Antiochus III the Great

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Antiochus III the Great

Antiochus III the Great, (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
; ca. 241–187 BC, ruled 222–187 BC), younger son of Seleucus II Callinicus

Seleucus II Callinicus

Seleucus II Callinicus or Pogon , was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, who reigned from 246 to 225 BC. After the death of this father, Antiochus II Theos, he was proclaimed king by his mother, Laodice I in Ephesos, while her partisans at Antioch murdered Berenice and her son....
, became the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire

Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire /s?'lus?d/ was a Hellenistic empire, i.e. a successor state of Alexander the Great's empire. The Seleucid Empire was centered in the near East and at the height of its power included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir Mountains and parts of Pakistan....
as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. Ascending the throne at young age, Antiochus was an ambitious ruler. Although his early attempts in war against the Ptolemaic Kingdom

Ptolemaic Kingdom

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Antiochus III the Great, (Greek

Greek language

Seleucus II Callinicus

Seleucid Empire

Ptolemaic Kingdom

The Ptolemaic Kingdom in and around Egypt began following Alexander the Great's conquest in 332 BC and ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and the Aegyptus in 30 BC....
were unsuccessful, in the following years of conquest Antiochus proved himself as the most successful Seleucid King after Seleucus I himself. His traditional designation, the Great, reflects an epithet he briefly assumed after his Eastern Campaign (it appears in regnal formulas at Amyzon in 203 and 202 BC, but not later). Antiochos also assumed the title "Basileus Megas" (which is Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
for Great King), the traditional title of the Persian kings

Shah

Shah is a Persian language term for a monarch that has been adopted in many other languages.Shah used as a last name by Jains and Hindus is unrelated....
, which he adopted after his conquest of Koile Syria.

Early years

Antiochus III inherited a disorganized state. Not only had Asia Minor

Anatolia

Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast....
become detached, but the further eastern provinces had broken away, Bactria

Bactria

Bactria is a historical region of Greater Iran. Known by the ancient Greeks as "Bactriana" the region is located between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya ; in later times, the region became known as Tokharistan. The name of the region has survived to present time in the name of Afghan province "Balkh"....
under the Greek Diodotus of Bactria, and Parthia

Parthia

Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
under the nomad chieftain Arsaces

Arsaces I of Parthia

Arsaces I was the 3rd century BCE founder of the Arsacid dynasty, and after whom all 30+ monarchs of the Arsacid empire officially named themselves....
. Soon after Antiochus's accession, Media

Medes

The Medes were an Ancient Iranian peoples who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area was known in Greek as Media or Medea ....
and Persis revolted under their governors, the brothers Molon

Molon

Molon was a general of the Seleucid Empire king Antiochus III the Great . He held the satrapy of Medes at the accession of that monarch ; in addition to which, Antiochus conferred upon him and his brother Alexander the government of all the upper provinces of his empire....
and Alexander

Alexander (satrap)

Alexander , brother of Molon. On the accession of the Seleucid Empire king Antiochus III the Great, afterwards called the Great, in 223 BC, he entrusted Alexander with the government of the satrapy of Fars and Molon received Medes....
.

The young king, under the baneful influence of the minister Hermeias

Hermeias

Hermeias was a Carian by birth, who had raised himself to be the favourite and chief minister of Seleucus III Ceraunus , and was left at the head of affairs in Seleucid Empire by that monarch when he set out on the expedition across the Taurus Mountains, in the course of which he met with his death, 223 BC....
, authorised an attack on Judea

Judea

Judea or Jud?a is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank ....
instead of going in person to face the rebels. The attack on Judea proved a fiasco, and the generals sent against Molon and Alexander met with disaster. Only in Asia Minor, where the king's cousin, the able Achaeus

Achaeus (general)

Achaeus was a general and later a separatist ruler of part of the Ancient Greece Seleucid Empire. He was the son of Andromachus; the latter was brother of Laodice II, the wife of Seleucus II Callinicus and the mother of Antiochus the Great....
represented the Seleucid cause, did its prestige recover, driving the Pergamene power back to its earlier limits.

In 221 BC Antiochus at last went east, and the rebellion of Molon and Alexander collapsed. The submission of Lesser Media, which had asserted its independence under Artabazanes, followed. Antiochus rid himself of Hermeias by assassination and returned to Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
(220 BC). Meanwhile Achaeus himself had revolted and assumed the title of king in Asia Minor. Since, however, his power was not well enough grounded to allow of his attacking Syria, Antiochus considered that he might leave Achaeus for the present and renew his attempt on Judea.

Early wars against other Hellenistic rulers

The campaigns of 219 BC and 218 BC carried the Seleucid armies almost to the confines of Ptolemaic Egypt

Ptolemaic Egypt

Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and the Aegyptus in 30 BC....
, but in 217 BC Ptolemy IV confronted Antiochus at the battle of Raphia

Battle of Raphia

The Battle of Raphia, also known as the Battle of Gaza, was a battle of the Syrian Wars fought on 22 June 217 BC near modern Rafah between the forces of Ptolemy IV of Egypt, Philopator and Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom....
and inflicted a defeat upon him which nullified all Antiochus's successes and compelled him to withdraw north of the Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic , is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea....
. In 216 BC Antiochus went north to deal with Achaeus, and had by 214 BC driven him from the field into Sardis

Sardis

Sardis, also Sardes , modern Sart in the Manisa province of Turkey, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, one of the important cities of the Persian Empire, the seat of a proconsul under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine Empire times....
. Antiochus contrived to get possession of the person of Achaeus

Achaeus (general)

Polybius

Polybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his book called The Histories covering in detail the period of 220–146 BC....
), but the citadel held out until 213 BC under Achaeus' widow Laodice

Laodice of Pontus

Laodice , wife of Achaeus , she was daughter of Mithridates II of Pontus king of Pontus and sister of Antiochus III the Great's wife, also called Laodice III....
and then surrendered.

Having thus recovered the central part of Asia Minor for the Seleucid government had perforce to tolerate the dynasties in Pergamon

Pergamon

Pergamon or Pergamum was an ancient Ancient Greece city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, north-western Anatolia, 16 miles from the Aegean Sea, located on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic Greece, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC....
, Bithynia

Bithynia

Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thrace Bosporus and the Euxine ....
and Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Cappadocia, Wikipedia:IPA for English /k?p?'do???/ , was an extensive inland district of Asia Minor . The name continued to be used in western sources and in the Christianity tradition throughout history and is still widely used as an international Tourism in Turkey concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders characterized by...
Antiochus turned to recover the outlying provinces of the north and east. He obliged Xerxes of Armenia

Xerxes of Armenia

Xerxes was the Kingdom of Sophene and son of Arsames II. During his reign Antiochus III the Great invaded his capital Arsamosata. Xerxes recognized Antiochus as his sovereign and received his sister Antiochia as his bride, who later assassinated him....
to acknowledge his supremacy in 212 BC. In 209 BC Antiochus invaded Parthia

Parthia

Hyrcania

Hyrcania was the name of a satrapy located in the territories of present day Golestan Province, Mazandaran, Gilan and part of Turkmenistan, lands south of the Caspian Sea....
. The Parthian king Arsaces II

Arsaces II of Parthia

Arsaces II, also Artabanus I, of the Arsacid dynasty was King of Parthia between 211 BC and 191 BC. Greek 'Arsaces' appears as 'Artabanus' in Latin sources, and both forms appear in history books....
apparently successfully sued for peace.

Bactrian campaign and Indian expedition

Year 209 BC saw Antiochus in Bactria

Bactria

Euthydemus I

Euthydemus I was allegedly a native of Magnesia and possible Satrap of Sogdiana, who overturned the dynasty of Diodotus of Bactria and became a Greco-Bactrian king in about 230 BCE according to Polybius....
had supplanted the original rebel. Antiochus again met with success. After sustaining a famous siege in his capital Bactra (Balkh), Euthydemus obtained an honourable peace by which Antiochus promised Euthydemus' son Demetrius

Demetrius I of Bactria

Demetrius I or was a Buddhist Greco-Bactrian king . He was the son of Euthydemus I and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what now is eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan thus creating an Indo-Greek kingdom far from Hellenistic Greece....
the hand of one of his daughters.

Antiochus next, following in the steps of Alexander, crossed into the Kabul

Kabul

Kabul is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of approximately three million. It is an economic and cultural centre, situated 5,900 foot above sea level in a narrow valley, wedged between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul River....
valley, renewed his friendship with the India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
n king Sophagasenus

Sophagasenus

Polybius

Polybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his book called The Histories covering in detail the period of 220–146 BC....
:

"He crossed the Caucasus (Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush is a mountain range located in eastern and central Afghanistan, northwestern Pakistan and northeastern India.The origin of the name Hindu Kush is disputed, despite its coinage apparently dating back no further than c.1330....
) and descended into India; renewed his friendship with Sophagasenus

Sophagasenus

Sophagasenos or Sophagasenus was a local Indian king ruling in Kabul and Kapisa valley during the last decade of third century BCE. Sophagasnus finds reference only in "The Histories" of Polybius....
(Subhashsena in Prakrit) 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."

Persia and Koile Syria campaigns

From Seleucia on the Tigris

Seleucia on the Tigris

Seleucia was one of the great cities of the world during Hellenistic and Roman Empire times. It stood in Mesopotamia, on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the smaller town of Opis ....
he led a short expedition down the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
against the Gerrha

Gerrha

Gerrha , was an ancient city of Arabia, on the west side of the Persian Gulf. More accurately, the ancient city of Gerrha has been determined to have existed near or under the present fort of Uqair....
eans of the Arabian coast (205 BC/204 BC). Antiochus seemed to have restored the Seleucid empire in the east, and the achievement brought him the title of "the Great." (Antiochos Megas). In 205 BC/204 BC the infant Ptolemy V Epiphanes succeeded to the Egyptian throne, and Antiochus is said (notably by Polybios) to have concluded a secret pact with Philip V of Macedon

Philip V of Macedon

File:Philip_V_of_Macedon BM.jpgPhilip V was King of Macedon from 221 BC to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of Roman Republic....
for the partition of the Ptolemaic possessions (203 BC).

Once more Antiochus attacked the Ptolemaic province of Koile Syria and Phoenicia, and by 199 BC he seems to have had possession of it before the Aetolian, Scopas, recovered it for Ptolemy. But that recovery proved brief, for in 198 BC Antiochus defeated Scopas at the Battle of Panium

Battle of Panium

The Battle of Panium was fought in 198 BC between Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt forces as part of the Syrian Wars. The Seleucids were led by Antiochus III the Great, while the Ptolemaic army was led by Scopas of Aetolia....
, near the sources of the Jordan

Jordan River

The Jordan River is a river in Southwest Asia which flows into the Dead Sea. It is considered to be one of the world's most sacred rivers. It is 251 kilometers long....
, a battle which marks the end of Ptolemaic rule in Judea.

War against Rome

Antiochus then moved to Asia Minor to secure the coast towns which had belonged to the Ptolemaic overseas dominions and the independent Greek cities. This enterprise brought him into antagonism with Rome

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
, since Smyrna

Smyrna

Smyrna is an ancient city in Izmir in Turkey. Located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean Sea coast of Anatolia and aided by its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence before the Classical Era....
and Lampsacus

Lampsacus

File:Stater Zeus Lampsacus CdM.jpgLampsacus was an ancient Greece city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad....
appealed to the republic of the west, and the tension became greater after Antiochus had in 196 BC established a footing in Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
. The evacuation of Greece by the Romans gave Antiochus his opportunity, and he now had the fugitive Hannibal at his court to urge him on.

In 192 BC Antiochus invaded Greece with a 10,000 men army, and was elected the commander in chief of the Aetolia

Aetolia

Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefectures of Greece of Aetolia-Acarnania....
ns . In 191 BC, however, the Romans under Manius Acilius Glabrio

Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC)

Manius Acilius Glabrio was a Roman Republic consul, general, and member of a plebeian family.Glabrio became consul in 191 BC, defeated Antiochus the Great of Syria at the Battle of Thermopylae , and compelled him to leave Greece....
routed him at Thermopylae

Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC)

The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 191 BC between a Roman Republic army led by consul Manius Acilius Glabrio and a Seleucid force led by King Antiochus III the Great....
and obliged him to withdraw to Asia. The Romans followed up their success by attacking Antiochus in Anatolia

Anatolia

Scipio Asiaticus

Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus was a Roman Republic general and statesman. He was the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio and younger brother of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus....
at Magnesia ad Sipylum

Battle of Magnesia

The Battle of Magnesia was fought in 190 BC near Magnesia ad Sipylum, on the plains of Lydia , between the Roman Republic, led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and his brother, the famed general Scipio Africanus, with their ally Eumenes II of Pergamum against the army of Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire....
(190 BC), following the defeat of Hannibal at sea off Side

Side

Side is one of the best-known classical sites in Turkey, and was an ancient harbour whose name meant pomegranate. Side is a resort town on the southern coast of Turkey, near the villages of Manavgat and Selimiye , 75 km from Antalya) in the Antalya Province....
, delivered Asia Minor into their hands.

By the Treaty of Apamea

Treaty of Apamea

The Treaty of Apamea of 188 BC, was peace treaty between the Roman Republic and Antiochus III , ruler of the Seleucid Empire. It took place after the Romans victories in the Battle of Thermopylae , in the Battle of Magnesia , and after Roman and Rhodian naval victories over the Seleucid navy....
(188 BC) the Seleucid king abandoned all the country north of the Taurus

Taurus Mountains

Taurus Mountains are a mountain range in southern Turkey, from which the Euphrates and Tigris descend into Syria and Iraq. It divides the Mediterranean Region, Turkey of southern Turkey from the central Anatolia#Anatolian plateau....
, which Rome distributed amongst its friends. As a consequence of this blow to the Seleucid power, the outlying provinces of the empire, recovered by Antiochus, reasserted their independence.

Antiochus mounted a fresh expedition to the east in Luristan, where he died in an attempt to rob a temple at Elymaïs, Persia, in 187 BC. The Seleucid kingdom as Antiochus left it fell to his son, Seleucus IV Philopator

Seleucus IV Philopator

Seleucus IV Philopator , ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, reigned from 187 BC to 175 BC over a realm consisting of Syria , Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Nearer Iran ....
, by his wife Laodice.

External links

entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith