Demetrius III Theos Philopator Soter Philometor Euergetes Callinicus (, surnamed Eucaerus; between 124 and 109 BCafter 87 BC) was a Seleucid monarch who reigned as the King of Syria between 96 and 87 BC. The son of Antiochus VIII, he took control of Damascus after his father's murder while his brother Seleucus VI prepared for war against their father's half-brother and rival, Antiochus IX, who occupied the Syrian capital Antioch.

The civil war dragged on; Seleucus VI eliminated his uncle, whose heir Antiochus X counterattacked and drove Seleucus VI to his death. Then the twins Antiochus XI and Philip I, brothers of Demetrius III, attempted to avenge Seleucus VI; it ended with the death of Antiochus XI and the interference of Demetrius III on the side of Philip I in a war against Antiochus X that probably lasted until 88 BC. In 89 BC, Demetrius III invaded Judaea and crushed the forces of its king, Alexander Jannaeus; his near victory was cut short by the death of Antiochus X. Demetrius III rushed to Antioch before Philip I could take advantage of the power vacuum and strengthen his position relative to Demetrius III.

By 87 BC, Demetrius III had most of Syria under his authority. He attempted to appease the public by promoting the importance of the local Semitic gods, and he may have given Damascus the dynastic name Demetrias. By late 87 BC, Demetrius III attacked Philip I in the city of Beroea, where Philip I's allies called on the Parthians for help. The allied forces routed Demetrius III and besieged him in his camp; he was forced to surrender and spent the rest of his life in exile in Parthia. Philip I took Antioch, while Antiochus XII, another brother of Demetrius III, took Damascus.

Background, family and early life

The Seleucid Empire, based in Syria, disintegrated in the second century BC as a result of dynastic feuds and Egyptian interference. A long civil war caused the nation to fragment as pretenders from the royal family fought for the throne. This lasted until about 123 BC, when Antiochus VIII provided a degree of stability which lasted for a decade. To maintain a degree of peace, Egypt and Syria attempted dynastic marriages, which helped Egypt destabilise Syria by supporting one candidate to the throne over another. In 124 BC, the Egyptian princess Tryphaena was married to Antiochus VIII. Five sons were born to the couple: Seleucus VI, the twins Antiochus XI and Philip I, Demetrius III and Antiochus XII.

In 113 BC, Antiochus VIII's half-brother Antiochus IX declared himself king; the siblings fought relentlessly for a decade and a half. Antiochus IX killed Tryphaena in 109 BC. Antiochus VIII was assassinated in 96 BC; this date is deduced from the statement of the first century historian Josephus, who wrote that Antiochus VIII, who assumed the throne in 125 BC, ruled for twenty-nine years, and is corroborated by the third century historian Porphyry, who gave the Seleucid year (SE) 216 (97/96 BC) for Antiochus VIII's death. Following the death of his brother, Antiochus IX took the Syrian capital, Antioch, while Seleucus VI, established in Cilicia, prepared for war against his uncle. In modern literature, Seleucus VI is considered the eldest son, and Demetrius III is considered younger than Antiochus XI and Philip I. However, almost nothing is known about the early life of Demetrius III, who might have been the eldest son himself. According to Josephus, before assuming the throne, Demetrius III lived in the city of Knidos.

Reign

Antiochus IX did not take Damascus following the death of his brother; he was probably focused on the threat of Seleucus VI and could not spare the resources for an occupation of Damascus. This eased Demetrius III's elevation to the throne; he took Damascus in 96 BC. The earliest coins struck in the name of Demetrius were produced in Damascus in 216 SE (97/96 BC); only one Damascene obverse die is known from 216 SE (97/96 BC), indicating that Demetrius's reign started late that year, giving him little time to produce more dies. The only ancient works of literature dealing with Demetrius III's career are those of Josephus and the Pesher Nahum, a sectarian commentary on the Book of Nahum. Historian Kay Ehling noted that Josephus's account is a condensed summary and the actual course of events surrounding Demetrius III's seizure of power needs to be reconstructed. Thus, interpreting the numismatic evidence is instrumental for the problematic chronological reconstruction of Demetrius III's reign.

Name and royal titulary

Demetrius (translit. ) is a Greek name that means "belonging to Demeter", the Greek goddess of fertility. Seleucid kings were mostly named Seleucus and Antiochus; "Demetrius" was used by the Antigonid dynasty of Macedonia as a royal name, and its use by the Seleucids, who had Antigonid descent, probably signified that they were heirs of the latter. Hellenistic kings did not use regnal numbers, which is a modern practice; instead, they used epithets to distinguish themselves from similarly named monarchs. Demetrius III's most used epithets are Theos (divine), Philopator (father loving) and Soter (saviour); the aforementioned epithets appear together on all his Damascene and Antiochene coins. In Cilicia, two epithets were used in conjunction: Philometor (mother-loving) and Euergetes (benefactor). The coins from Seleucia Pieria bear three epithets together: the ones appearing on the coins of Cilicia, combined with the epithet Callinicus (nobly victorious). Theos Philopator Soter served to emphasise Demetrius III's descent from the line of his grandfather Demetrius II who bore the epithet Theos; Soter was an epithet of Demetrius III's great-grandfather Demetrius I, while Philopator represented his devotion to his deceased father Antiochus VIII. With Philometor, Demetrius III probably sought to emphasise his Ptolemaic royal Egyptian descent through his mother Tryphaena.

Eucaerus is a popular nickname used by the majority of modern historians to denote Demetrius III, but it is a mistranscription of the nickname given by Josephus in his works The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews. The earliest Greek manuscripts of Josephus's works contain the nickname Akairos in three places. Eucaerus appeared as a later development, and is attested in the Latin versions of the manuscripts. It was probably a copyist, thinking that Akairos was a mistake and trying to correct it, that led to the appearance of Eucaerus. Eucaerus translates to "well-timed", while Akairos means "the untimely one". Josephus did not explain the origin of Akairos. Such popular nicknames are never found on coins, but are handed down only through ancient literature; neither Eucaerus or Akairos was used by Demetrius III on his coinage. Josephus is the only source for the nickname; in the view of historians David Levenson and Thomas Martin, Eucaerus should not be used to refer to Demetrius; instead, Akairos, or one of his official epithets should be used.

Manner of succession

According to Josephus, Tryphaena's brother Ptolemy IX of Egypt installed Demetrius III in Damascus following the death of Antiochus XI Epiphanes in 93 BC; this statement cannot be correct as the date given by Josephus contradicts the numismatic evidence from Damascus. Despite the chronological error, several arguments justify the theory of a collaboration between Ptolemy IX and Demetrius III; according to Ehling, the assumption of the epithet Philometor (mother loving) was meant to highlight Demetrius III's relation to his uncle Ptolemy IX. Two main reconstructions of Demetrius III's rise to power exist: Demetrius III started his reign in Damascus: the numismatist Oliver Hoover viewed the ascendance of Demetrius III in the context of the war of sceptres, a military conflict between Ptolemy IX and his mother Cleopatra III, who was allied with Alexander Jannaeus of Judaea. This war took place in Coele-Syria and ended in 101 BC; Ptolemy IX was defeated and retreated to Cyprus. However, Hoover noted that Josephus synchronised the retreat of Ptolemy IX with the death of Antiochus VIII in 97/96 BC; such a synchronisation is perceived as imprecise by many scholars, but Hoover suggested that Josephus consciously associated the two events. According to Hoover, Josephus's account regarding Ptolemy IX's installation of Demetrius III in Damascus indicates that the Egyptian monarch did not evacuate Syria after the conclusion of his war with Cleopatra III, or that he perhaps invaded a second time to help Demetrius III following the death of his father. Ptolemy IX probably hoped to use his nephew as an agent in the region; if Demetrius III was installed by his uncle in Damascus in 216 SE (97/96 BC), then Josephus's synchronisation between Ptolemy IX's departure and the death of Antiochus VIII is correct.

Demetrius III took Antioch before Damascus: Ehling proposed a different reconstruction of events; he contested the dating of Antiochus VIII's death to 96 BC based on Demetrius III's earliest dated coins and argued in favour of 215 SE (98/97 BC) for the former's death and the latter's succession. Ehling's argument agrees with the view of the numismatist Arthur Houghton, who noted that the volume of coins minted by Seleucus VI, the immediate successor of Antiochus VIII, before his takeover of Antioch in 95 BC, surpassed any other mint known from the late Seleucid period. This led Houghton to suggest 98 or 97 BC instead of 96 BC for the death of Antiochus VIII as one year was not enough for Seleucus VI to produce his coins. Hoover rejected the new dating, noting that it was not rare for a king to double his production in a single year during military campaigns, which was the case for Seleucus VI, who was preparing for war against his uncle Antiochus IX. The academic consensus prefers 96 BC for the death of Antiochus VIII.

Ehling's construction of Demetrius III's early reign has Demetrius III declaring himself king immediately after the death of his father with the help of Ptolemy IX, who, in the view of Ehling, probably supported his nephew with money, troops and ships. Demetrius III landed in Seleucia Pieria, whose inhabitants were known for being Ptolemaic sympathisers, and was crowned king. Demetrius III next took Antioch and spent a few weeks in the city before the arrival of Antiochus IX. Demetrius III then marched on Damascus and made it his capital in 97 BC. Ehling's argument is based on coins bearing the epithets Philometor Euergetes, which were attributed by some numismatists to Antioch, but are likely Cilician. Since all the Damascene coins of Demetrius, which ceased production when the monarch lost his throne, carried dates from 216 SE (97/96 BC) to 225 SE (88/87 BC), and the coins bearing the epithets Philometor Euregetes from Antioch bear no dates, then it is logical, in the view of Ehling, to assume that the Antiochene issues preceded the Damascene one. Ehling explained the change of royal titulary from Philometor Euergetes Callinicus in the north to Theos Philopator Soter in Damascus as a sign of a break between Demetrius III and Ptolemy IX; the Syrian king cast aside the epithet Philometor, which emphasised his mother's Ptolemaic ancestry, and instead invoked his father's heritage by assuming the epithet Philopator. On the other hand, the majority of numismatists date Demetrius III's Antiochene coins to the year 225 SE (88/87 BC).

Policy