General Notes

King of Syria
Antiochus IV EPIPHANES (God Manifest), also called ANTIOCHUS
EPIMANES(the Mad) (b. c. 215 BC--d. 164, Tabae, Iran), Seleucid
king of theHellenistic Syrian kingdom who reigned from 175 to
164 BC. As a ruler hewas best known for his encouragement of
Greek culture and institutions.His attempts to suppress Judaism
brought on the Wars of the Maccabees. Early career. Antiochus
was the third son of Antiochus III the Great. After hisfather's
defeat by the Romans in 190-189, he served as hostage for
hisfather in Rome from 189 to 175, where he learned to admire
Romaninstitutions and policies. His brother, King Seleucus IV,
exchanged himfor Demetrius, the son of Seleucus; and after
Seleucus was murdered byHeliodorus, a usurper, Antiochus in
turn ousted him. During this periodof uncertainty in Syria, the
guardians of Ptolemy VI, the Egyptian ruler,laid claim to Coele
Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia, which Antiochus IIIhad
conquered. Both the Syrian and Egyptian parties appealed to
Rome forhelp, but the Senate refused to take sides. In 173
Antiochus paid theremainder of the war indemnity that had been
imposed by the Romans onAntiochus III at the Treaty of Apamea
(188). Antiochus forestalled an Egyptian expedition to
Palestine by invadingEgypt. He defeated the Egyptians between
Pelusium and Mount Kasion,conquered Pelusium, and in 169
occupied Egypt with the exception ofAlexandria, the capital.
Ptolemy VI was Antiochus' nephew--Antiochus'sister, Cleopatra
I, had married Ptolemy V--and Antiochus contentedhimself with
ruling Egypt as Ptolemy's guardian, giving Rome no excusefor
intervention. The citizens of Alexandria, however, appealed
toPtolemy VIII, the brother of Ptolemy VI, and to his sister
Cleopatra IIto form a rival government. Disturbances in
Palestine forced Antiochus toreturn to Syria, but he
safeguarded his access to Egypt with a stronggarrison in
Pelusium. In the winter of 169/168 Perseus of Macedonia in vain
begged Antiochus tojoin forces with him against the danger that
Rome presented to all of theHellenistic monarchs. In Egypt,
Ptolemy VI made common cause with hisbrother and sister and
sent a renewed request to Rome for aid, andAntiochus prepared
for battle. The fleet of Antiochus won a victory atCyprus,
whose governor surrendered the island to him. Antiochus
invadedEgypt again in 168, demanded that Cyprus and Pelusium be
ceded to him,occupied Lower Egypt, and camped outside
Alexandria. The cause of thePtolemaeans seemed lost. But on
June 22, 168, the Romans defeated Perseusand his Macedonians at
Pydna, and there deprived Antiochus of thebenefits of his
victory. In Eleusis, a suburb of Alexandria, the
Romanambassador, Gaius Popillius Laenas, presented Antiochus
with theultimatum that he evacuate Egypt and Cyprus
immediately. Antiochus, takenby surprise, asked for time to
consider. Popillius, however, drew acircle in the earth around
the king with his walking stick and demandedan unequivocal
answer before Antiochus left the circle. Dismayed by thispublic
humiliation, the king quickly agreed to comply. Roman
interventionhad reestablished the status quo. By being allowed
to retain southernSyria, to which Egypt had laid claim,
Antiochus was able to preserve theterritorial integrity of his
realm. Efforts to hellenize the kingdom. Both economically and
socially he made efforts to strengthen hiskingdom--inhabited in
the main by Orientals (non-Greeks of Asia Minor andPersia)--by
founding and fostering Greek cities. Even before he had
begunhis reign he had contributed to the building of the temple
of Zeus inAthens and to the adornment of the theatre. He
enlarged Antioch on theOrontes by adding a section to the city
(named Epiphania after him).There he built an aqueduct, a
council hall, a marketplace, and a templeto Jupiter
Capitolinus. Babylon, which revered him as Soter (Liberator,or
Saviour) of Asia, was given a Greek colony that was granted
freedom ofthe city. Another Epiphania was founded in Armenia.
Ecbatana (in Persia)was also named Epiphania and became a Greek
city. Many of these citieswere granted the right to coin their
own municipal currency. The mint ofAntioch on the Persian Gulf
served the trade along the sea route betweenIndia and the
district at the mouth of the great Mesopotamian rivers.
Antiochus' hellenizing policies brought him into conflict with
theprosperous Oriental temple organizations, and particularly
with the Jews.Since Antiochus III's reign the Jews had enjoyed
extensive autonomy undertheir high priest. They were divided
into two parties, the orthodoxHasideans (Pious Ones) and a
reform party that favoured Hellenism. Forfinancial reasons
Antiochus supported the reform party and, in return fora
considerable sum, permitted the high priest, Jason, to build
agymnasium in Jerusalem and to introduce the Greek mode of
educating youngpeople. In 172, for an even bigger tribute, he
appointed Menelaus inplace of Jason. In 169, however, while
Antiochus was campaigning inEgypt, Jason conquered
Jerusalem--with the exception of the citadel--andmurdered many
adherents of his rival Menelaus. When Antiochus returnedfrom
Egypt in 167 he took Jerusalem by storm and enforced
itsHellenization. The city forfeited its privileges and was
permanentlygarrisoned by Syrian soldiers. The revolt of Judas
Maccabeus. The Greeks and those friendly toward them were
united into the communityof Antiochians; the worship of Yahweh
and all of the Jewish rites wereforbidden on pain of death. In
the Temple an altar to Zeus Olympios waserected, and sacrifices
were to be made at the feet of an idol in theimage of the King.
Against that desecration Judas Maccabeus, leader ofthe
anti-Greek Jews, led the aroused Hasideans in a guerrilla war
andseveral times defeated the generals Antiochus had
commissioned to dealwith the uprising. Judas refused a partial
amnesty, conquered Judaea withthe exception of the Acra in
Jerusalem, and in December 164 was able totear down the altar
of Zeus and reconsecrate the Temple. Antiochusapparently had
underestimated the strength of the Hasidean movement,which was
behind the success in maintaining an independent Judaean
statefor about a century. The fighting spirit of the Jews was
all the moreimpressive because at the beginning of their
rebellion in 166 Antiochushad just demonstrated his might to
the world at Daphne, near Antioch,with a grand review of his
army: 46,000 foot soldiers were on parade,among them a
Macedonian phalanx of 20,000 men and 500 mercenariesequipped
with Roman arms, followed by 8,500 horsemen and 306
armouredelephants. Antiochus then mounted a campaign against
the Parthians who werethreatening the empire in the east,
recovered the income from that area,forced Artaxias of
Armenia--who had defected--to recognize hissuzerainty, founded
the city of Antioch on the Persian Gulf, set out onan
expedition to the Arabian coast, and, at the end of 164, died
of anillness at Tabae (or Gabae, probably present Isfahan) in
Persis. Manybelievers saw his death as a punishment for his
attempt to loot theshrine of Nanaia in Elam (in modern Iran).
[EncyclopÃŒdia Britannica CD'97, ANTIOCHUS IV EPIPHANES]

Antiochus IV Epiphanes (originally named Mithradates, but renamed Antiochus either upon his ascension or after the death of his elder brother Antiochus) (175 - 163 BC) was one of the Seleucid emperors, son of Antiochus III the Great and brother of Seleucus IV Philopator. Antiochus rose to power after the death of the latter; he had been hostage in Rome following the peace of Apamea in 188 BC but had lately been exchanged for the son and rightful heir of Seleucus IV, the laterDemetrius I Soter. Taking advantage of this situation, Antiochus could easily proclaim himself as co-regent with another of Seleucus' sons, the infant Antiochus, whom he had murdered a few years later.

Notable events during his reign include the near-conquest of Egypt, which was halted by the threat of Roman intervention, and the beginning of the Jewish revolt of the Maccabees. He was succeeded by his infant son, Antiochus V Eupator.

In a spirit of revenge he organized an expedition against Jerusalem, which he destroyed, as well as putting vast multitudes of its inhabitants to death in the most cruel manner. From this time the Jews began the war of independence under their heroic Maccabean leaders with marked success, defeating the armies of Antiochus that were sent against them. Enraged at this, Antiochus is said to have marched against them in person, threatening utterly to exterminate the nation; but on the way he was suddenly arrested by the hand of death (164 BC). The exact causes of the Jewish revolt, and of Antiochus' response to it, are uncertain. His last years were spent on a campaign against the rising Parthian empire, which seems to have been initially successful but was terminated with his death.

The reign of Antiochus was a last period of strength for the empire, but in some way it was fatal; being an usurper and leaving no successor except a little boy, his death was followed by devastating dynastic wars.

The above paragraph is modified from Easton's Bible Dictionary

Some believe that Antiochus IV fulfilled a prophecy found at Daniel 11:21-32 in the Bible.

Preceded by:
Seleucus IV Philopator     Seleucid dynasty     Succeeded by:
Antiochus V Eupator

Preceded by:
Seleucus IV Philopator     Persian Kings     Succeeded by:
Mithridates of Parthia
Seleucid dynasty

(By the end of Antiochus IV's reign, the rule of Persia had passed firmly to the kings of Parthia. Articles for the Parthian kings have not yet been completed. Please feel free to skip ahead to Ardashir I of Persia, the first ruler of the Sassanid dynasty, to continue following the line of Persian kings.)