Alexander II Zabinas

Alexander II Zabinas
Alexander II Zabinas
King of the Seleucid Empire (King of Syria)
Reign	128–123 BC (in opposition to Demetrius II Nicator, Cleopatra Thea, Seleucus V Philometor, and Antiochus VIII Grypus)
Predecessor	Antiochus VII Sidetes
Successor	Cleopatra Thea and Antiochus VIII Grypus
Born	Unknown
Died	122 BC
Father	Protarchus (claimed to be adoptive son of Antiochus VII Sidetes)

Alexander II Theos Epiphanes Nikephoros,^[1] surnamed Zabinas (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρoς), ruler of the Greek Seleucid kingdom, was a counter-king who emerged in the chaos following the Seleucidian loss of Mesopotamia to the Parthians.

Biography

Rise to power

Zabinas was a false Seleucid who claimed to be an adoptive son of Antiochus VII Sidetes, but in fact seems to have been the son of an Egyptian merchant named Protarchus. Antioch, Apamea, and several other cities, disgusted with the tyranny of Demetrius, acknowledged the authority of Alexander. He was used as a pawn by the Egyptian king Ptolemy VIII Physcon, who introduced Zabinas as a means of getting to the legitimate Seleucid king Demetrius II, who supported Ptolemy's sister Cleopatra II against him in the complicated dynastic feuds of the latter Hellenistic dynasties.^[2]

Zabinas managed to defeat Demetrius II, who fled to Tyre and was killed there, and thereafter ruled parts of Syria (128–123 BC), but soon he ran out of Egyptian support and was in turn defeated by Demetrius' son Antiochus VIII Grypus.

Fleeing to Antiochia and death

Coin of Alexander II Zabinas; Zeus is represented on the reverse, holding in his right hand a small image of victory.

Zabinas fled to the Seleucid capital Antiochia, where he plundered several temples. He is said to have joked about melting down a statuette of the goddess of victory Nike which was held in the hand of a Zeus statue, saying "Zeus has given me Victory". Enraged by his impiety the Antiochenes cast Zabinas out of the city. He soon fell into the hands of robbers, who delivered him up to Antiochus, by whom he was put to death, in 122 BC.

The name "Zabinas" means "the purchased slave", and was applied to him, deprecatingly, in response to a report that he had been bought by Ptolemy as a slave. For reasons unknown, Alexander II was the only late Seleucid not to use epithets on his coins. Several of his coins are extant.^[3]^[4]^[5]

References

Citations

↑ Küchler 2009, p. 145.
↑ Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Alexander Zabinas". In William Smith. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 127–128.
↑ Justin, xxxix. 1, 2
↑ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews xiii. 9, 10
↑ Clinton, Fasti, iii. p. 334

Sources

Küchler, Max (2009). "«Aus Seiner Fülle Haben Wir Alle Empfangen» Joh 1,16a Als Literarisches Pendant Zum Antiken Bildmotiv Des Überfließenden Füllhorns". In Dettwiler, Andreas; Poplutz, Uta. Studien Zu Matthäus Und Johannes/Etudes Sur Matthieu Et Jean: Festschrift Für Jean Zumstein Zu Seinem 65. Geburtstag/Mélanges Offerts à Jean Zumstein Pour Hon 65^e Anniversaire. Abhandlungen Zur Theologie Des Alten Und Neuen Testaments (in German). 97. Theologischer Verlag Zürich. ISBN 978-3-290-17539-9. ISSN 0567-5022.
Ehling, Kay (1995). "Alexander II Zabinas - Ein Angeblicher (Adoptiv-)Sohn Des Antiochos VII. Oder Alexander I. Balas?". Schweizer Münzblätter (in German). Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Numismatik. 45 (177). ISSN 0016-5565.
Ehling, Kay (1996). "Zu Einer Bronzemünze des Alexander II. Zabinas". Schweizer Münzblätter (in German). Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Numismatik. 46 (183). ISSN 0016-5565.
Mørkholm, Otto (1983). "A Posthumous Issue of Antiochus IV of Syria". The Numismatic Chronicle. Royal Numismatic Society. 143: 62. ISSN 0078-2696. JSTOR 42665167.
Grainger, John D. (1997). A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer. Mnemosyne, Bibliotheca Classica Batava. Supplementum. 172. Brill. ISBN 978-9-004-10799-1. ISSN 0169-8958.
Bouché-Leclercq, Auguste (1913). Histoire Des Séleucides (323-64 avant J.-C.) (in French). Ernest Leroux. OCLC 558064110.
Wright, Nicholas L. (2005). "Seleucid Royal Cult, Indigenous Religious Traditions and Radiate Crowns: The Numismatic Evidence". Mediterranean Archaeology. Sydney University Press. 18: 81. ISSN 1030-8482.
Wright, Nicholas L. (2011). "The Iconography of Succession Under the Late Seleukids". In Wright, Nicholas L. Coins from Asia Minor and the East: Selections from the Colin E. Pitchfork Collection. The Numismatic Association of Australia. ISBN 978-0-646-55051-0.

External links

Alexander II Zabinas Seleucid dynasty Born: Unknown Died: 122 BC
Preceded by Antiochus VII Sidetes	Seleucid King (King of Syria) 128–123 BC	Succeeded by Antiochus VIII Grypus and Cleopatra Thea

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[FOOTNOTEKüchler2009[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidGG9soVObPlwCpgPA145_145]-1] Küchler 2009, p. 145.

[DGRBM-2] Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Alexander Zabinas". In William Smith. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 127–128.

[3] Justin, xxxix. 1, 2

[4] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews xiii. 9, 10

[5] Clinton, Fasti, iii. p. 334

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