Antiochus III, called The Great (242-187 bc), king of Syria (223-187 bc), the son of Seleucus II and brother of Seleucus III, whom he succeeded. He was the most distinguished of the Seleucids. Having made vassal states out of Parthia and Bactria, he warred successfully against the Egyptian king Ptolemy V and in 198 bc obtained possession of all of Palestine and Lebanon. He later became involved in a conflict with the Romans, who defeated him at Thermopylae in 191 bc and at Magnesia (now Manisa, Turkey) in 190 bc. As the price of peace, he was forced to surrender all his dominions west of the Taurus Mountains and to pay costly tribute. Antiochus, who early in his reign had restored the Seleucid Empire, finally forfeited its influence in the eastern Mediterranean by his failure to recognize the rising power of Rome.
Antiochus of Syria III 
