Antiochus IV.

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Bust of Antiochus IV ( Altes Museum , Berlin )

Antiochus IV. Epiphanes ( Greek: the appeared (god) ; * around 215 BC ; † 164 BC ) was a king from the Seleucid dynasty . He was the youngest son of Antiochus III. and the Laodike of Pontus . According to Diodorus , Antiochus was considered the most powerful king of his time.

Life

As one of the terms of the Peace of Apamea in 188 BC. BC Antiochus had to be sent to Rome as a hostage by his father . He lived there for ten years until he died in 178 BC. Was exchanged for his nephew Demetrios .

Antiochus then lived in Athens for several years until he was built up with the help of the Attalids as a counter-pretender to his brother Seleucus IV . Before he even reached the border with the Seleucid Empire, Seleucus IV was murdered. Antiochus was able to do this in 175 BC. He took power without a fight by declaring himself the guardian of his eponymous nephew , whose mother married and had his brother's murderer, Heliodorus , executed. According to Appian , the population of Syria gave him the nickname epiphanes ("the one who appeared") because he had proven himself to be the rightful king by removing the usurper. Antiochus then allowed himself to be propagated as theos epiphanes ("appearing God") and ousted his nephew, for whom he was actually only supposed to govern on behalf of , from rule. The violent death of the nephew in 170 BC BC probably went back to his instigation.

Antiochus IV secured his rule externally through lavish gifts and foundations to Hellenic powers such as Pergamon and Rhodes as well as several Greek cities. Among other things, he initiated the construction of the monumental Olympic Temple in Athens . His rule was also recognized by Rome, what 173 BC. Chr. Resulted in a friendship treaty in which Antiochus settled the outstanding payments from the peace of Apamea and supported Rome's anti-Macedonian policy.

169/168 BC BC Antiochus fought successfully against Egypt in the sixth Syrian war . After a victory at Pelusium , he was able to occupy the entire Nile Delta and besiege Alexandria . The fall of the two kings Ptolemy VI. and Ptolemy VIII and the unification of Egypt with Syria seemed within reach. However, this led to an intervention by Rome, which refused to accept the formation of such a powerful Hellenic empire. On the so-called “ Day of Eleusis ” Antiochus was asked by the Roman envoy Gaius Popillius Laenas to withdraw from Egypt, otherwise Rome would declare war. When Antiochus expressed the wish to discuss with his council first, the Roman envoy drew a circle around Antiochus IV, which he was not allowed to leave without having made a decision. In order to avert military intervention by Rome, which shortly before had already subjugated Macedonia, Antiochus had to accept the demand and withdraw to Syria.

167 BC He brought Jerusalem back under his control after riots had broken out there. In order to stabilize his rule in Jerusalem, Antiochus founded a Greek polis in the middle of the city walls, banned the YHWH cult and had the temple consecrated as a place of worship of Zeus . But with this he provoked 166 BC. The uprising of the Hebrews under the Hasmonean Mattatias , which in the long term led to the independence of the province of Koilesyria ( Judea , Galilee , Samaria ; today Palestine and Israel) and the formation of an independent Jewish state among the descendants of Mattatias.

Antiochus IV undertook a campaign in the eastern provinces (" upper satrapies ") of Asia ( Anabasis ) in order to submit them again to his rule after they had previously renounced the Seleucids under the Parthians and Graecobactians . To fill his war chest, he intended in the landscape Elymais one of Artemis to plunder sacred temples. However, he failed because of the resistance of the locals and died while retreating. According to 2 Makk 9.28  EU he died “a miserable death in a strange land in the wilderness”. Judas Maccabeus was able to use his absence from Syria to To conquer Jerusalem and rededicate the temple to the Hebrew God.

In research it is often assumed that Antiochus IV is allegorically referred to as the "little horn" in the apocalyptic picture of the four animals from Dan 7,8  EU .

progeny

Coin with the image of Antiochus IV. On the reverse, Apollo on an omphalus . The Greek inscription reads ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ (Antiochus, the appeared God, the victorious).

Antiochus IV was married to Laodike , who had previously been married to his brother Seleucus IV. She was probably identical with the sister consort of the eldest brother, who was also called Antiochus , and would therefore also have been the sister of Seleucus IV and Antiochus IV. He had at least three children with her:

The Seleucid king Alexander I Balas presented himself as an illegitimate son of his.

Literary sources

literature

  • John D. Grainger: A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer. Brill, Leiden et al. 1997, ISBN 90-04-10799-1 .
  • John D. Grainger: The Fall of the Seleukid Empire 187-75 BC. Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley 2015, ISBN 978-1-78303-030-9 .
  • Johannes Friedrich Hoffmann: Antiochus IV. Epiphanes, King of Syria , Leipzig 1873, ( digitized version )
  • Jochen Lippstreu: Antiochus IV. As a founder of architecture. In: Wolfram Hoepfner , Gerhard Zimmer (Ed.): The Greek Polis. Architecture and politics. Wasmuth, Tübingen 1993, ISBN 3-8030-1041-1 , pp. 131-141.
  • Peter Franz noon : Antiochus IV. Epiphanes. A political biography (= Klio . Supplements NF Vol. 11). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-05-004205-2 (Also: Freiburg (Breisgau), University, habilitation paper, 2004).
  • Otto Mørkholm : Antiochus IV of Syria (= Classica et Mediaevalia. Dissertationes 8). Gyldendalske, Copenhagen 1966 (also: Aarhus, University, dissertation, 1966).
  • Josef Wiesehöfer : Συνοίκησις and ἀπωρία χρημάτων. Antiochus IV and the sanctuaries of the Elymais. In: Norbert Ehrhardt , Linda-Marie Günther (Hrsg.): Resistance - Adaptation - Integration. The Greek world and Rome. Festschrift for Jürgen Deininger on his 65th birthday. Steiner, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-515-07911-4 , pp. 109-120.

Web links

Commons : Antiochus IV.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Appian , Syriake 45.
  2. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus , Antiquitates Judaicae XII 9,354-361
  3. ↑ Othmar Keel , Urs Staub: Hellenism and Judaism. Four studies on Daniel 7 and on the religious distress under Antiochus IV. (= Orbis biblicus et orientalis. Vol. 178). Universitäts-Verlag et al., Freiburg (Switzerland) et al. 2000, ISBN 3-7278-1321-0 , p. 49 ff.
  4. ↑ See Grainger: A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer. 1997, p. 52.
predecessor Office successor
Seleucus IV King of the Seleucid Empire
175–164 BC Chr. 		Antiochus V.
personal data
SURNAME Antiochus IV.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Antiochus IV. Epiphanes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of the Seleucid Empire
DATE OF BIRTH around 215 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 164 BC Chr.