caption father dynasty predecessor successor mother death_date title birth_date issue image article_title reign
bust berlin . of antiochus iv at the altes museum in antiochus iii the great seleucid dynasty seleucus iv philopator antiochus v eupator laodice iii 164 bc -lrb- aged 50 or 51 -rrb- basileus of the seleucid empire c. 215 bc antiochus , antiochis , and possibly laodice -lrb- wife of mithridates v iii of pontus -rrb- eupator , laodice vi , alexander balas antiokhos iv.jpg antiochus iv epiphanes
 175 -- 164 bc
antiochus iv epiphanes

antiochus iv epiphanes -lrb- ; greek : , `` antíochos d' ho epiphanḗs '' , `` god manifest '' ; c. 215 bc -- 164 bc -rrb- was a greek king of 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 mithradates -lrb- alternative form `` mithridates '' -rrb- ; he assumed the name antiochus after he ascended the throne .
notable events during the reign of antiochus iv include his near-conquest of egypt , which led to a confrontation that became an origin of the metaphorical phrase , `` line in the sand '' -lrb- see below -rrb- , and the rebellion of the jewish maccabees .
antiochus was the first seleucid king to use divine epithets on coins , perhaps inspired by the bactrian hellenistic kings who had earlier done so , or else building on the ruler cult that his father antiochus the great had codified within the seleucid empire .
these epithets included Θεὸς Ἐπιφανής ` manifest god ' , and , after his defeat of egypt , Νικηφόρος ` bringer of victory ' .
however , antiochus also tried to interact with common people , by appearing in the public bath houses and applying for municipal offices , and his often eccentric behavior and capricious actions led some of his contemporaries to call him `` epimanes '' -lrb- `` the mad one '' -rrb- , a word play on his title `` epiphanes '' .
