Antiochus IX Cyzicenus
Antiochus IX Cyzicenus: name of a Seleucid king, ruled from 115 to 95.
Relatives
- Father: Antiochus VII Sidetes
- Mother: Cleopatra Thea
- Wives: Cleopatra IV; Cleopatra V Selene (both daughters of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes Physcon)
- Children: Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator
Main deeds
- After the death of Demetrius II Nicator (125), queen Cleopatra Thea ensured that Demetrius' son Antiochus VIII Grypus became king; after a period of joint rule, Antiochus killed his mother, and became sole ruler of the Seleucid Empire
- From another marriage, with Antiochus VII Sidetes, Cleopatra had another son: Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, who spent his youth in Cyzicus
- In 115, he obtains an army when he marries Cleopatra IV, who has just learned that her husband Ptolemy IX Soter has divorced her. He revolts against his half-brother, the lawful king.
- Antiochus IX occupies the southern part of Syria
- 113: Antiochus IX seizes Antioch; Antiochus VIII keeps Cilicia
- 112: Antiochus VIII defeats his opponents; Cleopatra IV is captured and killed;
- Summer 112: Antioch is in the hands of Antiochus VIII again
- The two Seleucid rulers find allies in Ptolemaic Egypt:
- Antiochus VIII Grypus is joined by Ptolemy X Alexander
- Antiochus IX Sidetes is supported by Ptolemy IX Soter Lathyros
- 111/110: Antiochus IX reconquers Antioch
- 110/109: Antiochus VIII reconquers Antioch
- Antiochus IX and Ptolemy IX Soter support the Samarians against the Hasmonaean king John Hyrcanus of Judaea
- Rome intervenes for the Jews, and against the Samarians and Antiochus IX
- 103: Antiochus VIII marries to Cleopatra V Selene (daughter of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes Physcon)
- Summer 96: Natural death of Antiochus VIII; his wife Cleopatra V marries Antiochus IX, who is now within an inch of reuniting the Seleucid Empire
- However, the son of Antiochus VIII, Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nicator, continues the rule of his father
- 97/96: the brothers Demetrius III Eucaerus and Philip I Philopator, supported by Ptolemy IX Soter Lathyros, seize Damascus
- Early 95: In this struggle, Antiochus IX is defeated and killed
- 94/93: a son of Antiochus IX, Antiochus X Eusebes, defeats Seleucus
Succeeded by: Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator
Sources
- Appian of Alexandria, Syrian Wars, 68
- Diodorus of Sicily, Library of World History, 34/35.1
- Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 13.270ff, 277ff, 325, 366ff
Literature
- O. Hoover, "Revised Chronology for the Late Seleucids at Antioch (121/0-64 BC)" in: Historia 65/3 (2007) 280-301