Antiochus V Eupator was a ruler of the Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 Seleucid Empire

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 reigned 163-161 BC, (based on dates from 1 Maccabees

1 Maccabees

The First book of Maccabees is a book written in Hebrew by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, about the latter part of the 2nd century BC. The original Hebrew is lost and the most important surviving version is the Greek translation contained in the Septuagint...

 6:16 and 7:1).

Antiochus V was only nine when he succeeded to the kingship, following the death in Persia of his father Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great. His original name was Mithridates; he assumed the name Antiochus after he ascended the throne....

 and his mother Laodice IV

Laodice IV

Laodice IV was a Greek Princess, Head Priestess and Queen of the Seleucid Empire.-Ancestry, Family & Early Life:...

. The general Lysias

Lysias (Syrian chancellor)

Lysias, or Lusias was a 2nd century Seleucid General and governor of Syria under the Seleucid Empire.He was described as, "A noble man, and one of the blood royal"...

, who had been left in charge 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....

 by Epiphanes, served as regent for the child, although he was challenged by other generals. The Roman Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

 still kept Demetrius, son of Seleucus IV

Seleucus IV Philopator

Seleucus IV Philopator , ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, reigned from 187 BC to 175 BC over a realm consisting of Syria , Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Nearer Iran . He was the second son and successor of Antiochus III the Great and Laodice III...

 and the rightful heir to the throne, as hostage, refusing to release him because they considered it better to have Syria nominally ruled by a boy and his regent than the 22-year-old Demetrius.

At the outset of the reign of Antiochus V, there was an attempt by the Syrians to quell the Maccabean Revolt in Judea, but this ended in a weak compromise. After a military victory in the Battle of Beth-Zecharia, and the killing of Eleazar, a brother of Judas Maccabaeus, Lysias

Lysias (Syrian chancellor)

Lysias, or Lusias was a 2nd century Seleucid General and governor of Syria under the Seleucid Empire.He was described as, "A noble man, and one of the blood royal"...

 was informed that Philip, (a confidant of Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great. His original name was Mithridates; he assumed the name Antiochus after he ascended the throne....

, who had accompanied this previous king to conquer Mesopotamia, and had been entrusted prior to the death of the king with the upbringing of Antiochus V), was returning to the capital with the other half of the Seleucid army

Seleucid army

The Seleucid army was the army of the Seleucid Empire, one of the numerous Hellenistic states that emerged after the death of Alexander the Great....

. Lysias

Lysias (Syrian chancellor)

Lysias, or Lusias was a 2nd century Seleucid General and governor of Syria under the Seleucid Empire.He was described as, "A noble man, and one of the blood royal"...

 felt threatened, and advised Antiochus V to offer peace to the Jews. The Jews accepted, however in order to ensure they would not rise against them soon again, the Syrian king and regent broke their promise and tore down the walls of Jerusalem before leaving.

Upon reaching their own kingdom, Lysias and Antiochus V found Philip in control of the capital Antiochia, but they defeated him and retook the city and kingdom.

When the Roman senate heard that the Syrian kingdom kept more warships and elephants than allowed by the peace treaty of Apamea made in 188 BC, they sent a Roman embassy to travel along the cities of Syria and attempted to cripple Seleucid military power by sinking the Syrians' warships and hamstringing their elephants. Lysias dared do nothing to oppose the Romans, but his subservience so enraged his Syrian subjects that the Roman envoy Gnaeus Octavius (consul of 165 BC) was assassinated in Laodicea

Latakia

Latakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...

 (162 BC).

At this juncture Demetrius escaped from Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and was received in 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....

 as the true king. Antiochus Eupator was soon put to death together with his protector Lysias

Lysias (Syrian chancellor)

Lysias, or Lusias was a 2nd century Seleucid General and governor of Syria under the Seleucid Empire.He was described as, "A noble man, and one of the blood royal"...

.

External links

• Antiochus V Eupator entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith