Seleukid Genealogies and Biographies

Antiochos XIII

Genealogy  •  References

... the whole east, through the dissensions of kings of the same blood, fell by degrees under the power of the Romans.

Marcus Junianus Justinus, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, 40.2.5

Genealogy

Ruler:	Antiochos XIII Philadelphos Philometor (“Antiochos the Brother-loving, the Mother-Loving”),1 nicknamed Asiatikos (“the Asian”, “the Man from Asia”),2 Seleukid King, born probably in the late 90s BC,3 joint King of a portion of Syria with his mother Kleopatra Selene sometime in the interval 83 - 69 BC,4 1st reign sometime between 69/8 BC and 67/6 BC, 2nd reign 65 - 64 BC,5 died 64 BC or shortly thereafter (killed by Sampsiceramus, a sheik of Emesa)6
Father:	Antiochos X Eusebes Philopator, Seleukid King, born c. 113 BC (son of Antiochos IX Philopator, Seleukid King), reigned 95/4 - c. 93/1 BC, died c. 93/83 BC (probably either killed in battle with the Parthians in c. 93/1 BC or killed by Tigranes II the Great in 83 BC)
Mother:	Kleopatra Selene, Queen of the Seleukid Empire, born c. 135/0 BC (daughter of Ptolemy VIII, King of Egypt, and Kleopatra III, Queen of Egypt), first married to her brother Ptolemy IX in 115 BC (as his second wife; marriage presumably dissolved by her mother in c. 107 BC), second married to her brother Ptolemy X in c. 107 BC (as his first wife; marriage presumably dissolved by her mother in c. 103 BC), third married to Antiochos VIII in c. 103/2 BC (as his second wife; terminated by his death in 97/6 BC), fourth married to Antiochos IX in 96 BC (as his second known wife; terminated by his death in 95 BC), fifth married to Antiochos X in 95 BC, died 69 BC (executed by Tigranes II the Great, King of Armenia)7
Sibling:	a brother, possibly Seleukos Kybiosaktes8
Wife:	–
Children:	–

If it is not specified otherwise in the footnote, this information is based on the following sources (in alphabetic order): Bellinger, The End of the Seleucids; Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy; Dobias, Φιλιππος Βαρυπους – A Contribution to the History of the Last Seleukids.

¹ He used the epithet Philadelphos on his silver tetradrachm issued during his reign in Antioch, see, e.g., Petr Vesely’s collection, A13-AR-01; Houghton, CSE, 399 - 400; Newell, SMA, 460 - 461; SNG Spaer, 2919. The epithet Philometor is stated on a bronze coin issued during his joint reign with his mother Kleopatra Selene which bears the inscription ‘ΒΑCΙΛΙ[CCΗC] ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ[C] CΕΛΗΝΗC ΚΑΙ ΒΑCΙΛΕΩC ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΦΙΛΟΜΗΤΟΡ[ΟC]’ (“of Queen Kleopatra Selene and King Antiochos Philometor”), see Burgess, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress - The Rise and Fall of Cleopatra II Selene.

There is also another bronze coin published by Kritt, Numismatic Evidence for a New Seleucid King: Seleucus (VII) Philometor. Kritt reads its inscription as ‘ΒΑCΙΛΙCCΗ[C] ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ[C] CΕΛΗΝ[ΗC] ΚΑΙ ΒΑC CΕΛΕΥΚ[ΟΥ] [Φ]ΙΛΟΜΗΤΟΡ[ΟC]’ (“of Queen Kleopatra Selene and King Seleukos Philometor”), so he attributes the coin to Kleopatra Selene and Seleukos VII, the otherwise unnamed brother of Antiochos XIII (see footnote 8). Nevertheless, Hoover, Dethroning Seleucus VII Philometor (Cybiosactes): Epigraphical Arguments Against a Late Seleucid Monarch, reads the inscription as ‘ΒΑCΙΛΙCCΗ[C] ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ[C] CΕΛΗΝ[ΗC] ΚΑΙ ΒΑCΙ[Λ]ΕΩC [Α]Ν[ΤΙΟΧΟΥ] [Φ]ΙΛΟΜΗΤΟΡ[ΟC]’ (“of Queen Kleopatra Selene and King Antiochos Philometor”) and he attributes the coin to Kleopatra Selene and Antiochos XIII. Thus, this coin is probably the second evidence of Antiochos XIII’s epithet Philometor.

² The sobriquet Asiatikos is mentioned by Appian, Roman History, 11.70: The son (Antiochos XIII) of Pius (Antiochos X) and Selene (Kleopatra Selene), who was brought up in Asia and was for that reason called Asiaticus, was deprived of the government of Syria by Pompey, as I have already mentioned.

³ A date in the early 80s BC is also possible, but a date in the late 90s BC is more likely. See Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Cleopatra Selene.

⁴ The reign of Kleopatra Selene after the death of her last husband, Antiochos X, is mentioned by Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.419-420: About this time news was brought that Tigranes (Tigranes II the Great), the king of Armenia, had made an irruption into Syria with five hundred thousand soldiers, and was coming against Judea. This news, as may well be supposed, terrified the queen (Salome Alexandra, the Jewish queen) and the nation. Accordingly, they sent him many and very valuable presents, as also ambassadors, and that as he was besieging Ptolemais; for Selene the queen (Kleopatra Selene), the same that was also called Cleopatra, ruled then over Syria, who had persuaded the inhabitants to exclude Tigranes.

A joint kingship of Kleopatra Selene and Antiochos XIII (or, perhaps more precisely, a regency of Kleopatra Selene for her son) is proved by a bronze coins published by Burgess in the paper The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress - The Rise and Fall of Cleopatra II Selene. As it is mentioned in footnote 1, the coin published by Kritt, Numismatic Evidence for a New Seleucid King: Seleucus (VII) Philometor, might be another evidence of their joint kingship. There is also a bronze coin in the collection of The American Numismatic Society (ANS accession number 1948.100.2) which is attributed to Kleopatra Selene and Antiochos XIII (see Kritt, ibid, p. 27, and the ANS electronic collection record).

⁵ Dobias, Φιλιππος Βαρυπους – A Contribution to the History of the Last Seleukids, pp. 225-227, suggests the following chronology:

October 6, 69 BC: The Battle of Tigranocerta. After Lucullus’s victory over Tigranes II, Antiochos XIII returned to Syria, he was accepted by the people of Antioch on the Orontes and recognized as legitimate king by Lucullus. His reign lasted only a year.

Since at least 67/6 BC, Antiochos XIII was held in captivity by an Arabian sheikh Samsigeramos (alternative spelling: Sampsiceramus).

67/6 BC: Philip II is attested as king in Antioch but was later deposed. It is not known if he still reigned in 66/5 BC or if Antioch was a free city for some time after his dethronement.

66 BC: The surrender of Tigranes II to Pompey, conclusion of peace between Tigranes II and Rome.

66 or 65 BC: Pompey’s legates L. Lollius and Q. Metellus Nepot arrived in Syria with an army (the capture of Damascus). As there was a danger that Pompey would annex Syria, Samsigeramos released Antiochos XIII because he preferred a weak incapable king to a transformation of Syria into a Roman province.

65 - 64 BC: The second reign of Antiochos XIII in Antioch. His second reign also lasted only a year.

64 BC: Antiochos XIII was deposed by Pompey and Syria became a Roman province.

See also Bellinger, The End of the Seleucids, pp. 82-85, and Burgess, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress - The Rise and Fall of Cleopatra II Selene, p. 24.

⁶ Bellinger, The End of the Seleucids, p. 85; Bevan, The House of Seleucus, Vol. II, p. 267; Green, Alexander to Actium, p. 658.

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 40.1b: ... When the king (Antiochos XIII), knowing nothing of this, complied, Sampsiceramus acted the part of a friend but placed him under arrest, and though for the time being he merely held him closely guarded in chains, he later had him put to death.

⁷ Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Cleopatra Selene

⁸ The existence of Antiochos XIII’s brother is attested by his epithet Philadelphos (the Brother-loving), see footnote 1. The brother is also mentioned by Cicero, The first oration against Verres, 4.27.61, but he is not named there: For you know that the kings of Syria, the boyish sons of King Antiochus (Antiochos X), have lately been at Rome. And they came not on account of the kingdom of Syria; for that they had obtained possession of without dispute, as they had received it from their father and their ancestors; but they thought that the kingdom of Egypt belonged to them and to Selene their mother (Kleopatra Selene). When they, being hindered by the critical state of the republic at that time, were not able to obtain the discussion of the subject as they wished before the senate, they departed for Syria, their paternal kingdom. One of them – the one whose name is Antiochus (Antiochos XIII) – wished to make his journey through Sicily. And so, while Verres was praetor, he came to Syracuse.

According to Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Cleopatra Selene and Berenice IV, this second son of Kleopatra Selene might be identified with Seleukos Kybiosaktes, the first husband of Berenice IV, Queen of Egypt. His epithet “Kybiosaktes”, i.e. “salt fish seller”, describes his coarseness and vulgarity. Seleukos Kybiosaktes married to Berenice IV in c. 58 BC but he was killed at the order of his bride or died of illness shortly thereafter. See also Burgess, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress - The Rise and Fall of Cleopatra II Selene, p. 24, and Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 66 - Seleukos (3).

As for the coin attributed by Kritt, Numismatic Evidence for a New Seleucid King: Seleucus (VII) Philometor, to Kleopatra Selene and Seleukos VII, see footnote 1.

References:

Appian: Roman History, Book XI - The Syrian Wars. Translated by Horace White. Macmillan and Co., New York, 1899. (The Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.org/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=App.+Syr.+1.1; Livius.org, http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_syriaca_00.html)

Bellinger, Alfred R.: The End of the Seleucids. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 38, June 1949, pp. 51 – 102. New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Bennett, Christopher J.: Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Website, http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Egypt/index.htm (Geocities Mirror: http://www.geocities.com/christopherjbennett/).

Bevan, Edwyn Robert: The House of Seleucus, 2 volumes. Ares Publishers, Chicago, 1985 (reprint of the London 1902 original edition).

Burgess, Michael: The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress - The Rise and Fall of Cleopatra II Selene. The Celator, Vol. 18, No. 3 (March 2004), pp. 18-25.

Cicero: The first oration against Verres. Translated by C. D. Yonge. George Bell & Sons, London, 1903. (The Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0018;query=toc)

Diodorus Siculus: Library of History. Books XXXIII–XL. Translated into English by Francis R. Walton. The Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge / Massachusetts - London / England, 2001 (reprint of the 1967 edition).

Dobias, Josef: Φιλιππος Βαρυπους – A Contribution to the History of the Last Seleukids. Listy Filologické / Folia Philologica (Prague, Czech Republic / Czechoslovakia), Volume 51, 1924, pp. 214 - 227.

Grainger, John D.: A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer. Brill, Leiden - New York - Köln, 1997.

Green, Peter: Alexander to Actium. University of California Press, Berkeley - Los Angeles, 1990.

Hoover, Oliver D.: Dethroning Seleucus VII Philometor (Cybiosactes): Epigraphical Arguments Against a Late Seleucid Monarch. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 151 (2005), pp. 95-99.

Houghton, Arthur: Coins of the Seleucid Empire from the Collection of Arthur Houghton. The American Numismatic Society, New York, 1983. (abbr. CSE)

Houghton, Arthur; Spaer, Arnold (with the assistance of Catharine Lorber): Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Israel I. The Arnold Spaer Collection of Seleucid Coins. Italo Vecchi Ltd., London, 1998. (abbr. SNG Spaer)

Josephus, Flavius: Antiquities of the Jews. Translated by William Whiston. John E. Beardsley, Auburn - Buffalo, 1895. (The Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.org/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=J.+AJ+toc)

Justin (Marcus Junianus Justinus): Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus. Translated by Rev. John Selby Watson, M.A. George Bell and Sons, London, 1897. (See Forum Romanum website, http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/index.html - 1853 Edition)

Kritt, Brian: Numismatic Evidence for a New Seleucid King: Seleucus (VII) Philometor. The Celator, Vol. 16, No. 4 (April 2002), p. 25-36.

Newell, Edward T.: The Seleucid Mint of Antioch. Chicago, 1978 (Obol International reprint of the New York 1918 original edition). (abbr. SMA)