v49_0291 - SIRIA - REGNO DI SIRIA - SELEUCO IV PHILOPATOR Demi-unité (dénomination C), (PB, Æ 18)

SYRIA - SELEUKID KINGDOM - SELEUKOS IV PHILOPATOR

(187-175 BC)

Seleucus IV Philopator (the one who loves his father), the second son of Antiochus III the Great (223-187 AC), ensured great military commands in the war between the Seleucids, the kingdom of Pergamon and the Romans. After the defeat of Magnesia of the Meander in 190 BC, Antiochus III was forced to sign the Peace of Apamea in 188 BC. This agreement carved up the kingdom and consecrated the final loss of Asia Minor . The following year, Antiochus III was assassinated by the revolted crowd of Élymais who punished the King for wanting to dispossess the temple of Anaitis. Seleucus IV was regent in Antioch at the time of his father's death. The new king had to endure during his reign the disastrous conditions of the Peace of Apamea, pay the heavy indemnity and consolidate what remained of the great kingdom. In 175, the Romans freed his older brother, who had been captive for thirteen years. Seleucus was assassinated at the instigation of his prime minister Heliodorus who replaced him with the last son of Antiochus III, Antiochus IV Epiphanes.