Antiochus IX Cyzicenus

Relatives

• Father: Antiochus VII Sidetes
• Mother: Cleopatra Thea
• Wives: Cleopatra IV; Cleopatra V Selene (both daughters of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes Physcon)
• Children: Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator

Main deeds

• After the death of Demetrius II Nicator (125), queen Cleopatra Thea ensured that Demetrius' son Antiochus VIII Grypus became king; after a period of joint rule, Antiochus killed his mother, and became sole ruler of the Seleucid Empire
• From another marriage, with Antiochus VII Sidetes, Cleopatra had another son: Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, who spent his youth in Cyzicus
• In 115, he obtains an army when he marries Cleopatra IV, who has just learned that her husband Ptolemy IX Soter has divorced her. He revolts against his half-brother, the lawful king.
• Antiochus IX occupies the southern part of Syria
• 113: Antiochus IX seizes Antioch; Antiochus VIII keeps Cilicia
• 112: Antiochus VIII defeats his opponents; Cleopatra IV is captured and killed;
• Summer 112: Antioch is in the hands of Antiochus VIII again
• The two Seleucid rulers find allies in Ptolemaic Egypt:
  • Antiochus VIII Grypus is joined by Ptolemy X Alexander
  • Antiochus IX Sidetes is supported by Ptolemy IX Soter Lathyros
• 111/110: Antiochus IX reconquers Antioch
• 110/109: Antiochus VIII reconquers Antioch
• Antiochus IX and Ptolemy IX Soter support the Samarians against the Hasmonaean king John Hyrcanus of Judaea
• Rome intervenes for the Jews, and against the Samarians and Antiochus IX
• 103: Antiochus VIII marries to Cleopatra V Selene (daughter of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes Physcon)
• Summer 96: Natural death of Antiochus VIII; his wife Cleopatra V marries Antiochus IX, who is now within an inch of reuniting the Seleucid Empire
• However, the son of Antiochus VIII, Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nicator, continues the rule of his father
• 97/96: the brothers Demetrius III Eucaerus and Philip I Philopator, supported by Ptolemy IX Soter Lathyros, seize Damascus
• Early 95: In this struggle, Antiochus IX is defeated and killed
• 94/93: a son of Antiochus IX, Antiochus X Eusebes, defeats Seleucus

Succeeded by: Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator

Sources

• Appian of Alexandria, Syrian Wars, 68
• Diodorus of Sicily, Library of World History, 34/35.1
• Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 13.270ff, 277ff, 325, 366ff

Literature

• O. Hoover, "Revised Chronology for the Late Seleucids at Antioch (121/0-64 BC)" in: Historia 65/3 (2007) 280-301