Seleukid Empire Antiochos The Son Of Seleukos IV

An episode seemingly unknown to or forgotten by the ancient writers, the very brief reign of Antiochos, the younger son of Seleukos IV, is attested to by a surprisingly sizeable output of coinage in the material record, consisting of oktadrachms that feature the conjoined busts of Antiochos and his mother, Queen Laodice IV, and drachms and tetradrachms such as the present piece bearing the portrait and name of the young boy king.

Heliodorus, the minister responsible for the murder of Seleukos IV, is supposed to have elevated the young Antiochos in the belief that the power of the throne would reside in his hands, installing the regency of Laodice as a necessity. However, Seleukos IV's younger brother Antiochos, who had been held hostage in Rome under the Treaty of Apamaea until his replacement with Demetrios, elder son of Seleukos IV, swiftly moved to march on Syria with an army and claim his rightful place on the throne as Antiochos IV, abruptly changing the arrangements Heliodorus had instigated. He adopted his nephew, associated him with his rule, and married the boy's mother, his brother's widow. Thus, Antiochos the younger son of Seleukos IV survived a few years more until 170 when a son was born to his uncle, and he had the young Antiochos killed.