Antiochus (father of Seleucus I)

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Antiochus ( Greek  Ἀντίοχος ; 4th century BC) was the father of Seleucus I and the forefather of the Hellenistic dynasty of the Seleucids .

He was named by Arrian , Justin and Appian as the husband of Laodike and father of Seleucus I , among others . Justin noted that Antiochus was a high officer of King Philip II of Macedon . The Seleucid founding mythology, also handed down by Justin, declared the god Apollo to be the actual father of Seleucus , who impregnated Laodike in the form of a snake. Seleucus himself established this legend by having his divine descent confirmed by the Branchidai oracle in Didyma , after he had ruled Babylon in 312 BC. Had justified. Apparently following the same myth, a few centuries later a sister named "Didymeia" was ascribed to him, who was supposed to underpin the connection between the Seleucids and Apollo. Despite all this, Seleucus later named several cities as king in Asia after his human father (see: Antioch ), of which Antioch on the Orontes is the best known.

Antiochus' own origins are unknown sources. It is possible that he was a brother of the officer Ptolemy († 333 BC), whose father was called Seleucus.

swell

  • Arrian Tà metà Aléxandron 1, 2.
  • Justin 13, 4, 17 and 15, 4, 1-6.

literature

  • D. Engels, Prodigies and Religious Propaganda: Seleucus and Augustus , in: C. Deroux (ed.), Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History Vol. 15, Brussels 2010, 153-177.
  • JD Grainger, Seleukos Nikator. Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom , London and New York 1990, 1-8.
  • RA Hadley, Hieronymus of Cardia and Early Seleucid Mythology , in: Historia 18, 1969, 142-52.
  • RA Hadley, Royal Propaganda of Seleucus I and Lysimachus , in: JHS 94, 1974, 50-65.
  • A. Mehl, Seleukos Nikator and his empire. Part 1 , Leuven 1986, 5-12 and 95-103.

annotation

  1. ↑ The supposed sister Didymeia was only mentioned by Johannes Malalas (6th century AD).
personal data
SURNAME Antiochus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἀντίοχος (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ancestor of the Hellenistic royal house of the Seleucids
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 4th century BC Chr.