Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/787

SELEUCUS. 41, XXXV. 15, xxxvi. 7 ; Polyb. xviii. 34 ; Appian, Syr. 3). Again, in B. c. 190, we find him sta- tioned in Aeolis with an army, to keep in check the maritime cities. Here he succeeded in reducing Cyme and other places, by voluntary submission, while he regained Phocaea by the treachery of the garrison. Shortly after he took advantage of the absence of Eumenes to invade his dominions, and even proceeded to lay siege to Pergamus itself ; but the daring and repeated sallies of Diophanes, a leader of Achaean mercenaries, who had thrown himself into the place, compelled him to raise the siege and retire (Liv. xxxvii. 8, 11, 18, 20, 21 ; Polyb. xxi. 4 ; App. Syr. 26). In the great battle against the Romans near Magnesia, in the same year, Seleucus was entrusted by his father with the command of the left wing of his army, but was totally defeated by Attains, to whom he was opposed, and fied from the field of battle to Apamea in Phrygia (Liv. xxxvii. 40, 43 ; App. Syr. 33, 36). In the following year (b. c. 189), after the conclusion of peace with Rome, he was sent by Antiochus to the support of the consul Cn. Manlius, and not only furnished him with abundant supplies of corn, but rendered him active assistance on more than one occasion during his expedition against the Galatians. (Liv. xxxviii. 13, 15.) On the death of Antiochus III. in B.C. 187, Seleucus ascended the throne without opposition. But the defeat of his father by the Romans, and the ignominious peace which followed it, had greatly diminished the power of the Syrian mon- archy, and the reign of Seleucus was, in conse- quence, feeble and inglorious, and was marked by no striking events. In B. c. 185, we find him send- ing an embassy to the Achaeans, to renew the friendship and alliance previously existing between them and Antiochus (Polyb. xxiii. 4, 9 ; Diod. xxix. Exc. Legat. p. 622) ; and shortly afterwards (probably in B.C. 181) assembling a considerable army, to assist Phamaces, king of Pontus, against Eumenes ; but he became alarmed lest his passing Mount Taurus for this purpose should be construed by the Romans into an act of hostility ; and, in consequence, abandoned the design and dismissed his forces (Diod. Exc. Vales, p. 576). Yet he did not hesitate to conclude a treaty of alliance with Perseus, whose unfriendly disposition towards the Romans could no longer be a secret, and even to give him his own daughter, Laodice, in marriage, probably in B.C. 178 (Polyb. xxvi. 7 ; Liv. xlii. 12 ; Inscr. Del. ap. Marm. Arundel. No. 41). But he was still studious to conciliate the favour of the Roman senate, and not long before his death sent his son Demetrius to Rome, to replace his brother Antiochus as a hostage for his fidelity (App. Syr. 45 ; Polyb. xxxi. 12). With Egypt he appears for the most part to have maintained friendly relations ; but Ptolemy Epiphanes is said to have been preparing for the invasion of Coele- Syria, when his plans were frustrated by his own death (Hieronym. ad Daniel, xi. 20). Towards the Jews the conduct of Seleucus seems to have been, for the most part at least, liberal and favour- able : concerning his alleged attempt to plunder the treasury of Jerusalem see Heliodori;s. ^ After a tranquil and inactive reign of twelve years, Seleucus was assassinated, in B. c. 175, by one of his own ministers, named Heliodorus, who had con- ceived the design of possessing himself of the sovereign power. The statement of Eusebius that SELEUCUS. 775- he was sixty years old, is clearly erroneous, as his elder brother Antiochus was not born till a. c. 221. He left two children : Demetrius, who subsequently ascended the throne ; and Laodice, married, as al- ready mentioned, to Perseus, kingof Macedonia. The name of his wife is unknown ; but Froelich supposes him to have married his sister Laodice, the widow of his brother Antiochus. (Appian, Syr. 45, 66 ; Euseb. Arm. pp. 165, 1 66 ; Froelich, ^n«.6^^r. p. 42 ; Clinton, F. H. vol. iii. p. 317.) [E. H. B.J COIN OP SELEUCUS IV. SELEUCUS V. (Se'AeuKos), king of Syria, was the eldest son of Demetrius II., and assumed the royal diadem immediately on learning the death of his'father, B.C. 125 ; but his mother Cleopatra, who had herself put Demetrius to death, was in- dignant at hearing that her son had ventured to take such a step without her authority, and caused Seleucus also to be assassinated. His death appeals to have followed almost immediately after that of his father, though some of the chronologers er- roneously ascribe the duration of a year to his reign. (Appian, Syr. 68, Q9 ; Justin, xxxix. 1 ; Liv. Epit. Ix. ; Euseb. Arm. p. 168 ; Porphyr. ap. Euseb. I.e.) [E.H.B.] SELEUCUS VI. (2eA€UKos), king of Syria, surnamed Epiphanes, and also Nicator, was the eldest of the five sons of Antiochus VIII. Grypus. On the death of his father, in B. c. 9Q, he imme- diately assumed the sovereignty, and raised an army, with which he reduced several cities of Syria. His claims were, however, resisted by his uncle Antiochus Cyzicenus, who marched from Antioch against him. A decisive battle ensued, in which Antiochus was totally defeated, and himself perished (b.c. 95) ; and the result of this victory enabled Seleucus to make himself master of Antioch. He was now for a short time undisputed ruler of Syria ; but Antiochus Eusebes, the son of Cyzice- nus, having escaped" from the designs of Seleucus, who sought to put him to death, mised the standard of revolt against him, defeated him in a pitched battle, and expelled him from Syria. Seleucus took refuge in Cilicia, where he established him- self in the city of Mopsuestia ; but he alienated COIN of selbucus vl 3 D 4