Antiochus II Theos ( grc-gre, Ἀντίοχος Θεός, ; 286 – July 246 BC) was a Greek king of the
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
who reigned from 261 to 246 BC. He succeeded his father
Antiochus I Soter in the winter of 262–61 BC. He was the younger son of Antiochus I and princess
Stratonice, the daughter of
Demetrius Poliorcetes.
Antiochus II was a forceful personality who in his lifetime largely succeeded to hold the sprawling Seleucid realm intact. However his fateful decision to repudiate his first wife
Laodice and marry a
Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to:
Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty
* Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter
* Ptolemaic Kingdom
Pertaining ...
princess
Berenice
Berenice ( grc, Βερενίκη, ''Bereníkē'') is the Ancient Macedonian form of the Attic Greek name ''Pherenikē'', which means "bearer of victory" . Berenika, priestess of Demeter in Lete ca. 350 BC, is the oldest epigraphical evidence. Th ...
as part of a peace treaty led to a succession struggle after his death that would shake the empire's foundations and cause large territorial losses.
Early life
Antiochus II was the younger son of
Antiochus I Soter and his famous queen
Stratonice. Antiochus was initially not expected to inherit the throne, but in 267 BC his father had his elder brother Seleucus executed on charges of rebellion.
Reign
He inherited lasting tensions with
Ptolemaic Egypt and soon initiated the
Second Syrian War in alliance with
Antigonus II
Antigonus II Gonatas ( grc-gre, Ἀντίγονος Γονατᾶς, ; – 239 BC) was a Macedonian ruler who solidified the position of the Antigonid dynasty in Macedon after a long period defined by anarchy and chaos and acquired fame for ...
of the
Antigonid dynasty
The Antigonid dynasty (; grc-gre, Ἀντιγονίδαι) was a Hellenistic dynasty of Dorian Greek provenance, descended from Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-Eyed") that ruled mainly in Macedonia.
History
...
. The war was largely fought along the coasts of
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and conflated with the constant intrigues of petty despots and restless city-states in Asia Minor. Antiochus II made some gains in Asia Minor and acquired direct access to Aegean Sea by capturing
Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
and
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
. During the war he assumed the title ''Theos'' (
Greek: , "God"), being such to the Milesians in slaying the tyrant
Timarchus. At around the same time Antiochus II also made some attempt to get a footing in
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...
which details are largely unknown and a mint in the city of
Byzantion briefly issued coins in his name.
In the end the war did little to alter the general balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Coelesyria
Coele-Syria (, also spelt Coele Syria, Coelesyria, Celesyria) alternatively Coelo-Syria or Coelosyria (; grc-gre, Κοίλη Συρία, ''Koílē Syría'', 'Hollow Syria'; lat, Cœlē Syria or ), was a region of Syria in classical antiqui ...
in particular, the main disputed territory between the Seleucid empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom, remained firmly in the hands of the Ptolemies. In 257 BC Ptolemy II even invaded Seleucid-held part of Syria, though the outcome of this invasion is unknown. In 253 BC, with his Antigonid allies knocked out of the war by rebellions, Antiochus II made peace with the
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
Ptolemy II Philadelphus
; egy, Userkanaenre Meryamun Clayton (2006) p. 208
, predecessor = Ptolemy I
, successor = Ptolemy III
, horus = ''ḥwnw-ḳni'Khunuqeni''The brave youth
, nebty = ''wr-pḥtj'Urpekhti''Great of strength
, gol ...
. As part of the settlement, Antiochus II divorced
Laodice and married Ptolemy II's daughter
Berenice
Berenice ( grc, Βερενίκη, ''Bereníkē'') is the Ancient Macedonian form of the Attic Greek name ''Pherenikē'', which means "bearer of victory" . Berenika, priestess of Demeter in Lete ca. 350 BC, is the oldest epigraphical evidence. Th ...
, with the understanding that any children born from their union would inherit the Seleucid throne.
[Bromiley, ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: A-D'' p.144] Laodice was well provided for in the divorce arrangement. Antiochus II gave her various land grants throughout Anatolia which are known through inscriptions; such as large estates in the
Hellespont
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
,
[Grainger, ''A Seleukid prosopography and gazetteer'' p.47] other properties near
Cyzicus,
Ilion and in
Caria
Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...
.
[ She was also granted revenues from various territories and tax exemptions. According to a royal record at Sardis, her land titles were to be treated as in royal possession.
Laodice remained a very powerful and political influential figure and continued numerous intrigues to become queen again. By 246 BC, possibly at the news of Ptolemy II's death, Antiochus II had left Berenice and their infant son Antiochus in ]Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
to live again with Laodice in Asia Minor. Antiochus II soon suddenly died and Laodice was widely accused of having him poisoned. Antiochus was buried in the Belevi Mausoleum
The Belevi Mausoleum, also known as the Mausoleum at Belevi''Forum Archaeologiae - Zeitschrift für klassische Archäologie 45/XII/2007: Chemical Analysis of Inclusion Fluids – A new method to pinpoint the origin of white marbles, illustrated at ...
.
A succession struggle erupted almost immediately. Berenice initially had the advantage by holding Antioch but her son Antiochus was but an infant. Meanwhile, Laodice proclaimed her eldest son Seleucus as king Seleucus II
Seleucus II Callinicus Pogon ( el, ; ''Kallinikos'' means "beautifully triumphant"; ''Pogon'' means "the Beard"; July/August 265 BC – December 225 BC),, . was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, who reigned from 246 BC to 225 BC. Faced ...
and moved in from Asia Minor, claiming that on his deathbed Antiochus II reversed his earlier decision and named Seleucus as his successor.[ The then-reigning brother of Berenice ]Ptolemy III
, predecessor = Ptolemy II
, successor = Ptolemy IV
, nebty = ''ḳn nḏtj-nṯrw jnb-mnḫ-n-tꜢmrj'Qen nedjtinetjeru inebmenekhentamery''The brave one who has protected the gods, a potent wall for The Beloved Land
, nebty_hiero ...
marched from Egypt to support his sister, only to find her and her son murdered by partisans of Laodice. Enraged Ptolemy continued the war, dubbed the Third Syrian War which proved to be a disaster for the Seleucid empire
Eastern affairs
Very little is known about any Antiochus II's activities in regards to the eastern Upper Satrapies The Upper Satrapies ( gr, ἄνω σατραπεῖαι, anō satrapeiai) is a collective term used in the Hellenistic period to refer to the eastern, Iranian-populated, provinces ("satrapies") of the empire of Alexander the Great, especially durin ...
such as Media, Parthia
Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...
, Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...
or Persis. Chiefly preoccupied with conflicts in the Eastern Mediterranean and with family issues, Antiochus II seems to resorted to appointing independent-minded men such like Diodotus and Andragoras as satraps in the area. These two appointments eventually resulted in the creation of the independent Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Hellenistic Greece, Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Helleni ...
and the Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conque ...
respectively. There's also a marked decline in quantity of Antiochus II's coinage in Bactria when compared to that of his father, which had been interpreted variously in scholarship. It has been claimed that ambitious satraps may have taken advantage of Antiochus II's absenteeism to gradually weaken their ties with the central government even in Antiochus II's lifetime without outwardly proclaiming independence. However, posthumous coinage of a popular king was a relatively common practice in the Hellenistic Age
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 ...
and Antiochus II may have minted coins in the name of his half- Sogdnian father in order to legitimize both himself and his dynasty.
Possible relations with India
An uncertain Antiochus is mentioned in the Edicts of Ashoka
The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who reigned from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. Ashoka used the expres ...
, as one of the recipients of the Indian Emperor Ashoka's Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
proselytism. A majority opinion however however holds that the Greek king mentioned there is in fact be Antiochus II's father, Antiochus I Soter, who arguably had more proximity with the East.[Translation of Jarl Charpentier 1931:303-321.][Jarl Charpentier, "Antiochus, King of the Yavanas" ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London'' 6.2 (1931: 303-321) argues that the Antiochus mentioned was unlikely to be Antiochus II, during whose time relations with India were broken by the Parthian intrusion and the independence of Diodotus in Bactria, and suggests instead the half-Iranian Antiochus I, with stronger connections in the East.]
Notes
External links
Antiochus II entry in 'Seleucid Genealogy'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antiochus 02
286 BC births
246 BC deaths
3rd-century BC Babylonian kings
3rd-century BC Seleucid rulers
Seleucid rulers
3rd-century BC murdered monarchs
3rd-century BC rulers
Deified people