caption father predecessor successor succession mother birth_place death_date death_place birth_date spouse issue image article_title name reign
bust hellenistic portrait of antiochus iii from the louvre , possibly roman copy of seleucus ii callinicus seleucus iii ceraunus seleucus iv philopator megas basileus of the seleucid empire laodice ii susa , persia 187 bc -lrb- aged 53 or 54 -rrb- susa , elymais 241 bc laodice iii euboea of chalcis antiochus , queen of the seleucid empire cleopatra i syra , seleucus queen of egypt antiochis , queen of cappadocia antiochus iv iv epiphanes philopator ardys unnamed daughter laodice iv antiochos iii.jpg antiochus iii the great
 antiochus iii '' the great '' 222 -- 187 bc -lrb- 36 years -rrb-
antiochus iii the great

antiochus iii the great -lrb- greek : ; c. 241 -- 187 bc , ruled 222 -- 187 bc -rrb- was a greek king and the 6th ruler of the seleucid empire .
he ruled over the region of syria and large parts of the rest of western asia towards the end of the 3rd century bc .
rising to the throne at the age of eighteen in 222 bc , his early campaigns against the ptolemaic kingdom were unsuccessful , but in the following years antiochus gained several military victories .
his traditional designation , `` the great '' , reflects an epithet he briefly assumed .
he also assumed the title `` basileus megas '' -lrb- greek for `` great king '' -rrb- , the traditional title of the persian kings .
a militarily active ruler , antiochus restored much of the territory of the seleucid empire , before suffering a serious setback , towards the end of his reign , in his war against rome .
declaring himself the `` champion of greek freedom against roman domination '' , antiochus iii waged a war against the roman republic in mainland greece in autumn of 192 bc only to be defeated .
