The Kings of Syria After Alexander

But so that the order of dates is kept correctly, and so that it may be clearer who this Antiochus was, we will list both the names and the reigns of the kings who came after Alexander in Syria. When King Alexander died, then, as we told above, his friends divided up his whole empire and governed it for some time in the king’s name. After nine years Seleucus himself took the title of king in Syria, and he reigned thirty-two years. After him came his son Antiochus, who reigned twenty-one years. Then came Antiochus, the son of Antiochus, called Theos, and he reigned fifteen years. After him his son Seleucus, called Callinicus, reigned twenty-one years. Another Seleucus, the son of Callinicus, reigned three years. After his death Antiochus, the brother of Callinicus, held Asia and Syria for thirty-seven years. [a]

This is the Antiochus against whom Lucius Scipio Asiaticus made war. He was beaten in that war and stripped of part of his empire. He had two sons, Seleucus and Antiochus, and he had given Antiochus to the Romans as a hostage. So when Antiochus the Great died, his younger son Seleucus took the kingdom. It was under him, as we said, that Simon brought the charge against Onias the priest. Then the Romans released Antiochus, and in his place Demetrius, the son of the reigning Seleucus, was given as a hostage. Seleucus died in the twelfth year of his reign, and his brother Antiochus, who had been a hostage at Rome, seized the kingdom.

Five years after the start of his reign, as we have shown above, this Antiochus laid Jerusalem waste. He had a heavy tribute to pay to the Romans, and to meet that enormous expense he was almost forced to get money by robbery and to let no chance of plunder go by. Two years later the Jews were struck again by a disaster like the one they had suffered before. Then, for fear that their many miseries might drive them to start a war, he put a garrison in the citadel. Next, with the aim of overturning the holy law, he issued an edict that everyone was to abandon the traditions of their ancestors and live in the manner of the Gentiles. There was no lack of people ready to obey this ungodly decree. It was a truly horrible sight: in every city sacrifices were offered publicly in the streets, while the sacred books of the law and the prophets were burned.