Antiochos III

Antiochos III Mégas (the Large one), born towards 242 and died in 187, is without any doubt the most important sovereign of the dynasty séleucide with his founder Séleucos I {{er}}. Its nickname of Mégas comes from the title of Mégas Basileus (“large king”) which it adopted.

Born towards 242, he is the second wire of Séleucos II Callinicos and the brother of Séleucos III. With its advent in 223, at the 19 years age, after the assassination of his brother by two of his officers terribly, it finds the kingdom weakened in particular by the disastrous reign of his father. Attale I {{er}} of Pergame seized the minor Asia with the detriment of the uncle d' Antiochos III, Antiochos Hiérax, which even had made him secession of the kingdom séleucide in 241. The Egypt has a total maritime hegemony in all the Eastern basin of the the Mediterranean and the satrapies Eastern of the empire make independent the one after the others.

Antiochos III, under the influence of the minister Herméias, will fight its various adversaries successively. It restores sovereignty séleucide, after a first failure towards 222, on the Eastern satrapies by repressing the rising of Molon and its brother Alexandre in Perse and subjecting the Médie in 221. Then it runs up in minor Asia against the rebellion of Achaios II which receives a support on behalf of Egypt. Towards 220 it makes assassinate Herméias. It enters then first once fights about it against this Egypt (fourth war of Syria (221 - 217)) and in 219 Séleucie de Piérie an important port seizes on the Oronte. However it is beaten into 217 with Raphia by Ptolémée IV and loses an important part of Syria. He however arrives between 216 and 214 to reduce the rising of Achaios what enables him to take again the control of the oriental party of minor Asia.

Antiochos III manages to rebound and it constitutes a considerable army estimated at 100.000 infantrymen and approximately 20.000 riders. It then carries out a series of several victorious campaigns between 210 and 204 which leads it to annex the Arménie, the Bactriane (209) and the Parthie. It signs even an agreement with various Indian princes of the area of the Pendjab, whose king Sophagasenos (Sophagasenus), which, anxious of the presence to their doors of such an army, provide him elephants of war in order to get rid some. Between 205 and 204 it carries out a forwarding in the area of the Persian Gulf against various Arab people.

Antiochos III, combined with Philippe V of Macedonia, seeks to take its revenge on the Egypt, also benefits T it from dead from Ptolémée IV and the rise on the throne from a child from 5 years, toy of its ministers, Ptolémée V, to start the fifth war of Syria (201 - 195). The great victory of Panion enables him to reconquer the Palestine, the Cœlésyrie then to make control on the maritime empire lagide or its allies with the catch of Éphèse in 197 then shores of the Hellespont in 195. It then starts to run up against the Romans who have just beaten his ally, Philippe V, and it makes imprudence to raise mistrust by accommodating in 196 the Carthaginian Hannibal Barca at his court.

In 192, it unloads in Greece but hardly receives support if it is not that of the Ligue étolienne. It is beaten in 191 with the Thermopyles, passes by again in Asia or it is crushed in 189 with Magnésie by Scipion Asian the (brother of Scipion the African). It is constrained to sign the Paix of Apamée (188), very advantageous for Rome. It loses all the Asia in the west of the line Halys - Taurus, to the profit especially of kings de Pergame, indeffectibles combined Romans, delivers its elephants and its fleet (except ten ships) and pays an enormous war indemnity of 12.000 talents to be poured in 12 annual installments (of which a part, if one believes Tite-Live XXXVIII of it, 53-60, bringing back the lawsuit made with Lucius Scipion marked not have poured to the Treasury all the spoils of Asia, probably finishes in the cases of the family of the Scipion S). It tries then, fascinating pretext of the allowance to be paid, to seize the treasure of the temple the town of Élymaïs but the population the city revolts and it is killed the 3 or July 4th 187. His/her son Séleucos IV succeeds to him.

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