Antiochus Hierax or Antiochus III, (killed c. 226 BC), so called from his grasping and ambitious character, was the younger son of Antiochus II

Antiochus II Theos

Antiochus II Theos was a king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom who reigned 261 BC – 246 BC). He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter in the winter of 262–61 BC...

 and Laodice I

Laodice I

Laodice I was an Anatolian noblewoman who was a close relative of the early Seleucid Dynasty and was the first wife of the Seleucid Greek King Antiochus II Theos. -Family Background:...

 and separatist leader in the Hellenistic

Hellenistic civilization

Hellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...

 Seleucid kingdom

Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...

, who ruled as king of Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 during his brother's reign.

On the death of his father, in 246 BCE, Antiochus waged war on his brother Seleucus II Callinicus

Seleucus II Callinicus

Seleucus II Callinicus or Pogon , was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, who reigned from 246 to 225 BC...

, in order to seize Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

 for himself as an independent kingdom. This war lasted for many years, but Antiochus was at of length entirely defeated, chiefly through the efforts of Attalus

Attalus I

Attalus I , surnamed Soter ruled Pergamon, an Ionian Greek polis , first as dynast, later as king, from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the second cousin and the adoptive son of Eumenes I, whom he succeeded, and was the first of the Attalid dynasty to assume the title of king in 238 BC...

, king of Pergamon

Pergamon

Pergamon , or Pergamum, was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC...

, who drove him out of Anatolia. Antiochus subsequently fled to Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 where he was killed by robbers in c. 226 BC.

He married a daughter of Ziaelas

Ziaelas of Bithynia

Ziaelas , third king of Bithynia, was a son of Nicomedes I and Ditizele.After Nicomedes I died, his second wife Etazeta became ruler on behalf of her infant sons. The grown-up Ziaelas, excluded from the throne, had previously fled to Armenia and taken refuge at the court of King Arsames I in Sophene...

, king of Bithynia

Bithynia

Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...

, born c. 245 BC.

External links

• Antiochus Hierax, article in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
• Antiochus Hierax, list of sources at attalus.org

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