Alexander Balas
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Date: 2021-12-03

Alexander Balas, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1586 / CC BY SA 3.0

#146_BC_deaths
#2nd-century_BC_Babylonian_kings
#2nd-century_BC_Seleucid_rulers
#Seleucid_rulers
#Ptolemaic_dynasty
#2nd-century_BC_rulers
#Kings_of_Syria
Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas （Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος Βάλας, romanized: Alexandros Balas）, was the ruler of the Greek
Seleucid kingdom in 150/Summer 152 – August 145 BC. Alexander defeated Demetrius I Soter for the crown in 150 BC. Ruling briefly,
he lost the crown to Demetrius II Nicator during his defeat at the Battle of Antioch （145 BC） in Syria, dying shortly after.
His reign marks the beginning of the disintegration of the Seleucid realm, with important eastern satrapies such as Media being lost to the nascent Parthian Empire.
Alexander Balas claimed to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Laodice IV and heir to the Seleucid throne.
The ancient sources, Polybius and Diodorus say that this claim was false and that he and his sister Laodice VI were really natives of Smyrna of humble origin.
Modern scholars disagree about whether this is true or was propaganda put about by Alexander's opponents.
According to Diodorus, Alexander was originally put forward as a candidate for the Seleucid throne by Attalus II of Pergamum.
Attalus had been disturbed by the Seleucid king Demetrius I's interference in Cappadocia, where he had dethroned king Ariarathes V. Boris Chrubasik is sceptical, noting that there is little subsequent evidence for Attalid involvement with Alexander.
However, Selene Psoma has proposed that a large set of coins minted in a number of cities under Attalid control in this period was produced by Attalus II in order to fund Alexander's bid for the kingship.
Alexander and his sister were maintained in Cilicia by Heracleides, a former minister of Antiochus IV and brother of Timarchus, an usurper in Media who had been executed by the reigning king Demetrius I Soter.
In 153 BC, Heracleides brought ...