Daniel 11 in History

Seleucus I Nicator (312–281 BCE)

Another of Alexander's generals, Seleucus, was swept up in the initial conflict after Alexander's death. In 316, he sought refuge with Ptolemy, and in 312, with Ptolemy's support, he won a significant battle and gained control of Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, and what is now Pakistan.

Having established his kingdom, he turned his efforts to Anatolia and Thrace and headed toward Macedonia. However, he was betrayed and murdered.

Antiochus I Soter (281–261 BCE)

Antiochus I consolidated the Seleucid kingdom and defended it against external threats.

He faced ongoing friction with Ptolemy II, which led to a war during 274—271. He suffered a minor defeat with the loss of some territories in Lower Syria² and Anatolia.

Antiochus II Theos (261–246 BCE)

Antiochus II inherited the tensions with Ptolemy II, leading to war during 259–255. He gained a small victory, recovering some of the territories lost by his father.

As part of the peace treaty, he divorced his wife Laodice and married Ptolemy's daughter Berenice in 252, with the understanding that Berenice's offspring would become his heir. Berenice gave birth to a son in 250.

However, Antiochus abandoned Berenice and her infant son a few months later and returned to Laodice. He took up residence in Ephesus to avoid Berenice and her father's increasing demands.

Three years later he died mysteriously; perhaps Laodice poisoned him. His death led to civil war between Laodice and Berenice; Laodice's son, Seleucus II, prevailed. Laodice murdered Berenice's son and imprisoned Berenice; she soon had Berenice executed.

Seleucus II Callinicus (246–225 BCE)

Seleucus II began his reign after the brief civil war between his mother, Laodice, and Bernice. His kingdom was immediately invaded by Ptolemy III, who ravaged it and returned to Egypt with much loot. It wasn't until 241 that he regained control of his kingdom and signed a treaty with Ptolemy III.

After Ptolemy returned to Egypt, Seleucus was able to regain some of his territories in Syria and Lower Syria.

Meanwhile, Seleucus faced internal divisions and the loss of his far eastern territories to the Parthians.

He died when he fell from his horse.

Seleucus III Ceraunus (225–223 BCE)

Seleucus III, the oldest son of Seleucus II, inherited a weakened kingdom. He led a campaign against Pergamon but was assassinated by members of his army.

Antiochus III the Great (223–187 BCE)

Antiochus III became king after the death of his brother, Seleucus III. He was an effective military leader and restored his kingdom from Anatolia to India.

After suppressing revolts in the east in 220, he attempted to gain control of Lower Syria during 219–218, taking Tyre. However, Ptolemy IV's forces defeated him at Raphia—just south of Gaza— in 217, causing the campaign to end in failure.

During 212–205, he regained control over the east.

Starting in 202, Antiochus again turned his attention to Lower Syria. In 200, he smashed the Egyptian forces at Panium. By 195, he controlled all of Lower Syria and Judea.

He respected the Jews and their customs, gaining their respect. Seeing their loyalty, he resettled 2,000 Jewish families in Anatolia as colonists.

In 193, Antiochus married his young daughter Cleopatra—ancestor of the last Cleopatra—to Ptolemy V as part of a peace agreement. While this benefited him generally, she committed herself to Egypt.

In 192, he invaded Greece, bringing him into direct conflict with Rome. After a series of defeats, he was defeated at Magnesia in Anatolia and forced to sign a treaty with Rome at Apamea. The treaty essentially banned Antiochus from Anatolia, stripped his military, and imposed a huge debt on him.

He died near Susa trying to raise money by robbing a temple. An angry crowd killed him.

Seleucus IV Philopator (187–175 BCE)

Seleucus IV Philopator inherited a vast empire and matching debt to Rome. He spent his reign raising money to pay Rome. He was assassinated by his chief minister, Heliodorus.

Jewish tradition says that Heliodorus came to Jerusalem in 178 to raid the Temple treasury but was repelled through divine intervention.

He had two young sons, Antiochus and Demetrius. He intended that Antiochus reign as king after him.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BCE)

Antiochus IV—born Mithridates—was the son of Antiochus III, but he was sent to Rome as a hostage as part of the treaty at Apamea. He was released a year later, but he chose to live in Athens while his older brother, Seleucus IV, ruled.

In 175, Heliodorus, after assassinating Seleucus, made himself regent over the young Antiochus. Mithridates quickly came to Antioch, deposed Heliodorus, and made himself regent over the young Antiochus.

Mithridates, later calling himself Antiochus Epiphanes, meaning "God Manifest," gained a reputation as an extravagant and eccentric ruler. He even claimed to be Zeus become a man. Some made a wordplay on his name, calling him "the Mad." He was the first of the Greek kings to compel all of his subject peoples to abandon their cultures and adopt Greek culture and religion.

In 175, he sold the office of the Jewish chief priest to a man named Jason, violating the Law of Moses, which said that the office was hereditary. In 172, a man named Menelaus outbid Jason and became Chief Priest. Both men actively supported introducing Greek culture among the Jews.

In 170, the young Antiochus died under mysterious circumstances; possibly, Mithridates murdered him. Mithridates then made himself king—even though the young Demetrius, a hostage in Rome, was the rightful heir—and took the name Antiochus for himself.

At the time he made himself king, the Ptolemies thought they could take advantage and regain Lower Syria for themselves. Antiochus, however, was prepared for this, and he conquered all of Egypt except Alexandria in 169. He was forced to leave Egypt at this point to deal with problems in Lower Syria.

As he returned, he stopped in Jerusalem and looted the Temple to help finance his next campaign against Egypt. He even entered the Most Holy Place and stripped the gold leaf from the facade.

In 168, he returned to Egypt and prepared to besiege Alexandria. Rome, however, sent an envoy, Gaius Popillius Laenas, to intervene. The envoy insisted that Antiochus withdraw from Egypt. Antiochus asked for time to consider. The envoy then drew a circle around him on the ground and told him to make a decision before leaving the circle. Humiliated, Antiochus was forced to agree.

On the way back, he heard of turmoil in Jerusalem, caused by Jason driving out Menelaus and making himself the chief priest. Antiochus assumed that the Jews were rebelling against him and stormed the city, massacring many Jews and enslaving many others. He then restored Menelaus as chief priest.

In 167, Antiochus put his policy promoting Greek culture into overdrive among the Jews. He banned the Jewish religion, ordered the Jewish Scriptures to be destroyed, desecrated the Temple, and sacrificed a pig on the altar, among other things. Those who opposed him were put to death. He had a fortress built just south of the Temple in order to prevent rebellion. He then sent representatives into the Judean countryside to enforce his decrees and set up idols.

Meanwhile, the Parthians in the east took advantage of events in Lower Syria and attacked. Antiochus headed east to deal with them, leaving a commander, Lysias, to deal with the growing Jewish rebellion. Antiochus died while in the east.

Antiochus V Eupator (164–162 BCE)

Antiochus V became king as a youth, and Lysias ruled as his regent. Both Antiochus and Lysias were killed when Demetrius, the son of Seleucus IV, escaped from Rome, overthrew them, and had them executed.

Demetrius I Soter (162–150 BCE)

Demetrius I was the son of Seleucus IV. At a very young age, he was sent to Rome as a hostage as part of the treaty Antiochus III made at Apamea.

He escaped from Rome, made his way to Antioch, gained the support of the aristocracy, and overthrew Antiochus V and Lysias. The Romans weren't happy with this and quietly sought to undermine him.

In 160, he stabilized his kingdom, killing Judas Maccabee in Judea and putting down a rebellion in Babylon.

In 152, Rome chose to set Alexander Balas against Demetrius. After two years of civil war, Balas killed Demetrius.

Alexander Balas (150–145 BCE)

Alexander Balas claimed to be the son of Antiochus IV, although ancient sources dispute this. In 152, backed by Rome, he raised an army and landed in Lower Syria; from there, he fought a civil war with Demetrius I. In 150, he killed Demetrius and became king of the Seleucid Empire.

His kingdom soon began to collapse. Ptolemy VI invaded the coastal areas of Lower Syria, and Balas was killed.

Demetrius II Nicator (145–138 BCE, 130–125)

Demetrius II was the son of Demetrius I, but he was forced into exile by Alexander Balas. He returned to Lower Syria and sided with Ptolemy VI.

After Balas' death, Balas' general, Diodotus Tryphon, put forth a rival claimant to the Seleucid throne and ruled as regent. During this time, Tryphon tricked Jonathan Maccabee and murdered him.

After regaining control in 142, Demetrius essentially granted the Jews independence.

In 138, he was captured by the Parthians and held prisoner for ten years. He returned and ruled for six years until he died after being defeated in battle.

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The Jewish Revolt (167–160 BCE)

A Jew and a Greek soldier came to the village of Modi'in in Judea to enforce Antiochus' decrees. When the Jew attempted to sacrifice to an idol, Mattathias, a Jewish priest, killed the Jew and the soldier. He and his five sons then fled to the nearby hills, where they started a rebellion.

In 166, Mattathias died of natural causes, and his son Judas led the rebellion. He targeted Jews who had abandoned the Jewish faith and destroyed pagan altars. Jews began to call him "the Hammer," or "Maccabee." This title was extended to his brothers as well.

Some Jews, mainly in the cities, openly supported the Greeks, while some sided with the Maccabees. Others were caught in the middle as they supported the Greeks but feared the Maccabees. These publicly supported the Maccabees.

In 164, news of Antiochus' death caused the Seleucid army to withdraw from Judea. The Maccabees entered Jerusalem, cleansed the Temple, and restored the worship on the 25th of Kislev. Hanukkah celebrates this event. However, the Greeks still held the fortress in Jerusalem.

Mean Lysias' responsibilities had grown, and when Antiochus died, he became regent over the new king Antiochus V, who was a youth. Lysias chose to cancel Antiochus IV's decrees about the Jewish religion.

Up to this point, Jews who sympathized with the Greeks had quietly supported the rebellion out of fear of the Maccabees and their loyalists. Now, support from the moderate Jews declined.

The rebellion continued, with the Seleucids sending more armies who won battles against Judas Maccabee. Finally, in 160, Judas was killed.

Judas' brother Jonathan now led the rebellion, which maintained control of the countryside, while the Seleucids maintained control of the cities. Over time, Seleucid control weakened.

In 152, Jonathan gained a degree of autonomy. He was allowed to maintain an army as long as he supported Seleucid interests.

In 143, Diodotus Tryphon, the temporary Seleucid ruler, invited Jonathan to a conference and murdered him. Simon Maccabee became the new Jewish leader.

In 142, Demetrius II essentially granted Jewish independence. A year later, the Jews proclaimed Simon as the chief priest, and Simon assumed the title "Nasi," or "Ruler." In 139, Rome extended official recognition to the Jewish nation.

Simon's descendants became both chief priests and kings of the Jews. Jewish independence lasted until 63, when Pompey conquered Jerusalem and brought the Jews under Roman control.