Appian. Appian’s Roman History. Translated by Horace White. London and New York: William Heinemann, 1912.
Bickerman, E. “The Seleucid Period.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 3–20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Diodorus Siculus. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. London: William Heinemann, 1933.
Sherwin-White, Susan M., and Amélie Kuhrt. From Samarkand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
Antiochus VII Sidetes
A king of the Seleucid dynasty who ruled from 138 to 129 BCE. Antiochus VII tried to recover the lost provinces of the Seleucid state in Mesopotamia and Iran but failed. He was the son of the Seleucid monarch Demetrius I (r. 162–150 BCE) and the brother of Demetrius II (r. 145–140 BCE). In 141 BCE, Demetrius II was defeated and captured by the armies of the Arsacid monarch Mithridates I (r. 171–139/138 BCE). The humiliated Seleucid king was paraded in various cities of the Arsacid kingdom before he was transported to Hyrcania in northern Iran on the southeastern shores of the Caspian Sea, where he was received with kindness and generosity by Mithridates I. The Arsacid monarch arranged a marriage between his daughter Rhodogune and Demetrius II. Meanwhile in Syria, Cleopatra Thea, the wife and queen of Demetrius II, ascended the throne as regent. A usurper named Tryphon, however, threatened to seize the throne. To save the Seleucid state, Antiochus VII returned to Syria in 139 BCE, seized the throne, and married his brother’s wife, Cleopatra Thea. In 138 BCE, he defeated the pretender Tryphon. Next he moved against Jerusalem, which he captured in 135/134 BCE.
Coin of the Seleucid monarch Antiochus VII, from Tyre in present-day Lebanon. The son of Demetrius I Soter and the brother of the ill-fated Demetrius II Nicator who had been defeated and captured by the Arsacid/Parthian monarch, Mithridates I, Antiochus VII restored Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Media to the Seleucid state, but he was eventually defeated and killed by the Arsacid Parthian monarch Phraates II. (www.BibleLandPictures.com/Alamy Stock Photo)
With Palestine under his rule, Antiochus VII shifted his focus to the east with the goal of restoring Seleucid rule in Iran. In 130 BCE, while the Arsacid (Parthian) monarch, Phraates II, was quelling the threat posed by the invading nomadic groups in the east, Antiochus VII attacked and seized Babylonia, defeating Arsacid armies in three separate military encounters. With winter arriving, Antiochus divided his army and scattered its units in several cities in western Iran. The high-handed and oppressive attitude of these army units, who demanded food and supplies, caused the populace to revolt against Antiochus VII (Justin: XXXVIII.10). Wishing “to feel out” his enemy, Phraates II sent an envoy to negotiate a peace agreement (Diodorus Siculus: XXXIV/XXXV.14.15). Antiochus responded that he was willing to conclude a treaty if the Arsacid monarch would release his brother Demetrius from captivity, withdraw from the provinces he had seized, and pay tribute to the Seleucid king as his overlord (Diodorus Siculus: XXXIV/XXXV.14.15). Phraates rejected these demands. Instead, he released Demetrius, who had been living in Hyrcania since his defeat and capture. The Arsacid monarch probably hoped that the return of Demetrius II to Syria would force Antiochus to call off his campaign and return to Syria to defend his throne against his brother. Phraates II also placed an army in the field. Against the advice of his officials, who pleaded with him to avoid a hasty attack, Antiochus marched against the much larger Arsacid force. When the two armies joined battle, Phraates II defeated Antiochus, who was killed on the battlefield (Diodorus Siculus: XXXIV/XXXV.15.16). Though victorious, Phraates II organized a magnificent funeral for the fallen Seleucid monarch and sent his body to Syria in a silver casket. Phraates also married Demetrius II’s daughter, who had accompanied Antiochus VII to Iran (Justin: XXXVIII.10).
The victory of Phraates II over Antiochus VII put an end to Seleucid rule in Iran. With the death of Antiochus, who had left five children behind, Syria was engulfed in a civil war. After his impressive victory over the Seleucids, Phraates II intended to advance to Syria. He was diverted to the east, however, by the renewed threat posed by nomadic groups, who had overrun the southern regions of Central Asia as well as present-day northern Afghanistan. In 128 BCE, accompanied by Greek prisoners whom he had captured in his battle against Antiochus, Phraates engaged the invading nomads. As the battle was joined, the Greek prisoners of war, who were fighting for Phraates as mercenaries, defected to the enemy, causing chaos among the Arsacid forces (Justin: XLII.1). In the midst of the confusion and mayhem that followed, Phraates II was killed on the battlefield. He was succeeded by his uncle Artabanus I (Justin: XLII.2.1).
See also: K&Q, Arsacid/Parthian: Artabanus II; Mithridates II; Peoples: Arsacids; Scythians; Primary Documents: Document 23
Further Reading
Appian. Appian’s Roman History. Translated by Horace White. London and New York: William Heinemann, 1912.
Bivar, A. D. H. “The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 21–99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Cassius Dio. Dio’s Roman History. Translated by Earnest Cary. London: William Heinemann, 1928.
Colledge, Malcolm A. R. The Parthians. New York: Praeger, 1967.
Debevoise, Neilson C. A Political History of Parthia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938.
Dio
dorus Siculus. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. London: William Heinemann, 1933.
Justin. The History of the World. Translated by G. Turnbull. London, 1746.
Apame/Apama
Daughter of Spitaman (Spitamanes), a Sogdian dignitary; the wife of Seleucus I, the founder of the Seleucid dynasty; and the mother of Antiochus I, the second Seleucid dynast. Spitaman was a provincial governor during the reign of the last Persian Achaemenid king, Darius III. After the death of Darius III and the collapse of the Achaemenid state, Spitaman joined the resistance against Alexander the Macedon, who had invaded the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire. In 329 BCE, Spitaman led a revolt against Alexander in Bactria and Sogdiana and laid siege to Samarqand (Maracanda). Alexander sent an army under the command of his general, Pharnuches, to suppress the rebellion, but Spitaman inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Macedonian force, which was dispersed after suffering heavy losses. When Alexander hurried to Samarqand to relieve the city, he discovered that Spitaman had already departed for Bactria in present-day northern Afghanistan. In 328 BCE Spitaman attacked Bactria, but the governor of the province, Artabazus, who had sworn loyalty to Alexander, managed to repulse him. Spitaman was finally defeated by Alexander’s general Coenus. After this defeat Spitaman was betrayed by his Scythian allies, who murdered him and sent his head to Alexander.
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