Tag: Turmoil and Decline in the Seleucid Kingdom

Unhappy Marriages and Poisoned Kings

The marriage between Antiochus II and Berenice turned out to be far from happy. After a brief period, Antiochus abandoned Berenice and their infant son to reunite with Laodice. Unfortunately, Laodice poisoned him, declared her own son Seleucus II (246-225) as king, and ordered the execution of Berenice and her son. This treacherous act triggered the Third Syrian or Laodicean War (246-241) when the Egyptian king, Ptolemy III Challenges and Decline in the Seleucid Kingdom, sought vengeance. Despite Ptolemy’s initial successes, particularly in recapturing Ionia, coastal Syria, and part of Thrace, Seleucus struggled in a civil war with his brother Antiochus Hierax, preventing him from reclaiming lost territories like Pergamun, Parthia, and Bactria.

Successors and Continued Losses

Following Seleucus III’s reign (225-223), Antiochus III, an eighteen-year