The

Seleucid The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great, a ...

king Seleucus V Philometor (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Σέλευκος Ε΄ ὁ Φιλομήτωρ; 126/125 BC), ruler of the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

Seleucid kingdom The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...

, was the eldest son of Demetrius II Nicator and Cleopatra Thea. The epithet ''Philometor'' means "mother-loving" and in the

world usually indicated that the mother acted as co-regent for the prince.

Biography

Just before Antiochus VII Sidetes died fighting the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe ...

in late 129, the Parthian king

Phraates II Phraates II (also spelled Frahad II; ''Frahāt'') was king of the Parthian Empire from 132 BC to 127 BC. He was the son and successor of Mithridates I (). Because he was still very young when he came to the throne, his mother Rinnu initially ru ...

had released Demetrius II, who entered Syria in ca. September 129. This forced Seleucus V's half-brother Antiochus IX to flee to

Cyzicus Cyzicus ( ; ; ) was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peninsula (the classical Arctonnesus), a tombolo which is said to have or ...

. Cleopatra Thea remarried Demetrius and reunited him with his two sons, Seleucus V and Antiochus VIII. The Parthians captured Antiochus VII's son, also named Seleucus, and Laodice, Seleucus V's sister, who had accompanied the fallen king on campaign. Phraates married Laodice, and showed great favor to Seleucus, son of Antiochus VII. While Demetrius II was preoccupied fighting the usurper

Alexander II Zabinas Alexander II Theos Epiphanes Nikephoros ( ''Aléxandros Theòs Epiphanḕs Nikēphóros'', surnamed Zabinas; 150 BC – 123 BC) was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, Seleucid monarch who reigned as the List of Syrian monarchs, ...

, the Parthians sent this Seleucus back to Syria, hoping he could take the throne as their puppet king. The attempt failed, and he spent the rest of his life in Parthia. Instead, after his father was murdered outside of Tyre in 125, Seleucus V claimed the throne as the eldest son of Demetrius II; however, he was soon killed by his own mother. According to

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...

, Cleopatra Thea had aided in the death of Demetrius and feared that Seleucus V might avenge his father. This encouraged her to remove Seleucus in favor of his younger brother, Antiochus VIII.Appian, ''Syriaca'' 68-69

References

2nd-century BC Seleucid monarchs 125 BC deaths Year of birth unknown {{MEast-royal-stub

Biography

See also

References