Category:Antiochus III the Great (subject)
Antiochus III the Great was King of Syria, from 222 BCE to 187 BCE.
Overview
Antiochus III the Great was the son of Seleucus II Callinicus and Laodice II. In 222 BCE he became the sixth ruler of the Seleucid Empire and married Laodice III.
Antiochus III gave unity and strength to a disorganized state. His first attempt to impose his hegemony over the Ptolomies resulted in failure, when Ptolemy IV Philopator defeated him at the battle of Raphia in 217 BCE. Antiochus III did not lose heart. He sized the opportunity when in 204 BCE Ptolemy IV Philopator died and his child successor Ptolemy V Epiphanes was not able to face the challenge. Antiochus III invaded southern Syria and defeated the Ptolemaic army in the battle of Paneion in 198 BCE.
The Roman intervention in the region limited the military expansion of the Seleucid empire. First, Antiochus III was forced to renounce to his plan to invade Egypt (which was vital for Rome's food supply), then the Roman army intervened and defeated the Seleucid army.
With the Peace of Apamea, Antiochus III had to agree and pay an annual tribute to the Romans and send his youngest son Antiochus IV Epiphanes to Rome as hostage. Now desperately in need of money, Antiochus III died in 187 BCE while attacking a temple in Susa.
Antiochus III and the Jews
The Battle of Panium in 198 BCE marks the end of the Ptolemaic rule in Judea. Antiochus III generously rewarded the Jerusalem priesthood, which had supported his cause. He not only let all Jews live according to their laws, but also granted a series of provisions and tax exemptions in favor of the Temple. The king treated the high Priest Simon II not so much as a religious leader, but as a sort of secular prince, having the authority to collect not only the tithes for the temple but also the tributes and taxes owned to the king and to retain part of them.
Antiochus III in Second Temple sources
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities
Ant XII 129-154, 223, 414
See also
- Appian, History of Rome: Syrian Wars 1-44
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 19.18-20
Antiochus III in Scholarship
Antiochus III in Fiction
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