Seleucus IV Philopator (

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 ...

: Σέλευκος Φιλοπάτωρ; c. 218 – 3 September 175 BC), ruler 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, reigned from 187 BC to 175 BC over a realm consisting of Syria (now including

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

and

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

, Babylonia and Nearer Iran (Media and Persia).

Biography

Birth and family

He was the second son and successor of

Antiochus III the Great Antiochus III the Great (; grc-gre, Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας ; c. 2413 July 187 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 222 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the res ...

and Laodice III. Seleucus IV wed his sister

Laodice IV Laodice IV (flourished second half 3rd century BC and first half 2nd century BC) was a Greek Princess, Head Priestess and Queen of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus III appointed Laodice in 193 BC, as the chief priestess of the state cult dedicated ...

, by whom he had three children: two sons Demetrius I Soter, Antiochus and a daughter Laodice V.

Seleucid conflict with Rome

During the prelude to the Roman-Seleucid War, Seleucus was put in charge of the re-established colony of Lysimacheia by his father. Upon the outbreak of war, Seleucus commanded his own force, unsuccessfully besieging

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...

, and taking the city of

Phocaea Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, in ...

before fighting in the

Battle of Magnesia The Battle of Magnesia took place in either December 190 or January 189 BC. It was fought as part of the Roman–Seleucid War, pitting forces of the Roman Republic led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and the allied Kingdom of Pe ...

alongside his father. After their defeat at Magnesia, Seleucus was made co-regent in 189 BC and the Seleucids signed the

Treaty of Apamea The Treaty of Apamea was a peace treaty conducted in 188 BC between the Roman Republic and Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid Empire. It ended the Roman–Seleucid War. The treaty took place after Roman victories at the Battle of Thermopylae ...

with

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 188 BC. As part of the treaty, Seleucus oversaw the supply of grain and scouts to Roman and Pergamene forces during their campaign against the Galatians.

Reign

In 187 BC, Antiochus died after looting the Temple of Bel in Elymaïs and Seleucus took over as Basileus. He renewed an alliance with the

Achaean League The Achaean League ( Greek: , ''Koinon ton Akhaion'' "League of Achaeans") was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern P ...

, and almost joined in Pharnaces I's invasion of Galatia, before reconsidering and turning back. He also substituted his son Demetrius instead of his brother Antiochus IV as a hostage in Rome.

Death

On September 3, 175 BC (137 SE), Seleucus was assassinated by Heliodorus, one of his leading bureaucrats. The ancient sources do not record a motive for this act; possibly it was simple lust for power, or possibly the sources misattributed the death to the one who gained the most from it. Heliodorus took over as regent, ruling on behalf of Seleucus IV's young child Antiochus. Heliodorus's reign as regent was brief, however; months later, he was replaced by Antiochus IV with support from Pergamon.

In the Judeo-Christian tradition

According to Jewish texts later included as scripture by Christians, Seleucus IV sent out Heliodorus in 187 BC on a tax-collecting mission after hearing an inflated report of the Temple's wealth. Helidorus attempted to raid the treasury of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, but was repelled by angelic beings in a miracle. This is recorded in the

deuterocanonical The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

book of

2 Maccabees 2 Maccabees, el, Μακκαβαίων Β´, translit=Makkabaíōn 2 also known as the Second Book of Maccabees, Second Maccabees, and abbreviated as 2 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which recounts the persecution of Jews under King Antiochus I ...

, which takes a special interest in the Temple. It is also referred to obliquely in the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology ...

which states that Seleucus "will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor";: New International Version the collector is also referred to as an "

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

er" (

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonica ...

) or an "exactor of

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

" ( Revised Standard Version).

Ancestry

References

External links

Seleucus IV Philopator
entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith {{DEFAULTSORT:Seleucus 04 Philopator 210s BC births 175 BC deaths Year of birth uncertain 2nd-century BC Babylonian kings 2nd-century BC Seleucid rulers Seleucid rulers 2nd-century BC biblical rulers Kings of Syria Seleucid people in the books of the Maccabees