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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Magnus Maximus, post: 4556801, member: 73473&quot;]Seleucus IV was born in 218 BCE to Antiochus III and Laodice III. Seleucus was the second son of the royal couple, but became heir apparent after his much beloved older brother, Antiochus, died in 193. Seleucus held some important administration positions under his father; he most notably was the Seleucid governor of Thrace at the time of his father&#039;s war against Rome. In 188 he was made co-ruler with his father, and became King when his father died in 187 BCE.</p><p><br /></p><p>Seleucus IV is an anomaly in Seleucid history as he didn&#039;t fight any wars, but instead focused on domestic affairs. The reign of Seleucus IV was marked by paying off the massive indemnity of 15,000 talents of silver to the Roman Republic. To put that in perspective, during the height of the Seleucid Empire (301-246 BCE), the Seleucid&#039;s yearly income from taxation and trade tariffs was between 15k and 20k talents. Had the Seleucid empire still controlled Anatolia, Bactria, Parthia, and Gedrosia perhaps the indemnity wouldn&#039;t have been too crippling. Unfortunately, after the Seleucid defeat in 188, the empire was restricted to Cole-Syria, Syria, Cilicia, Mesopotamia, and Greater Iran.</p><p><br /></p><p>Though in a reduced territorial and financial state, the Seleucid Empire was still a formidable empire; maybe not an ancient super power, but certainly a respectable regional power. Under Seleucus IV&#039;s rule, the Parthians and Bactrians seemed content with their respective territories and made no moves into the Seleucid realm.</p><p><br /></p><p>Details of Seleucus IV&#039;s death are scant, but it seems that he got caught up in a court plot and was murdered by a minister named Heliodorus in 175 BCE. Heliodorus was initially sent to Cole-Syria to raise funds, i.e loot, from the jewish temples in the region, but returned to Antioch where he killed Seleucus and raised his son Antiochus to the throne while he acted as regent. Heliodorus&#039;s regency lasted about a year until he was killed by Seleucus IV&#039;s younger brother, Antiochus IV.</p><p><br /></p><p>On a side note, what few records that we have of the time state that Seleucus IV was rather sickly. This is not in of itself interesting, but considering that his brother Antiochus IV died of a &quot;wasting disease&quot; many years later, it does raise some red flags. When I get to Antiochus IV I will delve a bit deeper into my theory on what beset the sons of Antiochus III.</p><p>Portraits of the Seleucus IV depict him as a middle aged man with a receding hairline; he looks every bit his father&#039;s son.</p><p><br /></p><p>Seleucus IV AR Tetradrachm</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128168[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Seleucus IV AR tetradrachm. 187-175 BC. Antioch mint. 17.1 g. Diademed head right. / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY, Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding bow and arrow. Filleted palm branch.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Seleucid Empire during his reign(187-175 BCE)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128170[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128171[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>An inscription from Cole-Syria referring to taxation, interestingly it mentions Heliodorus.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128172[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Sources</p><p><a href="http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/seleucid-economy" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/seleucid-economy" rel="nofollow">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/seleucid-economy</a></p><p><a href="https://www.livius.org/articles/person/seleucus-iv-philopator/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.livius.org/articles/person/seleucus-iv-philopator/" rel="nofollow">https://www.livius.org/articles/person/seleucus-iv-philopator/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post your later Seleucid coins![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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