1 The nickname Pogon is mentioned by Polybios in Histories.

Polybios, Histories (the Loeb edition), 2.71: Seleucus (Seleukos III), the son of the Seleucus (Seleukos II) surnamed Callinicus or Pogon, also died at this time, his brother Antiochus (Antiochos III) succeeding him in the kingdom of Syria.

Polybios, Histories (the Macmillan edition), 2.71: At the same period died Seleucus (Seleukos III), son of that Seleucus (Seleukos II) who had the double surnames of Callinicus and Pogon: he was succeeded on the throne of Syria by his brother Antiochus (Antiochos III).

Seleukos II is depicted bearded on some issues of a few mints, see Houghton and Lorber, SC I, 711-712 (AE units, a mint associated with Antioch), 749-750 (AR tetradrachms, Nisibis mint), 759 (AE units, Nisibis mint), 788 (AR tetradrachms, Susa mint), 795-798 (AE units, Susa mint), 822-824 (AE units, Ekbatana mint). According to Houghton and Lorber (ibid, p. 233 of Vol. 1), the bearded portraits that occur on the coinage of these mints clearly reflect his nickname Pogon and allude his Parthian campaign, but the final coin emissions of all mints portray him beardless (clean shaven or with sideburns).

2 According to Eusebius, Chronicle, pp. 251-252, Laodike was daughter of Achaios. According to Polyaenus, Strategemata, 8.50, Laodike was half-sister of Antiochos II Theos (since Antiochos II was son of Antiochos I and Stratonike I, Laodike was daughter of Antiochus I by an earlier wife). Thus Eusebius and Polyaenus contradict one another concerning the paternity of Queen Laodike. See Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 47 - Laodike (1), p. 127 - Achaios (5), and Passehl, Achaidai. Alternative Genealogy of the “Achaid” family, cousins of the Seleukids, pp. 1-2.

Eusebius, Chronicle, pp. 251-252: He (Antiochos II) had two sons, Seleucus called Callinicus (Seleukos II) and Antigonus (perhaps a personal name of Antiochos Hierax before he assumed the diadem, but it is not sure; see footnote 4), and two daughters by Laodice (Laodike I) the daughter of Achaeus (Achaios), of whom one was married to Mithridates (Mithridates II) and the other to Ariathes (Ariarathes III).

Polyaenus, Strategemata, 8.50 (Smith’s and Shepherd’s translation): Antiochus, surnamed Theos (Antiochos II), married Laodice, his sister on the father’s side, and had by her a son Seleucus (Seleukos II).

Polyaenus, Strategemata, 8.50 (Passehl’s translation): Antiochos, who was called by the name Theos (Antiochos II), married his sister by the same father (= homopatrios adelphe), Laodike, from whom his son Seleukos (Seleukos II) was born to him. (Translated by Mark K. Passehl after the Teubner text of Eduard Woelfflin, revised by Johann Melber 1887. See Passehl, On the Lagid Invasion of Seleukid Asia, 246-5 BC, p. 1.)

3 Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 47 - Laodike (1)

4 Two passages in Eusebius’ Chronicle indicates that Antiochos Hierax’s personal name was Antigonos before he assumed the diadem:

Eusebius, Chronicle, pp. 251-252: He (Antiochos II) had two sons, Seleucus called Callinicus (Seleukos II, since Seleukos III would be too young for such a match) and Antigonus, and two daughters by Laodice (Laodike I) the daughter of Achaeus (Achaios), of whom one was married to Mithridates (Mithridates II) and the other to Ariathes (Ariarathes III).

Eusebius, Chronicle, pp. 253-254: Seleucus Callinicus (Seleukos II), the brother of Antigonus, died in the next year, and was succeeded by his son Alexander, who adopted the name Seleucus (Seleukos III), and was called Ceraunus by his army.

However, according to Passehl, Achaidai. Alternative Genealogy of the “Achaid” family, cousins of the Seleukids, a Babylonian cuneiform tablet (Astronomical Diary concerning the year 66 of the Seleukid Era, see footnote 9) shows that this is Eusebius’ error. Passehl writes: The Sachs/Hunger Astronomical Diary No.-245 records (Obv.12-13) the presence in Babylon of An.II Theos’ children Seleukos, Antiochos and Apama on 14 April 246 BC, some three months before the king’s death at Ephesos. This shows that An.Hierax was not born Antigonos and later renamed Antiochos. Therefore Eusebius’ “Antigonos” for Antiochos Hierax is not a case of accurately recording the birth-name of this prince before he assumed the diadem (as with Se.III’s birth name Alexandros), but an error.

The nickname Hierax is mentioned by Justin in Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, 27.2: Rejoiced at his misfortune (of Ptolemy III), therefore, and enriched by his loss, he (Seleukos II) made war upon Ptolemy, as being now a match for him in strength; but as though he had been born only for a sport to fortune, and had received the power of a king only to lose it, he was. defeated in a battle, and fled in trepidation to Antioch, not much better attended than after his shipwreck. From this place he despatched a letter to his brother Antiochus, in which he implored his aid, and offered him that part of Asia within Mount Taurus, as a recompense for his services. But Antiochus, though he was but fourteen years old, yet, being greedy of dominion beyond his years, caught at the opportunity, not with the kindly feeling with which it was offered, but, like a robber, desiring to take the whole kingdom from his brother, assumed, boy as he was, a manly and unprincipled audacity. Hence he was called Hierax, because, in taking away the possessions of others, he conducted himself, not like a man, but like a bird of prey.

5 According to Justin, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, 27.2 (see footnote 4 for the quotation), he was fourteen year old when he rebelled against his brother. Since he rebelled sometime between c. 244 BC and c. 242 BC (see footnote 6), the time interval c. 260 - c. 255 BC seems to be a reliable estimate.

6 Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 35 - Antiochos (1): king in Asia Minor c. 244 - c. 229/8 BC, killed c. 227 BC; Green, Alexander to Actium, pp. 264-265: driven out of Asia Minor by 228 BC, killed 227 BC; Houghton and Lorber, Seleucid Coins, A Comprehensive Catalogue. Part I, Vol. 1, pp. 291-292: as viceroy in Asia Minor c. 245 (?) - c. 242 (?) BC, as king in Asia Minor c. 242 (?) - 228/7 BC, killed 227 BC.

7 Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 31.19.6: Of his (of Ariarathes II) three sons Ariamnes (Ariamnes II), the eldest, inherited the kingdom; he arranged a marital alliance with Antiochus (Antiochos II) whose daughter Stratonicê (Stratonike) he married to his eldest son Ariarathes (Ariarathes III).

8 Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 48 - Laodike (4). See also Eusebius, Chronicle, pp. 251-252 (the quotation is in footnotes 2 and 4).

9 A. J. Sachs & H. Hunger, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia II, pp. 66-72, No. -245.A = BM 132276 (1958-4-12, 10) + MNB 1874, obverse (a reading proposed by Van der Spek and Finkel):

See Finkel and Van der Spek, The Ptolemy III Chronicle: Related documents (a part of Babylonian Chronicles). Van der Spek notes: “The daughter in question was unquestionably a daughter of Antiochus (II) and Laodice. Laodice gave birth to three daughters, Stratonice III, Laodice and the mother of Antipater, whose name was hitherto unknown (Porphyrius, FGrH 260 F 32,6; Polybius of Megalopolis 5.79.12). So we now know the name.” However, according to Eusebius, Chronicle, pp. 251-252 (the quotation is in footnotes 2 and 4), Antiochos II had two daughters only.

10 Polybios, Histories (the Loeb edition), 4.51: ... for Andromachus was Achaeus’ (Achaios’) father and brother of Laodice the wife of Seleucus (Seleukos II).

Polybios, Histories (the Macmillan edition), 4.51: For Andromachus was not only father of Achaeus (Achaios), but brother also of Laodice, the wife of Seleucus (Seleukos II).

Polybios, Histories (the Loeb edition), 8.20: For Achaeus (Achaios) was the son of Andromachus the brother of Laodice the wife of Seleucus (of Seleukos II); he had married Laodice the daughter of King Mithridates (Mithridates II), ...

Polybios, Histories (the Macmillan edition), 8.22: For here was Achaeus (Achaios), a son of Andromachus, the brother of Seleucus’s (of Seleukos II) queen Laodice, and married to Laodice, a daughter of King Mithridates (Mithridates II), ...

Note that these English translations of the passage 8.20/8.22 (the Loeb and the Macmillan edition, respectively) suggest that Andromachos was the father of Laodike, the wife of Seleukos II. However, according to Passehl, personal communication, the original text is explicit that Andromachos was the father of Achaios and the brother of Laodike.

Note also that Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 5 - Achaios (1) and p. 8 - Andromachos, also states that Achaios was a nephew of Laodike, the wife of Seleukos II, but he is shown as her brother in Table 1 on p. 820.

11 These dates are taken from Houghton and Lorber, Seleucid Coins, A Comprehensive Catalogue. Part I, Vol. 1, p. 347 (they refer to John Ma, Antiochos III and the Cities of Western Asia Minor, Oxford, 1999). According to Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 5 - Achaios (1), he reigned as King from 221 to 213 BC. Green, Alexander to Actium, pp. 293 and 734, gives him the regnal period from 220 to 213 BC.

12 Originally called Alexander, he took the name Seleukos on becoming king.

Eusebius, Chronicle, pp. 253-254: Seleucus Callinicus (Seleukos II), the brother of Antigonus (perhaps a personal name of Antiochos Hierax before he assumed the diadem, but it is not sure; see footnote 4), died in the next year, and was succeeded by his son Alexander, who adopted the name Seleucus, and was called Ceraunus by his army.

13 Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 15: c. 243 BC; Lucherini, The Children of Antiochos III, p. 2: c. 242/1 BC.

14 Polybios, Histories (the Loeb edition), 8.23: When Xerxes was king of the city of Armosata, which lies near the “Fair Plain” between the Euphrates and Tigris, Antiochus (Antiochos III), encamping before this city, undertook its siege. Xerxes, when he saw the king’s strength, at first conveyed himself away, but after a short time fearing lest, if his palace were occupied by the enemy, the rest of his dominions would be thrown into a state of disturbance, he regretted this step and sent a message to Antiochus proposing a conference. The most trusty of Antiochus’ friends advised him not to let him go, but to make himself master of the city and bestow the sovereignty on Mithridates his own sister’s son. The king, however, paid no attention to them, but sent for the young man and composed their differences, remitting the greater part of the sum which his father had still owed for tribute. Receiving from him a present payment of three hundred talents, a thousand horses, and a thousand mules with their trappings, he restored all his dominions to him and by giving his sister (a correction of the Loeb edition which has “daughter”) Antiochis in marriage conciliated and attached to himself all the inhabitants of the district, who considered that he had acted in a truly royal and magnanimous manner.

Polybios, Histories (the Macmillan edition), 8.25: In the reign of Xerxes, prince of the city of Armosata, situated on the “Fair Plain,” between the Tigris and Euphrates, King Antiochus (Antiochos III) encamped under its walls and prepared to attack it. When he saw the king’s forces, Xerxes at first conveyed himself away; but feeling afterwards that, if his palace were seized by his enemies, his whole kingdom would be overthrown, he changed his mind, and sent a message to Antiochus declaring his wish for a conference. The most loyal of the friends of Antiochus were against letting the young prince go when they once got him into their hands, and advised Antiochus to take possession of the town, and hand over the principality to Mithridates, his own sister’s son. The king, however, would not listen to any of these suggestions; but sent for the young prince and accommodated their differences, forgiving him the larger part of the money which he allowed to be owing from his father under the head of tribute, and accepting a present payment from him of three hundred talents, a thousand horses, and a thousand mules with their trappings. He then settled the government of the city, and gave the prince his sister Antiochis as a wife. By these proceedings, in which he was thought to have acted with true royal magnanimity, he won the affection and support of all the inhabitants of that part of the country.

15 Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 8 - Antiochis (2) (he refers to John of Antioch, FHG iv, 557)