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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Magnus Maximus, post: 4345554, member: 73473&quot;]Antiochus III was born in 241 BCE to Seleucus II and Laodice II in Susa. Antiochus III grew up in a troubled time; the Seleucid empire was losing much of it&#039;s periphery territory to rebellious satraps and rival warlords. Not much is know about Antiochus&#039;s early life except that he wasn&#039;t in line for the throne, with him being the youngest son of Seleucus II. All that would change with the death of Seleucus II in 246 BCE and Seleucus III&#039;s death in 223 BCE.</p><p><br /></p><p>Both Seleucus III and Antiochus III had a minister named Hermeias who was universally hated and feared by most people, including the Kings themselves. Around 222 BCE in the province of Media two brothers named Molon and Alexander revolted against Antiochus III, based on fears of being executed by Hermeias. Molon and his brother managed to take control of all territory east of Mesopotamia by the time that Antiochus sent troops to crush their rebellion. Hermeias insisted to the young King that the rebels should be ignored and that the primary military focus should be on Ptolemaic Egypt. It is unknown why Hermeias wanted Antiochus to start a war with the Ptolemies: I&#039;ve heard the argument that he wanted to weaken the King by associating his reign with disaster and thus permanently keep him under his control.</p><p><br /></p><p>After numerous generals of Antiochus came down with a bad case of the &quot;killed in battle with the rebels&quot;, Antiochus III decided that it was time to deal with the rebels personally. By this point in however, the rebels had managed to capture <i>Seleucia on the Tigris</i>, one of the main cities and and one of the two capitals of the empire. It is reported that Molon began minting coins of himself as King around this time. Both sides fielded large armies, but Antiochus had the advantage of having more experienced soldiers. The battle&#039;s out come was never in any doubt and almost immediately after it had began, half of Molon&#039;s army surrendered to Antiochus. Molon fled in despair at the sight of this surrender and subsequently killed himself. It was reported that Antiochus had him strung up from the highest point in Media as a warning to any other would be rebel. Alexander, Molon&#039;s brother, fled the field and killed Molon&#039;s children and wife before killing himself.&nbsp; As for the despised Hermeias; Antiochus had him quietly executed while they were on a horse ride out in the country side.</p><p><br /></p><p>Antiochus III really does deserve the title Megas(Great) as he nearly single handily restored the empire to what it had been before the disastrous reign of his father. Later on in his life, he avenged his earlier defeat at Raphia and defeated the forces of Ptolemy V numerous times and brought the Ptolemies to their knees. It is unfortunate that his run in with the Roman Republic would prove so disastrous to his kingdom later on.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Anyhow, there is no way on earth I can write down or summarize Antiochus III&#039;s entire life with out writing a book so I&#039;ll cut it off here.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1100390[/ATTACH]</p><p>Antiochus III. 223-187 BC. AR Tetradrachm</p><p>16.97 Grams</p><p>Seleucia on the Tigris. First Reign, <i><b>Before the Revolt of Melon</b></i>, Ca. 223-221 BC. Diademed head of Antiochus III right / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ on right, ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ on left, Nude Apollo seated left on omphalos, slight drapery on right thigh, holding arrow in right hand, left hand resting on bow, Control marks in outer left and right fields and in exergue.</p><p>Rare</p><p>I am in love with the youthful portrait of Antiochus III, which makes sense chronologically as he was 18 or 19 when this coin was struck.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sources/Fun reading</p><p><a href="http://turningpointsoftheancientworld.com/index.php/2018/08/11/road-raphia-part-1-molon-rebellion/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://turningpointsoftheancientworld.com/index.php/2018/08/11/road-raphia-part-1-molon-rebellion/" rel="nofollow">http://turningpointsoftheancientworld.com/index.php/2018/08/11/road-raphia-part-1-molon-rebellion/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.livius.org/articles/person/antiochus-iii-the-great/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.livius.org/articles/person/antiochus-iii-the-great/" rel="nofollow">https://www.livius.org/articles/person/antiochus-iii-the-great/</a></p><p><a href="https://d3smmun.artstation.com/projects/rDeQO" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://d3smmun.artstation.com/projects/rDeQO" rel="nofollow">https://d3smmun.artstation.com/projects/rDeQO</a></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1100395[/ATTACH]</p><p>A restored Seleucid Empire on the eve of war with Rome.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1100400[/ATTACH]</p><p>A Wonderful painting of Antiochus III!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1100403[/ATTACH]</p><p>A bust of King Antiochus III in the Louvre.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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