Hermeias was a
CariaCaria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...
n by birth, who had raised himself to be the
favouriteA favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...
and chief minister of
Seleucus III CeraunusSeleucus III Soter, called Seleucus Ceraunus , was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom, the eldest son of Seleucus II Callinicus and Laodice II. His birth name was Alexander and was named after his great uncle the Seleucid official Alexander...
(
225Year 225 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Papus and Regulus...
–
223 BCYear 223 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaminus and Philus...
), and was left at the head of affairs in
SyriaThe Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...
by that monarch when he set out on the expedition across the
Taurus MountainsTaurus Mountains are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, dividing the Mediterranean coastal region of southern Turkey from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the east...
, in the course of which Seleucus met with his death,
223 BCYear 223 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaminus and Philus...
.
Minister of Antiochus III
Seleucus's death placed Hermeias in the possession of almost undisputed power, the young king,
Antiochus IIIAntiochus III the Great Seleucid Greek king who became the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. Antiochus was an ambitious ruler who ruled over Greater Syria and western Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BC...
(
223Year 223 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaminus and Philus...
–
187 BCYear 187 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lepidus and Flaminius...
), being then only in his 15th year; and his jealous and grasping disposition led him to remove as far as possible all competitors for power. The formidable revolt of
MolonMolon or Molo was a general and satrap of the Seleucid king Antiochus the Great . He held the satrapy of Media 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
AlexanderAlexander was brother of Molon. On the accession of the Seleucid king Antiochus III, afterwards called the Great, in 223 BC, he entrusted Alexander with the government of the satrapy of Persis and Molon received Media...
in the eastern provinces of the kingdom seemed to demand all the attention of Antiochus, but Hermeias persuaded him to confide the conduct of the army sent against the insurgents to his generals,
XenonXenon was an officer in the service of Antiochus III the Great , who was sent, together with Theodotus Hemiolius, against Molon in 221 BC. They retired before Molon under the shelter of the towns.-References:...
and
TheodotusTheodotus Hemiolius was a general in the service of king Antiochus III the Great , by whom he was sent in 222 BC together with Xenon against Molon, satrap of Media, who had raised the standard of revolt in the eastern provinces of the Seleucid Empire...
, while he advanced in person to attack
Coele-SyriaCoele-Syria , or Cœle-Syria or Celesyria, traditionally given the meaning 'hollow' Syria, was the region of southern Syria disputed between the Seleucid dynasty and the Ptolemaic dynasty. Rather than limiting the Greek term to the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, it is often used to cover the entire area...
. Here, however, the king met with a complete repulse, while the army sent against Molon was totally defeated by that general, who made himself master in consequence of several of the provinces bordering on the
TigrisThe Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
. The opinion of Hermeias, who still opposed the march of Antiochus to the East, was now overruled, and the king took the field in person the ensuing spring. But though the favourite had succeeded in removing his chief opponent, Epigenes, by a fabricated charge of conspiracy, his utter incapacity for military affairs was fully apparent in the ensuing campaign, in which, nevertheless, Antiochus, having followed the advice of
ZeuxisZeuxis was a general in the service of the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great at the end of the 3rd century BC. He served in Mesopotamia against the rebel Molon, was a general at the Battle of Magnesia and after that defeat went to Rome to negotiate a peace.- Career :He was engaged in 221 BC in...
, in opposition to that of Hermeias, defeated Molon in a pitched battle, and recovered the revolted provinces. But during the subsequent halt at
Seleucia on the TigrisSeleucia , also known as Seleucia on the Tigris, was one of the great cities of the world during Hellenistic and Roman times. It stood in Mesopotamia, on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the smaller town of Ctesiphon, in present day Babil Governorate, Iraq.-Seleucid empire:Seleucia,...
, Hermeias had again an opportunity of displaying his evil disposition by the cruelties with which, notwithstanding the opposition of Antiochus, he stained the victory of the young king.
Fall
Meanwhile, the birth of a son of Antiochus, by
LaodiceLaodice III , was a Princess of Pontus and a daughter born to King Mithridates II of Pontus and his wife Laodice. Her sister was Laodice of Pontus and her brother was Mithridates III of Pontus....
, is said to have excited in the mind of this ambitious minister the project of getting rid of the king himself, in order that he might rule with still more uncontrolled authority under the name of his infant son. This nefarious scheme was fortunately revealed in time to Antiochus, who had long regarded Hermeias with fear as well as aversion, and he now gladly availed himself of the assistance of his physician, Apollophanes, and others of his friends, to rid himself of his minister by assassination (220 BC).
PolybiusPolybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
, who is our sole authority for all the preceding facts, has drawn the character of Hermeias in the blackest colours, and represents his death as a subject of general rejoicing, though he considers his fate as a very inadequate punishment for his misdeeds.