- Antiochus I Soter
Antiochus I Soter (unknown - 261 BC), was a king of the
Hellenistic Seleucid Empire . He reigned from 281 BC - 261 BC.Life
Antiochus I was half Persian, his mother
Apama being one of the eastern princesses whomAlexander the Great had given as wives to his generals in 324 BC. In 294 BC, prior to death of his father Seleucus I, Antiochus married his stepmother, Stratonice, daughter ofDemetrius Poliorcetes . His elderly father reportedly instigated the marriage after discovering that his son was in danger of dying of lovesickness.On the assassination of his father in 281 BC, the task of holding together the empire was a formidable one. A revolt in
Syria broke out almost immediately. Antiochus was soon compelled to make peace with his father's murderer,Ptolemy Keraunos , apparently abandoningMacedon ia andThrace . InAsia Minor he was unable to reduceBithynia or the Persian dynasties that ruled inCappadocia .In 278 BC the
Gaul s broke into Asia Minor, and a victory that Antiochus won over these hordes is said to have been the origin of his title of "Soter" (Gr. for "saviour").At the end of 275 BC the question of
Coele-Syria , which had been open between the houses ofSeleucus and Ptolemy since the partition of 301 BC, led to hostilities (the First Syrian War). It had been continuously in Ptolemaic occupation, but the house of Seleucus maintained its claim.War did not materially change the outlines of the two kingdoms, though frontier cities like
Damascus and the coast districts of Asia Minor might change hands.His eldest son Seleucus had ruled in the east as viceroy from 275 BC(?) till 268/267 BC; Antiochus put his son to death in the latter year on the charge of rebellion. Circa 262 BC Antiochus tried to break the growing power of
Pergamum by force of arms, but suffered defeat nearSardis and died soon afterwards. He was succeeded in 261 BC by his second sonAntiochus II Theos . [http://www.attalus.org/translate/malalas.html]External links
* [http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_syriaca_00.html Appianus' "Syriaka"]
* [http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/chron00.html Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period]
* [http://virtualreligion.net/iho/antiochus_1.html Antiochus I Soter] entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
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