1 Kidd, Posidonius, Volume 3, p. 322, F253 = Jacoby FGrH 87 F36.

2 According to the Jewish Encyclopedia’s entry for Alexander Balas, the name Balas may possibly be a Grecized form of some Aramaic name compounded with the god Baal. See also Bevan, The House of Seleucus, Vol. II, pp. 305-306 (Appendix Z), for a detailed discussion.

3 Ptolemy VI Philometor, King of Egypt, born probably May/June 186 BC, died c. July 145 BC (from injuries suffered in the battle against Alexander I), reigned September 180 - July 145 BC (his reign was not continuous and there were corulers in some periods). (Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Ptolemy VI)

4 Alexander fled to refuge with an Arab chieftain Diokles or Zabdiel, and he was killed here.

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 32.9d-10.1: Alexander (Alexander I), worsted in battle, fled with five hundred of his men to Abae in Arabia, to take refuge with Diocles, the local sheikh, in whose care he had earlier placed his infant son Antiochus (Antiochos VI). Thereupon Heliades and Casius, two officers who were with Alexander, entered into secret negotiations for their own safety and voluntarily offered to assassinate Alexander. When Demetrius (Demetrios II) consented to their terms, the became, not merely traitors to their king, but his murderers. Thus was Alexander put to death by his friends.

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.116-119: But now Alexander (Alexander I) made haste with a numerous and great army, and came out of Cilicia into Syria, and burnt the country belonging to Antioch, and pillaged it; whereupon Ptolemy (Ptolemy VI), and his son-in-law Demetrius (Demetrios II), brought their army against him, (for he had already given him his daughter (Kleopatra Thea) in marriage,) and beat Alexander, and put him to flight; and accordingly he fled into Arabia. Now it happened in the time of the battle that Ptolemy’ horse, upon hearing the noise of an elephant, cast him off his back, and threw him on the ground; upon the sight of which accident, his enemies fell upon him, and gave him many wounds upon his head, and brought him into danger of death; for when his guards caught him up, he was so very ill, that for four days’ time he was not able either to understand or to speak. However, Zabdiel, a prince among the Arabians, cut off Alexander’s head, and sent it to Ptolemy, who recovering of his wounds, and returning to his understanding, on the fifth day, heard at once a most agreeable hearing, and saw a most agreeable sight, which were the death and the head of Alexander; yet a little after this his joy for the death of Alexander, with which he was so greatly satisfied, he also departed this life. Now Alexander, who was called Balas, reigned over Asia five years, as we have elsewhere related.

1 Maccabees, 11.8-17: So King Ptolemy (Ptolemy VI) gained control of the coastal cities as far as Seleucia by the sea (Seleukeia in Pieria), and he kept devising evil designs against Alexander (Alexander I). He sent envoys to Demetrius the king (Demetrios II), saying, “Come, let us make a covenant with each other, and I will give you in marriage my daughter (Kleopatra Thea) who was Alexander’s wife, and you shall reign over your father’s kingdom. For I now regret that I gave him my daughter, for he has tried to kill me.” He threw blame on Alexander because he coveted his kingdom. So he took his daughter away from him and gave her to Demetrius. He was estranged from Alexander, and their enmity became manifest. Then Ptolemy entered Antioch and put on the crown of Asia. Thus he put two crowns upon his head, the crown of Egypt and that of Asia. Now Alexander the king was in Cilicia at that time, because the people of that region were in revolt. And Alexander heard of it and came against him in battle. Ptolemy marched out and met him with a strong force, and put him to flight. So Alexander fled into Arabia to find protection there, and King Ptolemy was exalted. And Zabdiel the Arab cut off the head of Alexander and sent it to Ptolemy.

5 Alexander proclaimed to be a son of Antiochos IV for propaganda purposes. (Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 6 - Alexander I)

6 According to Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 50 - Laodike (16), she may or may not have been his sister, and may or may not have been a genuine daughter of Antiochos IV.

7 Justin, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, 39.2: Grypus (Antiochos VIII), having thus recovered his father’s throne, and being freed from foreign perils, found his life endangered by a plot of his own mother (Kleopatra Thea); who, after betraying, from desire of power, her husband Demetrius (Demetrios II), and putting to death her other son (Seleukos V, the oldest son of Demetrios II), was discontented at her dignity being eclipsed by the victory of Grypus, and presented him with a cup of poison as he was returning home from taking exercise. But Grypus, having received notice of her treacherous intention, desired her (as if to show as much respect for his mother as she showed for him) to drink herself first, and, when she refused, pressed her earnestly, and at last, producing his informant, charged her with the fact, telling her, “that the only way left to clear herself from guilt, was, that she should drink what she had offered to her son.” The queen, being thus disconcerted, and her wickedness turned upon herself, was killed with the poison which she had prepared for another.

Appian, Roman History, 11.69: After Seleucus (Seleukos, the oldest son of Demetrios II), Grypus (Antiochos VIII) became king, and he compelled his mother (Kleopatra Thea) to drink poison that she had mixed for himself. So justice overtook her at last.

8 All information about Kleopatra Thea is taken from Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Cleopatra Thea.

9 Kleopatra Thea, the mother of Antiochos VI, married Alexander I in the summer of 150 BC (Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Cleopatra Thea, footnote 10) and divorced from him between about October 148 BC and September 147 BC (Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Cleopatra Thea, footnote 13). Alexander died in 145 BC and, according to Diodorus Siculus (Library of History, 32.9d-10.1), he placed his infant son in the care of an Arabian chieftain, so that Antiochos VI was a young child when Alexander I died. According to Livy, Periochae, 52, Antiochos VI was two years old when Diodotos Tryphon defeated Demetrios II, which corresponds with Antiochos VI’s birth in 148/7 BC (on the other hand, Livy, ibid, 55, paradoxically mentions that Antiochos VI was ten years old when he was killed by the treachery of Diodotos Tryphon).

Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Cleopatra Thea, footnote 10: “Seleucid date: I Maccabees 10.57. J. C. Dancy, I Maccabees: A Commentary 51 notes that this statement reflects an official Seleucid source, so is to reckoned to be according to the Macedonian version of the Seleucid era, starting in Dios (Mac.). Thus it corresponds to c. October 151 - September 150. The Olympiad date is per Porphyry in Eusebius, Chronicorum I (ed. Schoene) 255 = 150/49. The confluence gives summer 150.” (Retrieved June 1, 2007)

Bennett, Egyptian Royal Genealogy: Cleopatra Thea, footnote 13: “I Maccabees 10.67, Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 13.4.3. J. C. Dancy, I Maccabees: A Commentary 51 notes that this statement reflects an official Seleucid source, so is to reckoned to be according to the Macedonian version of the Seleucid era, starting in Dios (Mac.). Thus it corresponds to c. October 148 - September 147.” (Retrieved June 1, 2007)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 32.9d-10.1: Alexander (Alexander I), worsted in battle, fled with five hundred of his men to Abae in Arabia, to take refuge with Diocles, the local sheikh, in whose care he had earlier placed his infant son Antiochus (Antiochos VI).

Livy, Periochae, 52: Because of the cruelty with which Demetrius (Demetrios II) tortured his own people, he was defeated in war and forced to flee to Seleucia (Seleukeia in Pieria) by one Diodotus, one of his subjects and a man who supported the claim to the throne of Alexander’s (Alexander I’s) two year old son (Antiochos VI).

Livy, Periochae, 55: [Antiochus] (Antiochos VI) the son of Alexander (Alexander I), the king of Syria, who was a mere ten years old, was killed by the treachery of his tutor Diodotus, surnamed “the magnificent”.

10 Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 33.4a: A certain Diodotus, also called Tryphon, who stood high in esteem among the king’s “Friends,” perceiving the excitement of the masses and their hatred for the prince (Demetrios II), revolted from Demetrius, ... He also made an ally of the Arab sheikh Iamblichus, who happened to have in his keeping Antiochus styled Epiphanes (Antiochos VI), a mere child, the son of Alexander (Alexander I). Setting a diadem on his head and providing him with the retinue appropriate to a king, he restored the child to his father’s throne.

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 33.28: In Syria Diodotus, surnamed Tryphon, having murdered Antiochus (Antiochos VI), the son of Alexander (Alexander I), a mere child who was being reared as one destinated to the throne, put on his own head the royal diadem and, having seized the vacant throne, proclaimed himself monarch and engaged in war on the satraps and generals of the legitimate king (Demetrios II).

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 33.28a: Tryphon ... having prepared a golden statue of Victory, of the weight of ten thousand gold staters, he dispatched envoys to Rome to convey it to the Roman people. ... For the senate accepted the gift and secured the good omen together with the profit, but changed the attribution of the gift and in Tryphon’s stead inscribed it with the name of the king (Antiochos VI) whom he had assassinated. By this act the senate went on record as condemning the murder of the boy and as refusing the gifts of impious men.

Livy, Periochae, 52: Because of the cruelty with which Demetrius (Demetrios II) tortured his own people, he was defeated in war and forced to flee to Seleucia (Seleukeia in Pieria) by one Diodotus, one of his subjects and a man who supported the claim to the throne of Alexander’s (Alexander I’s) two year old son (Antiochos VI).

Livy, Periochae, 55: [Antiochus] (Antiochos VI) the son of Alexander (Alexander I), the king of Syria, who was a mere ten years old, was killed by the treachery of his tutor Diodotus, surnamed “the magnificent”. He had bribed the physicians, who said that the boy suffered severely from a stone, and killed him on the operation table.

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.131-132: Now there was a certain commander of Alexander’s (Alexander I’s) forces, an Apanemian by birth, whose name was Diodotus, and was also called Trypho (Diodotos Tryphon), took notice the ill-will of the soldiers bare to Demetrius (Demetrios II), and went to Malchus the Arabian, who brought up Antiochus (Antiochos VI), the son of Alexander, and told him what ill-will the army bare Demetrius, and persuaded him to give him Antiochus, because he would make him king, and recover to him the kingdom of his father. Malchus at the first opposed him in this attempt, because he could not believe him; but when Trypho lay hard at him for a long time, he over-persuaded him to comply with Trypho’s intentions and entreaties. And this was the state Trypho was now in.

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.144: Trypho (Diodotos Tryphon) ... returned out of Arabia into Syria, with the child Antiochus (Antiochos VI), for he was yet in age but a youth, and put the diadem on his head; and as the whole forces that had left Demetrius (Demetrios II), because they had no pay, came to his assistance, he made war upon Demetrius, and joining battle with him, overcame him in the fight, and took from him both his elephants and the city Antioch (Antioch on the Orontes).

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.218-219: Now a little while after Demetrius (Demetrios II) had been carried into captivity, Trypho (Diodotos Tryphon) his governor destroyed Antiochus (Antiochos VI), the son of Alexander (Alexander I), who was also called The God, and this when he had reigned four years, though he gave it out that he died under the hands of the surgeons.

1 Maccabees, 11.39-40: Now Trypho (Diodotos Tryphon) had formerly been one of Alexander’s (Alexander I’s) supporters. He saw that all the troops were murmuring against Demetrius (Demetrios II). So he went to Imalkue the Arab, who was bringing up Antiochus (Antiochos VI), the young son of Alexander, and insistently urged him to hand Antiochus over to him, to become king in place of his father.

1 Maccabees, 11.54-56: After this Trypho (Diodotos Tryphon) returned, and with him the young boy Antiochus (Antiochos VI) who began to reign and put on the crown. All the troops that Demetrius (Demetrios II) had cast off gathered around him, and they fought against Demetrius, and he fled and was routed. And Trypho captured the elephants and gained control of Antioch (Antioch on the Orontes).

1 Maccabees, 13.31-32: Trypho (Diodotos Tryphon) dealt treacherously with the young king Antiochus (Antiochos VI); he killed him and became king in his place, putting on the crown of Asia; and he brought great calamity upon the land.

Appian, Roman History, 11.68: While the country was without a government Diodotus (Diodotos Tryphon), a slave of the royal house, placed on the throne a young boy named Alexander (Appian’s confusion of Antiochos VI with Alexander II), a son of Alexander the Bastard (Alexander I) and of Ptolemy’s daughter (Kleopatra Thea, daughter of Ptolemy VI).

Justin, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, 36.1: During the course of these proceedings, Trypho (Diodotos Tryphon), in Syria, who had exerted his efforts to be made by the people guardian to Antiochus (Antiochos VI), the step-son of Demetrius (Demetrios II; Kleopatra Thea, the mother of Antiochos VI, married Demetrios II after her divorce from Alexander I), killed his ward, and seized upon the Syrian throne.