GREEK - Seleucid Kingdom: Demetrios II, Nikator - Second
Reign: 129-125 B.C. -
Silver Tetradrahm (Phoenician Standard) 27mm (13.0 grams) Struck 128/7 B.C. at
the mint of Tyre
Reference: Sear 7105; B.M.C. 4.76,6 -
His diademed and draped bust right, beardless.
ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ, Eagle standing left on beak of galley, palm-branch in
background; in field to left, A / PE and TYP monogram above club; to right, A
and ΣY monogram, above Seleucid date EΠΡ (=185=128/7 B.C.); ΓΗΡ monogram between
eagle's legs.
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Authenticity.
Demetrius II (Greek:
Δημήτριος Β` d.
125 BCE), called Nicator (Greek:
"Νικάτωρ", i.e. "Victor"), was the middle son of
Demetrius I Soter. He ruled the Seleucid Empire for two periods, separated
by a number of years of captivity in Parthia.
In Exile
As a young boy, he fled to
Crete after the
death of his father, his mother and his older brother, when
Alexander Balas usurped the
Seleucid throne.
First Reign
About
147 BCE he returned to Syria, and with the backing of
Ptolemy VI Philometor, king of Egypt, regained his father's throne. The
Egyptian king also divorced his daughter
Cleopatra Thea from Balas and remarried her to Demetrius.
[1]
Alexander fled to the Nabateans who, anxious to stay on good terms with Egypt,
cut off his head.
However, Demetrius was not a popular king. The people of Syria had little
respect for the young boy, who had come to power with the help of Egypt and
Cretan mercenaries led by the ruthless condottiere Lasthenes. The Antiochenians
offered the Seleucid throne to Ptolemy VI, who had already conquered most of
southern Syria for his own interest. However, he insisted Demetrius would become
king, knowing that Rome would never tolerate a unified Hellenistic state, and
the year after Ptolemy VI was killed when Alexander Balas made a last desperate
attempt to regain his throne. The Egyptian troops marched home, leaderless and
disillusioned, and with Balas dead as well Demetrius became sole master of the
Seleucid kingdom.
But new troubles soon arose. The pillaging of the Cretan soldiers caused the
Antiochenians to rise in rebellion, and only after terrible massacres was order
restored. Soon after, the general
Diodotus conquered Antioch and had his protegé
Antiochus VI Dionysus, the infant son of Alexander Balas, proclaimed king.
Demetrius proved unable to retake the capital, instead establishing himself in
Seleucia. Diodotus had Antiochus VI deposed a few years later, and made himself
King as Tryphon, but the division of the kingdom between the legitimate Seleucid
heir and the usurper in Antioch persisted.
Defeat and captivity
In
139 BCE Parthian activity forced Demetrius to take action. He marched
against
Mithradates I, king of
Parthia and
was initially successful, but was defeated in the Iranian mountains and taken
prisoner the following year. The Babylonian province of the Seleucid empire
became Parthian, but in Syria was the dynasty's grip was reassured under
Antiochus VII Sidetes, the younger brother of Demetrius, who also married
Cleopatra Thea.
King Mithradates had kept Demetrius II alive and even married him to a
Parthian princess named
Rhodogune,
with whom he had children. However, Demetrius was restless and twice tried to
escape from his exile on the shores of the Caspian sea, once with the help of
his friend Kallimander, who had gone to great lengths to rescue the king: he had
travelled incognito through Babylonia and Parthia. When the two friends were
captured, the Parthian king did not punish Kallimander but rewarded him for his
fidelity to Demetrius. The second time Demetrius was captured when he tried to
escape, Mithradates humiliated him by giving him a golden set of dice, thus
hinting that Demetrius II was a restless child who needed toys. It was however
for political reasons that the Parthians treated Demetrius II kindly.
In
130 BCE Antiochus Sidetes felt secure enough to march against Parthia, and
scored massive initial successes. Now
Phraates II made what he thought was a powerful move: he released Demetrius,
hoping that the two brothers would start a civil war. However, Sidetes was
defeated soon after his brother's release and never met him. Phraates II set
people to pursue Demetrius, but he managed to safely return home to Syria and
regained his throne and his queen as well.
A failed second reign
However, the Seleucid kingdom was now but a shadow of its former glory, and
Demetrius had a hard time ruling even in Syria. Recollections of his cruelties
and vices - along with his humiliating defeat - caused him to be greatly
detested. The Egyptian queen
Cleopatra II set up an army for Demetrius, hoping to engage him in her civil
wars against her brother king
Ptolemy VIII, but this only added to his grief. The troops soon deserted,
and king Ptolemy VIII reacted by setting up yet another usurper, a man named
Alexander II Zabinas against Demetrius.
In
126 BCE Demetrius was defeated in a battle at
Damascus.
He fled to Ptolemais but his wife
Cleopatra Thea closed the gates against him.[2]
He was killed on a ship near
Tyre, after his wife had deserted him. His miserable death - he was captured
and possibly tortured - was a fitting epitaph to the many shortcomings of his
reign. Demetrius II was certainly incapable of handling the developing threats
to the Seleucid empire, but his reputation for cruelty was probably undeserved.
He was only around fourteen at his coronation, and the real power was in the
hands of others.
He was succeeded by his queen Cleopatra Thea and then by two of their sons,
Seleucus V Philometor and
Antiochus VIII Grypus.
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