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 Seleucid Rulers

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Alexander III the Great

Alexander III the Great

Regnal Name: Alexander III
  Macedonian / Alexandrian Period 336-323 BC

Macedonian conqueror who destroyed the Achaemenid Persian Empire and brought the lands of Judah into the Hellenistic world.

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Philip III Arrhidaeus

Philip III Arrhidaeus

Regnal Name: Philip III
  Wars of the Successors / Early Hellenistic Period 323-317 BC

Half-brother of Alexander the Great who served as a nominal king during the struggle among Alexander's successors.

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Alexander IV

Alexander IV

Regnal Name: Alexander IV
  Wars of the Successors / Early Hellenistic Period 323-309 BC

Posthumous son of Alexander the Great and nominal co-king whose murder ended the direct Argead royal succession.

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Seleucus I Nicator

Seleucus I Nicator

Regnal Name: Seleucus I Nicator
  Seleucid Empire and Judea 305-281 BC (power in Babylon from 312 BC)

Founder of the Seleucid Empire and one of Alexander the Great's most successful successors.

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Antiochus I Soter

Antiochus I Soter

Regnal Name: Antiochus I Soter
  Seleucid Empire and Judea 281-261 BC

Second Seleucid king who consolidated the empire inherited from Seleucus I amid wars and internal pressures.

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Antiochus II Theos

Antiochus II Theos

Regnal Name: Antiochus II Theos
  Seleucid Empire and Judea 261-246 BC

Seleucid king whose dynastic marriage to the Ptolemaic princess Berenice ended in a succession crisis and renewed war.

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Seleucus II Callinicus

Seleucus II Callinicus

Regnal Name: Seleucus II Callinicus
  Seleucid Empire and Judea 246-225 BC

Seleucid king whose reign was dominated by war with Ptolemaic Egypt and conflict with his brother Antiochus Hierax.

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Seleucus III Ceraunus

Seleucus III Ceraunus

Regnal Name: Seleucus III Ceraunus
  Seleucid Empire and Judea 225-223 BC

Short-reigning Seleucid king whose campaign in Asia Minor ended with his assassination.

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Antiochus III the Great

Antiochus III the Great

Regnal Name: Antiochus III the Great
  Seleucid Empire and Judea 223-187 BC

Powerful Seleucid king who defeated the Ptolemies and brought Judea under lasting Seleucid control.

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Seleucus IV Philopator

Seleucus IV Philopator

Regnal Name: Seleucus IV Philopator
  Seleucid Empire and Judea 187-175 BC

Seleucid king burdened by the Roman indemnity whose reign immediately preceded Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

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Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Regnal Name: Antiochus IV Epiphanes
  Seleucid Empire and Judea 175-164 BC

Seleucid king whose persecution of Jewish religious practice and desecration of the Jerusalem Temple provoked the Maccabean revolt.

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Antiochus V Eupator

Antiochus V Eupator

Regnal Name: Antiochus V Eupator
  Seleucid Empire and Judea 164-161 BC

Young son of Antiochus IV whose regency continued the Seleucid war against the Maccabees.

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  About the Empire

The Seleucid Empire emerged from the division of Alexander the Great's conquests and became one of the largest powers of the Hellenistic world. Founded by Seleucus I Nicator, it controlled territories stretching from Syria and Mesopotamia deep into Asia. The Seleucids repeatedly competed with Ptolemaic Egypt, particularly for control of Coele-Syria and Judea. After the victory of Antiochus III the Great over the Ptolemies around 200 BC, Judea passed firmly under Seleucid authority.

Relations with the Jewish population deteriorated dramatically under Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Political conflict within Judea was followed by restrictions on traditional Jewish worship and the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple in 167 BC. These actions provoked the Maccabean Revolt, led initially by Mattathias and his sons. The Temple was recaptured and rededicated in 164 BC, an event commemorated by Hanukkah. Continued Seleucid civil wars allowed Jonathan, Simon, and later John Hyrcanus I to expand Jewish autonomy. By the late second century BC, weakening Seleucid power had enabled the Hasmoneans to establish an effectively independent Jewish state.

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