Seleucus III

Soter Soter derives from the Greek epithet (''sōtēr''), meaning a saviour, a deliverer; initial capitalised ; fully capitalised ; feminine Soteira (Σώτειρα) or sometimes Soteria (Σωτηρία). Soter was used as: * a title of gods: Poseidon ...

, called Seleucus Ceraunus (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ; c. 243 BC – April/June 223 BC, ruled December 225 – April/June 223 BC), was a ruler of the Hellenistic

Seleucid Kingdom 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 M ...

, the eldest son of

Seleucus II Callinicus 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

Laodice II Laodice II ( grc, Λαοδίκη, Laodíkē; lived in the 3rd century BC), was the wife of Seleucus II Callinicus. According to the express statement of Polybius, she was the sister of Andromachus and therefore the aunt of her husband. Laodice II ...

Biography

His birth name was Alexander and he was named after his great uncle the Seleucid official

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. Alexander changed his name to Seleucus after he succeeded his father as King. After a brief reign of less than two years (225–223 BC), during which he unsuccessfully continued his father's war in Asia Minor against Attalus I of Pergamon of Pergamum, Seleucus was assassinated in

Anatolia 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 ...

by members of his army. His official byname ''Soter'' means "Saviour", while his nickname ''Ceraunus'' means "Thunderbolt".

References

240s BC births 223 BC deaths Year of birth uncertain 3rd-century BC Babylonian kings 3rd-century BC Seleucid rulers Seleucid rulers 3rd-century BC murdered monarchs 3rd-century BC rulers {{AncientGreece-bio-stub