Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/217

Rh ANTIOCHTJS. ■wree of the annexed coin ropresimts the Dioscuri ridinpr on horseback, and has upon it the year O I*, that is, the 1 70th vear of the Seleucidae. (Eckhel, iii. p.231,«:c.) ANTIOCIIUS. 199 COIN OF ANTIOCHUS VI. ANTI'OCHUS VII. CAvtIoxos), king of Sy- ria, sumamed SIDETES (SiStjttjs), from Side in Panipliylia, where he was brought up, (and not from a Syriac word signifying a hunter,) and on coins Euergetes (Euepyhris), was the j'ounger son of Demetrius Soter, and obtained possession of the throne in b. c. 137, after conquering Tryphon, who had held the sovereignty since the murder of Antiochus VI. He married Cleopatra, the wife of his elder brother Demetrius Nicator, who was a prisoner in the hand of the Piirthians. He carried on war against the Jews, and took Jerusalem after almost a year's siege, in B. c. 133. He then granted them a peace on favourable terms, and next directed his arms against the Paithians. At iirst he met with success, but was afterwards de- feated by the Parthian king, and lost his life in the battle, after a reign of nine years, (b. c. 128.) His son Seleucus was taken prisoner in the same battle. Antiochus, like many of liis predecessors, was passionately devoted to the pleasures of the tal)le. He had three sons and two daughters, the latter of whom both bore the name of Laodice. His sons were Antiochus, Seleucus, and Antiochus (Cyzicenus), the last of whom subsequently suc- ceeded to the throne. (Joseph. Atit. xiii. 8 ; 1 Afaccub. XV., &c. ; Justin, xxxvi. 1, xxxviii. 10 ; Diod. xxxiv. Ed. 1 ; Athen. x. p. 439, xii. p. 540.) The reverse of the annexed coin represents Athena holding a small figure of Victory in her right hand. (Eckhel, iii. p. 235, &c.) COIN OF ANTIOCHUS VIL ANTI'OCHUS VIII. ('Avrfoxos), king of Sy- ria, surnamed GKYPUS (TpuircJj), or Hook- nosed, from 7pw(|/,a vulture, and on coins Epiphanes ('ETTK^cifTjv), was the second son of Demetrius Nicator and Cleopatni. His eldest brother Seleu- cus was put to death by their mother Cleopatra, because he wished to have the power, and not merely the title, of king ; and Antiochus was after his brother's death recalled from Athens, where he was studying, by his mother Cleopatra, that he might bear the tide of king, while the real sovereignty remained in her hands, (b. c. 125.) At this time the greater part of Syria was in the power of the usurper Alexander Zebina [see p. 127, b.] ; but Antiochus, with the assistance of Ptolemy Physcon, tiie king of Egypt, whose daughter he married, conquered Alexander and became master of the whole of Syria. Cleopatra then became jealous of him and plotted against his life ; but her son com- pelled her to drink the poison she had prepared for him. (b. c. 120.) For the next eight years Antiochus reigned in peace ; but at the end of that time his half-brother, Antiochus Cyzicenus, the son of Antiochus Sidetes and their common mother Cleopatra, laid claim to the crown, and a civil war ensued, (b. c. 112.) The remaining history of the Seleucidae till Syria became a Roman province, is hardly anything else but a series of civil wars be- tween the princes of the royal family. In the first year of the struggle (b. c. 112), Antiochus Cyzi- cenus became master of almost the whole of SjTia, but in the next year (b. c. Ill), A. Grj-pus re- gained a considerable part of his dominions ; and it was then agreed that the kingdom should be shared between them, A. Cyzicenus having Coele- Syria and Phoenicia, and A. Grypus the remainder of the provinces. This arrangement lasted, though with frequent wars between the two kings, till the death of Antiochus Grypus, who was assassinated by Heracleon in B. c. 96, after a reign of twenty- nine years. He left five sons, Seleucus, Philip, Antiochus Epiphanes, Demetrius Eucaerus, and Antiochus Dionysus. (Justin, xxxix. 1 — 3; Liv. EpiL 60 ; Appian, Si/r. 69 ; Joseph. Aniiq. xiii. 13; Athen. xii. p. 540.) Many of the coins of Antiochus Grypus have the head of Antiochus on one side, and that of his mother Cleopatra on the other. The one annexed must have been struck after his mother's death. (Eckhel, iii. p. 238, &c.) coin of antiochus Vlll. ANTIOCHUS IX. {'AvtIoxos), king of Syria sumamed CYZICENUS(Ku^/<ri./($s) from Cyzicns, where he was brought up, and on coins Philopator (^lAoTTOTwp), reigned over Coele-Syria and Phoe- nicia from B. c. 1 1 1 to 96, as is stated in the pre- ceding article. On the death of his brother, Anti- ochus Vlll., he attempted to obtain possession of coin of antiochus IX.