Achaemenid Period (539-331 BC), Syria
After the fall of Babylon in 539 BC the lands to the west quietly passed to the Achaemenids. Darius-I (c.64; r.522-486 BC) began his reign facing a revolt and had to reconquer the empire founded by Cyrus II (c.46; r.559-530 BC). This task was completed by 519 BC, and Darius began the task of reorganising the empire’s provinces into satrapies. Syria was included in the satrapy of Ebir-nari (‘beyond the river), meaning the region west of the Euphrates. Its capital was Damascus, a wealthy city at the centre of caravan trade in southwest Asia. Another major commercial centre was Berroia (=Aleppo).
Greek Period (331-63 BC), Syria
After the Battle of Issus in November 333 BC, Alexander marched south into Phoenicia and Syria. After taking Byblos and Sidon, he met serious resistance at Tyre. After a seven-month siege the city fell in February 332 BC. Leaving his general Parmenion (c.400-330 BC) in Syria, Alexander continued south without opposition until he reached Gaza where bitter resistance halted him for two months. The occupation of the rest of Palestine and Syria proceeded smoothly. In November 332 BC he reached Egypt, where the satrap Mazaces surrendered with no resistance. In the spring of 331 BC Alexander returned to Phoenicia, nominated a Macedonian satrap for Syria, and prepared to advance into Mesopotamia.
• Seleucids (312-63 BC)
In the wrangling after the death of Alexander (10/11 June 323 BC), Ptolemy-I (c.84; r.305-283 BC) got Egypt, Antigonus-I (c.81; r.306-301 BC) got Asia Minor, Seleucus-I (c.77; r.305-281 BC) got Babylon, and Laomedon got Syria. Laomedon was soon ejected by Ptolemy, and thereafter Syria was contested between Ptolemy and Antigonus. Antigonus drove Seleucus from Babylon and he fled to Ptolemy. After Ptolemy defeated Antigonus’ son Demetrius-I (54; r.294-288 BC; d.283 BC) at the Battle of Gaza in 312 BC, Seleucus was able to return to Babylon. He proclaimed himself king in 305 BC. The victory of Ipsus (301 BC) gave Seleucus northern Syria.
Having gained access to the Mediterranean, Seleucus built a new capital at Antioch on the Orontes (c.300 BC) and the Seleucid Empire (312-63 BC) became essentially a Syrian kingdom. Seleucus regained much of Alexander’s Eastern Empire (Media, Bactria, Sogdiana. When a nomadic invasion threatened his eastern possessions, he appointed his son Antiochus-I (r.281-261 BC) king of the east (292 BC). Seleucus finally won Asia Minor by capturing Demetrius-I in 286 BC and by defeating Lysimachus (79; r.305-281 BC) at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. Seleucus then moved to take possession of Thrace and Macedonia. After crossing the Straits he was murdered by Ptolemy’s estranged son Ptolemy Ceraunus and the grateful Macedonian army made Ceraunus king of Macedon (281-279 BC).
Syria-Coele was the region of southern Syria disputed between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies. Before Ipsus it had been agreed that Syria-Coele should be assigned to Ptolemy if the generals defeated Antigonus. When Ptolemy did not take part in the battle the other generals decided that the territory should go to Seleucus. But Ptolemy took possession of the land anyway and Seleucus accepted the situation. The later Seleucids were not so generous.
On his succession Antiochus-I renounced his father’s ambitions in the west and in 278 BC signed a treaty with Antigonus II of Macedon (80; r.276-274, 272-239 BC) that formed the basis of peace and friendship with Macedonia throughout the century. His victory c.274 BC over the Gauls of Galatia won him the title of Sotor (‘Saviour’). In the First Syrian War (274-271 BC) and the war of 263-261 BC Antiochus lost Phoenicia and the coasts of Anatolia to Ptolemy II (62; r.285-246 BC).
Antiochus II (40; r.261-246 BC) fought the Second Syrian War (c.260-253 BC) against Ptolemy II, and in alliance with Macedonia, recovered most of what Antiochus-I had lost, namely, the coast of Asia Minor (except Pergamum, Lycia and Caria), Phoenicia, and places in Syria-Coele. He overthrew a tyrant in the city of Miletus and received the title Theos (‘god’). To cement an alliance with the Ptolemies he repudiated his wife Laodice-I (fl.261-c.241 BC) and married Berenice Syra (c.280-c.246 BC), daughter of Ptolemy II.
Seleucus II (c.40; r.246-225 BC), the eldest son of Antiochus II and Laodice, claimed the throne over Berenice Syra’s infant son (name unknown). Berenice’s brother Ptolemy III (c.59; r.246-221 BC) came to her aid, thus initiating the Third Syrian (or Laodicean) War (246-241 BC). Ptolemy advanced through Syria and took Antioch. He then moved eastward to occupy Babylon and Seleucia on the Tigris. Seleucus managed to maintain himself in the interior of Asia Minor At some point during Ptolemy’s advance, Berenice and her son were murdered. Seleucus’ claim to the throne was then recognized in Babylon. Leaving west Anatolia under his younger brother Antiochus Hierax (c.263-226 BC), Seleucus moved to secure his throne in Syria. He took Damascus and Orthosia but his attempt to push on into Ptolemaic territory failed completely.
At the conclusion of the Third Syrian War, Antiochus Hierax defeated an attempt by Seleucus to recover Asia Minor (War of the Brothers; c.239-236 BC), allying himself with the traditional enemies of the Seleucids: Pontus, Bithynia and Galatia. Attalus-I of Pergamum (72; r.241-197 BC), however, drove him from Asia Minor and after a failed attempt to to replace his brother in Syria he later died in Thrace.
Seleucus III (c.20; r.225-223 BC) was murdered on a campaign against Attalus-I. He was succeeded by his brother Antiochus III (c.54; r.223-187 BC) who undertook the recovery and expansion of the Seleucid territories lost by his predecessors. He attempted to conquer Ptolemaic Syria in the Fourth Syrian War (221-217 BC), but was defeated by Ptolemy IV (c.39; r.221-205 BC) at Raphia in 217 BC. A civil war against his cousin Achaeus (d.213 BC), who had assumed the title of king in Asia Minor, was settled in 213 BC. By his expedition to the east, Antiochus gained Armenia and regained Parthia, but after an unsuccessful siege was forced to recognise the independence of Euthydemus of Bactria (c.205-c.189 BC).
In collusion with Philip V of Macedon (59; r.221-179 BC), Antiochus attacked Syria-Coele in the Fifth Syrian War (202-195 BC) and by 199 BC seems to had possession of it before the Aetolian, Scopas, (d.196 BC) recovered it for Ptolemy. But that recovery proved brief, for in 198 BC Antiochus defeated Scopas at Panium, near the sources of the Jordan, a battle that marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Judea.
The Romans took alarm when Antiochus invaded Europe to recover Thrace (196 BC). He invaded Greece at the Aeolians’ request. After protracted negotiations he lost patience and invaded Greece. He was defeated by the Romans at Thermopylae (191 BC). An unsuccessful naval campaign was followed by a decisive land defeat at Magnesia (190 BC). The Peace of Apamea (188 BC) imposed the harshest terms. Antiochus lost most of Asia Minor and died the following year.
Seleucus IV (r.187-175 BC) observed the terms of the Peace of Apamea, in which Seleucid adventures in the west were discouraged by the threat of a severe indemnity. His son Demetrius-I (35; r.161-150 BC) was sent to Rome as a hostage. When Seleucus was murdered by his minister Heliodorus, the kingdom was seized by the younger brother of Seleucus, Antiochus IV (c.52; r.175-163 BC). During the Sixth Syrian War (170-168 BC) Antiochus IV invaded Egypt (169 BC) and succeeded in occupying the Delta. Aware of the impossibility of keeping such a vast country under his control he supported Ptolemy VI (c.41; r.180*145 BC). In 168 BC he led another attack on Egypt, but Rome through its legate instructed Antiochus to withdraw immediately and unconditionally. He attempted to Hellenize the Jews, but his persecutions provoked a serious revolt led by Judas Maccabaeus (fl.166-160 BC). He died during a campaign against the Persians.
He was succeeded by his son Antiochus V (c.11; r.163-161 BC), and the general Lysias became the boy’s regent. In 161 BC Demetrius-I escaped from Rome, killed both Antiochus V and Lysias, and won back his throne. He acquired the title of ‘Soter’ for his deliverance of the Babylonians from the tyranny of the Median satrap, Timarchus (r.163-160 BC).
Alexander-I Balas (r.150-145 BC) pretended to be a son of Antiochus IV and heir to the Seleucid throne – claims that were recognized by the Senate, Ptolemy VI and others. Alexander Balas defeated Demetrius-I in 150 BC, but as a king he proved to be incompetent. Ptolemy switched his support to Demetrius-I’s eldest son Demetrius II (r.145-138, 129-126 BC), who defeated and killed Alexander Balas. Alexander Balas’ infant son Antiochus VI (c.10; r.145-142 BC) was promoted as heir to the throne in opposition to Demetrius II by the Seleucid general Diodotus Tryphon (r.142-138 BC). In 142 BC Tryphon deposed the child and himself seized power in Syria-Coele where Demetrius II was unpopular because of his excessive treatment of the Jews. In 138 BC Demetrius II was captured by the Parthians and held for ten years.
With Demetrius being held by the Parthians, Antiochus VII (r.138-129 BC), second son of Demetrius-I, claimed the throne and reunited the country by defeating the pretender Tryphon, who committed suicide (138 BC). He married Cleopatra Thea (c.43; r.126-121 BC), who had been the wife of Demetrius. He reconquered Palestine (135-134 BC) and temporarily recovered Babylonia from Parthia (130 BC), but his eventual death in battle against the Parthians, who had released his brother to oppose him, saw the end of Seleucid claims in the east. Demetrius reclaimed the Seleucid throne but was later killed by the usurper Alexander II Zabinas (r.129-123 BC).
Zabinas had been proposed by Ptolemy VIII (c.66; r.170* 116 BC). But he soon ran out of Egyptian support and was defeated in his turn by Demetrius’ son Antiochus VIII (r.125-96 BC), who ruled jointly with his mother Cleopatra Thea after she had killed his brother Seleucus V (r.126-125 BC).
Antiochus VIII struggled for power with his half-brother Antiochus IX (r.114-95 BC), after murdering their domineering mother. By 108 BC Antiochus IX’s powers were limited to the coastal areas, but he claimed the throne after Antiochus VIII’s assassination by his minister Heracleon in 96 BC. He was murdered in 95 BC by one of his five nephews, who contested the succession with his own son.
Antiochus XII (r.87-84 BC) was the fifth son of Antiochus VIII to succeed to the throne. He was the last Seleucid ruler of any military reputation, if only on a local scale. He made several raids into Hasmonean territory and tried to check the rise of the Nabataean Arabs. In a battle against the latter Antiochus was killed by an Arab soldier. The Syrian army fled and soon after the Nabataeans conquered Damascus. In 83 BC Tigranes II of Armenia (r.95-55 BC) invaded Syria and established himself as its ruler, though a few holdout cities appear to have recognized Seleucus VII (r.83-69 BC) as their legitimate king. Following the capture of Tigranes’ capital Tigranocerta by Lucullus (c.118-c.57 BC), a rump Seleucid kingdom was restored under Antiochus XIII (69-64 BC) but another Seleucid, Philip II (r.65-63 BC), contested his rule. In 63 BC Pompey (106-48 BC), seeing the Seleucids as too troublesome to be allowed to continue, did away with the two rivals and made Syria into a Roman province.
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