Antiochus II Theos

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Antiochus II Theos

Antiochus II Theos (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....
: ??t????? ?' Te??, 286 BC–246 BC), was a king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom who reigned 261 BC–246 BC). He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter

Antiochus I Soter

Antiochus I Soter , was a king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. He reigned from 281 BC - 261 BC.Antiochus I was half Persians, his mother Apama being one of the eastern princesses whom Alexander the Great had given as wives to his generals in 324 BC....
in the winter of 262-61 BC. He was the younger son of Antiochus I and princess Stratonice

Stratonice of Syria

Stratonice of Syria was the daughter of king Demetrius I of Macedon and Phila of Macedonia, the daughter of Antipater. In 300 BC, at which time she could not have been more than seventeen years of age, her hand was solicited by Seleucus I Nicator, king of Seleucid Empire, and she was conducted by her father Demetrius to Rhosus, on the Piere...
, the daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes

Demetrius I of Macedon

Demetrius I , called Poliorcetes , son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice , was a king of Macedon . He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty....
.

He inherited a state of war with Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, the "Second Syrian War

Syrian Wars

The Syrian Wars were a series of six wars between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Egypt during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC over the region of Coele-Syria, one of the few avenues into Egypt....
", which was fought along the coasts of Asia Minor, and the constant intrigues of petty despots and restless city-states in Asia Minor.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Antiochus II Theos'

Start a new discussion about 'Antiochus II Theos'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Antiochus II Theos (Greek

Greek language

Antiochus I Soter

Stratonice of Syria

Demetrius I of Macedon

Demetrius I , called Poliorcetes , son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice , was a king of Macedon . He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty....
.

He inherited a state of war with Egypt

Egypt

Syrian Wars

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 ....
. During the war he was given the title Theos (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....
: Te??, "God"), being such to the Milesians in slaying the tyrant Timarchus.

During the time Antiochus was occupied with the war against Egypt, Andragoras, his satrap in 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'....
, proclaimed independence. According to Justin

Justin

Justin may refer to:* Justin , a common given name* Justin Martyr, early Christian apologist* Justin , 3rd century Roman historian* Justin I , or Flavius Iustinius Augustus, Eastern Roman Emperor who ruled from 518 to 527; founder of the Justinian dynasty and uncle of future emperor Justinian I...
's epitome of Pompeius Trogus, in 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"....
, his satrap Diodotus also revolted in 255 BC, and founded the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, which further expanded in India in 180 BC to form the Greco-Indian kingdom (180 BC–1 BC). Then about 238 BC, 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....
led a revolt of the Parthia

Parthia

Parthian Empire

The Arsacid Empire , was a significant political and cultural power in the ancient Near East, and a counterweight to the Roman Empire in the region....
. These events would have cut off communications with India.

About this time, Antiochus made peace with Ptolemy II of Egypt, ending the Second Syrian War. Antiochus repudiated his wife Laodice

Laodice I

Laodice I was the first wife, and likely the cousin, of Antiochus II Theos of the Seleucid dynasty. He repudiated her and her children, when he agreed to marry Berenice , Ptolemy II Philadelphus's daughter; and declared his eldest son by Berenice his heir....
and exiled her to Ephesus

Ephesus

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, in the region known as Ionia during the period known as Classical Greece. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League....
. To seal the treaty, he married Ptolemy's daughter Berenice

Berenice (Seleucid queen)

Berenice, also called Berenice Syra, was the daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife Arsinoe I of Egypt.In 261 BC she married the Seleucid dynasty monarch Antiochus II Theos, who, following an agreement with Ptolemy , had divorced his wife Laodice I and transferred the succession to Berenice's children....
and received an enormous dowry.

During her stay in Ephesus, Laodice continued numerous intrigues to become queen again. By 246 BC Antiochus had left Berenice and her infant son in Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the nearer East and was a cradle of gentile hi...
to live again with Laodice in Asia Minor. Laodice took the occasion to poison Antiochus while her partisans at Antioch murdered Berenice and her infant son.

She then proclaimed her own son 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....
king. Antiochus II and Laodice were also the parents of Laodice, the wife of Mithridates II

Mithridates II of Pontus

Mithridates II , List of Kings of Pontus king of Pontus and son of Ariobarzanes of Pontus, whom he succeeded on the throne. He was a minor when his father died, but the period of his accession cannot be deter?mined....
.

Phylarchus

Phylarchus

Phylarchus or Phylarch was a Ancient Greek literature historical writer whose works have been lost, but not before having been considerably used by other historians whose works have survived....
relays current scandals regarding his drunken banquets and liaisons with unsuitable young men.

Relations with India

Antiochus is mentioned in the Edicts of Ashoka

Edicts of Ashoka

The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33 inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, made by the Emperor Ashoka the Great of the Mauryan dynasty during his reign from 272 to 231 BC....
, as one of the recipients of the Indian Emperor Ashoka

Ashoka

Ashoka was an Indian emperor, of the Maurya Empire who ruled from 273 BCE to 232 BCE. Often cited as one of India's as well as world's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests....
's Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
proselytizing, although no Western historical record of this event remains:

"And even this conquest [preaching Buddhism] has been won by the Beloved of the Gods here and in all the borderlands, as far as six hundred yojana

Yojana

A yojana is a Vedic civilization measure of distance used in ancient India. The exact measurement is disputed amongst scholars with distances being given between 6 to 15 km ....
s (5,400-9,600 km) away, where Antiochos, king of the Yavanas [Westerners] rules, and beyond this Antiochus four kings named Ptolemy

Ptolemy II Philadelphus

Ptolemy II Philadelphus , was the king of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 BC to 246 BC. He was the son of the founder of the Ptolemaic kingdom Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice I of Egypt, and was educated by Philitas of Cos....
, Antigonos, Magas

Magas of Cyrene

Magas of Cyrene was a Greek king of Cyrenaica . He managed to wrestle independence for Cyrene from the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. Magas was the son of Berenice I of Egypt and Philip, a Macedonian noble man, before Berenice remarried with the powerful Ptolemy I Soter, founder of the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt....
and Alexander

Alexander II of Epirus

Alexander II was a king of Epirus , and the son of Pyrrhus of Epirus and Lanassa, the daughter of the Sicilian tyrant Agathocles....
rule,".

Ashoka also claims that he encouraged the development of herbal medicine, for men and animals, in the territories of the Hellenistic kings:

"Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's [Ashoka's] domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Satiyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as Tamraparni

Tamraparni

Tamraparni or Tambapanni is an old name of Sri Lanka. Tamraparniya is a name given to the Theravada school lineage in Sri Lanka. The region of southern India, corresponding to the area of a Tamraparni river, in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, which is now it is called as Thamirabarani River is a relatively modern name....
and where the Greek king Antiochos rules, and among the kings who are neighbors of Antiochos, everywhere has Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, made provision for two types of medical treatment: medical treatment for humans and medical treatment for animals. Wherever medical herbs suitable for humans or animals are not available, I have had them imported and grown. Wherever medical roots or fruits are not available I have had them imported and grown. Along roads I have had wells dug and trees planted for the benefit of humans and animals."