Seleucus IV Philopator

Successor of: Antiochus III the Great

Relatives:

• Father: Antiochus III the Great
• Mother: Laodice III (daughter of Mithradates II of Pontus)
• Wife: his sister (?) Laodice IV
• Children:
• Antiochus (murdered in 170)
• Demetrius I Soter
• Laodice V (married to Perseus of Macedonia)

• Born after 220
• 196: Thrace added to the Seleucid Empire; Seleucus is governor
• 192-188: Syrian War between the Seleucids and Rome.
• 190: Seleucus besieges Rome's ally Pergamon, captures the Roman commander Lucius Cornelius Scipio, takes part in the Battle of Magnesia (Roman victory)
• 189: Co-ruler of his father
• 188: Peace of Apamea; Seleucid empire has to abandon all land north of the Taurus and pay an indemnity
• 3 July 187: death of Antiochus III; Seleucus becomes king and tries to restore the Seleucid Empire by diplomatic means
• 178: Marries his daughter Laodice V to the Macedonian king Perseus, which is regarded by king Eumenes II Soter of Pergamon as an anti-Roman act; Seleucus has to send his son Demetrius as hostage to Rome; in return, his brother Antiochus returns
• 175: To pay the Roman indemnity, Seleucus orders his commander Heliodorus to obtain money in the temple of Jerusalem, but he encounters opposition. Heliodorus returns.
• 3 September 175: Heliodorus kills Seleucus; his wife Laodice V appears to have married Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who succeeds his brother

Sources:

• 2 Maccabees, 3-4
• Appian of Alexandria, Syrian Wars, 45
• Livy, History of Rome, 37
• Livy, Periochae, 46
• Polybius of Megalopolis, World History, 18.51