Civil war continues to grip the Seleucid Empire, as Alexander I Balas is challenged by the young Demetrius II for the throne of Syria. Things come to a head when Ptolemy VI, tied by marriage to Balas through his daughter Cleopatra Thea, launches an invasion of Coele Syria. In August 145 BC, the armies of Demetrius, Alexander, and Ptolemy meet at the Oenoparus River in a showdown whose outcome will surprise everyone involved.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/10/14/111-the-seleucid-empire-the-elephant-in-the-throne-room/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/113-the-war-of-the-three-kings-transcript.pdf)
Family Tree - Antiochus IV to Alexander I
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/reign-of-antiochus-iv-to-alexander-i.pdf)
Family Tree - Ptolemy VI
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/reign-of-ptolemy-vi.pdf)
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24:44
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24:44
112: The Seleucid Empire - Breaking the Hammer
The newly enthroned Demetrius I Soter managed to instill a degree of order throughout the Seleucid realm, crushing the would-be king Timarchos in Babylonia and the rebellion of Judas Maccabee. Yet his behavior abroad alienated many of the other kings like Attalus II of Pergamon and Ptolemy VI, who in turn bankrolled the ambitions of another Seleucid usurper: Alexander Balas, the (supposed) lost son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/11/05/112-the-seleucid-empire-breaking-the-hammer/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/112-the-seleucid-empire-breaking-the-hammer-transcript.pdf)
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36:56
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36:56
111: The Seleucid Empire - The Elephant in the (Throne) Room
With Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ death in Persia, the throne passed to the boy-king Antiochus V Eupator and his standing regent Lysias in 164. Between the Maccabean Revolt, would-be usurpers, and arrogant Roman emissaries, few of the kingdom’s subjects had faith in the ruling pair. This was sensed by Prince Demetrius, the son of Seleucus IV held hostage in Rome, who escaped captivity with the aid of Polybius of Megalopolis and returned to Syria to reclaim his birthright.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/10/14/111-the-seleucid-empire-the-elephant-in-the-throne-room/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/111-the-seleucid-empire-the-elephant-in-the-throne-room-transcript.pdf)
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26:10
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26:10
110 Ptolemaic Egypt - Two's Company, Three's a Crowd
In the aftermath of the Sixth Syrian War, the tripartite division of authority between Ptolemy VI , Cleopatra II, and Ptolemy VIII was a tenuous one at best, having to deal with rebellions of ambitious courtiers and disgruntled subjects. On top of this, the two brothers schemed for control over the Egyptian kingdom, and through their manipulations brought the intervention of the Roman Senate to handle one of the most dysfunctional families in all of antiquity.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/09/20/110-ptolemaic-egypt-twos-company-threes-a-crowd/)
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(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/110-ptolemaic-egypt-twos-company-threes-a-crowd-transcript.pdf)
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34:13
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34:13
109: The Seleucid Empire - A Sinful Root
Despite the humiliation at Eleusis in 167 and the troubles in Judea, Antiochus organizes an enormous festival in Daphne to rival the games of Lucius Aemilius Paulus in Amphipolis, showcasing the prosperity of the empire that looked as strong as it ever had before. He would follow this celebration with an anabasis into the Upper Satrapies, but would die in Iran in November 164, and the dynasty would begin on a dark path towards its eventual decline.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/09/04/109-the-seleucid-empire-a-sinful-root/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/109-the-seleucid-empire-a-sinful-root-episode-transcript.pdf)
Family Tree - Seleucus IV to Antiochus IV
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/reign-of-seleucus-iv-to-antiochus-iv.pdf)
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