Seleucus II Callinicus

The Third Syrian War, also known as the Laodicean War or War of Berenice, begins with one of the many succession crises that plagues the Hellenistic states.

Antiochus II leaves two ambitious mothers, his repudiated wife Laodice and Berenice Syra, the daughter of Egypt's Ptolemy II, in a competition to put their respective sons on the throne.

Laodice claims that Antiochus had named her son heir while on his deathbed, but Berenice argues that her newly born son is the legitimate heir.

Berenice asks her brother Ptolemy III, the new Ptolemaic king, to come to Antioch and help place her son on the throne.

When Ptolemy arrives, Berenice and her child have been assassinated.

Ptolemy declares war on Laodice's newly crowned son, Seleucus II, in 246 BCE, and campaigns with great success.

He wins major victories over Seleucus in Syria and Anatolia, briefly occupies Antioch and, as a recent cuneiform discovery proves, even reaches Babylon.

These victories are marred by the loss of the Cyclades to Antigonus Gonatas in the Battle of Andros.

Seleucus has his own difficulties.

His domineering mother asks him to grant co-regency to his younger brother, Antiochus Hierax, as well as rule over Seleucid territories in Anatolia.

Antiochus promptly declares independence, undermining Seleucus' efforts to defend against Ptolemy.

Ptolemy, in exchange for a peace in 241 BCE, is awarded new territories on the northern coast of Syria, including Seleucia Pieria, the port of Antioch.

The Ptolemaic kingdom is at the height of its power.

Near East (249–238 BCE): Shifting Dynastic Fortunes and Cultural Exchange

The Seleucid-Ptolemaic rivalry continues to dominate the Near East during this era. Ptolemy II Philadelphus, whose reign ends in 246 BCE, successfully consolidates Egyptian holdings and cultural influence, particularly through his extensive patronage of the Library and Museum of Alexandria. Under his son and successor, Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–222 BCE), Egypt briefly extends its dominion into Seleucid territories during the Third Syrian War (246–241 BCE), capturing important cities in Syria and Asia Minor.

This conflict, also known as the Laodicean War, results from internal Seleucid instability, notably involving the queen-mother Laodice and her sons, Seleucus II Callinicus and Antiochus Hierax. The Ptolemaic forces, capitalizing on this dynastic discord, advance as far east as Babylon, temporarily reinforcing Egypt’s hegemony in the Near East.

Cultural interactions intensify with Greek traditions becoming more deeply embedded within the local societies. The Jewish community in Palestine remains relatively autonomous under Ptolemaic oversight, preserving religious and cultural traditions while simultaneously engaging with Hellenistic influences. This dynamic balance contributes significantly to the distinctive cultural and religious identity developing during the Hellenistic period.

The flourishing Hellenistic culture also leads to increasing intellectual exchanges, exemplified by scholars and scientists in Alexandria who further develop knowledge in fields ranging from astronomy and mathematics to philosophy and literature. Thus, while political control fluctuates, cultural and intellectual integration across the Near East grows steadily more pronounced.

Hellenism has blended with local cultures to form a syncretic civilization in Iran under the Seleucids, who have established many Greek settlements in the east.

The empire of the Seleucids, like that of the Achaemenids before them, is shaken by revolts of the satraps.

The difficult situations in the west and the grave reverses suffered by the royal house have accelerated the weakening of the Macedonian kingdom.

The loss of its eastern possessions in the third century BCE will prove fatal to the Seleucid cause.

Parthia is the first province to detach itself from the Seleucid Empire, just as it had been the first to rise up on the accession of Darius the Great.

Andragoras, the Seleucid satrap (governor) of Parthia during the mid-third century, apparently defies Seleucid imperial authority, which is weakly established in his area, and, although he does not declare himself king, issues coins on which his image bears the royal diadem.

At this time, Parthia is one of the poorer of the high satrapies, caught between the mountains and the great central desert and without large agricultural resources.

This satrapal independence might seem surprising if it were not for the fact that the main route for the silk trade crosses right through Parthia over a distance of more than one hundred miles.

The tolls the caravans pay must produce a sizable income.

Antiochus II leaves his unhappy marriage with Ptolemid princess Berenice, and their infant son, somehow persuaded by his cast-off first wife, Laodice, to return to live with her and their son in Ephesus, where he dies in 246, perhaps by poison, perhaps a victim of her intrigues.

Laodice proclaims her son King Seleucos II, then orders her partisans at Antioch to …

…murder Berenice and her son, who have taken refuge at Daphne, near Antioch, in Syria.

The Seleucid province of Bactria, a vast country of a “thousand cities,” is located at the junction of the routes to China and India, and it is rich in cultivable land.

Diodotus, a Greek who finds himself at the head of the Bactrian satrapy, leads a revolt that brings independence in about 250 BCE; he takes the title of king.

The motivating force behind the rebellion in Bactria is an association—or perhaps even a collaboration—between the local nobility (large landholders who dominate the whole indigenous population) and the local Greek community.

Both groups are opposed to the Macedonian domination represented by the Seleucid dynasty.

The preserved ancient sources are contradictory and the exact date of Bactrian independence has not been settled.

There is a high chronology (circa 255 BCE) and a low chronology (circa 246 BCE) for Diodotos’ secession.

The high chronology has the advantage of explaining why the Seleucid king Antiochus II issued very few coins in Bactria, as Diodotos would have become independent there early in Antiochus' reign.

On the other hand, the low chronology, from the mid-240s BCE, has the advantage of connecting the secession of Diodotus I with the Third Syrian War, a catastrophic conflict for the Seleucid Empire.

During this time of chaos in the Seleucid Empire, the new Seleucid king, in order to secure the friendship of King Diodotus of breakaway Bactria, (according to some scholars) marries one of his sisters to him in 246.

Almost nothing is known of the youth of Ptolemy III Euergetes before 245, when, following a long engagement, he marries Berenice II, the daughter of Magas of Cyrene, thereby reuniting Egypt and Cyrenaica, which since 258 had been divided.

Shortly after his marriage and subsequent accession to the Egyptian throne, Ptolemy, avenging the murder of his sister Berenice, at once invades the Seleucid realm and annexes the eastern provinces, while his fleets sweep the coasts of Asia Minor.

A secondary purpose in his launching of the Third Syrian War, or Laodicean War, around 245, against Laodice and her son, Seleucus II, is to enforce earlier diplomatic arrangements disadvantageous to Seleucus.

Ptolemy's navy, perhaps aided by rebels in the cities, advances against the Seleucid forces as far as Thrace and across the Hellespont, also capturing some islands off the Asia Minor coast, but Antigonus II Gonatus of Macedon in about 244 is able to maintain his hegemony in the Aegean by defeating the Egyptian fleet at Andros.

Ptolemy is meanwhile able to march with his army through the distraught Seleucid realm, penetrating deep into Mesopotamia and reaching at least Seleucia on the Tigris, near Babylon. (According to classical sources, he is compelled to halt his advance because of domestic troubles. Famine and a low Nile, as well as the hostile alliance between Macedon, Seleucid Syria, and Rhodes, are perhaps additional reasons.)

The war in Asia Minor and the Aegean intensifies as the Achaean League allies itself to Egypt, while Seleucus, maintaining himself in the interior of Asia Minor, secures two allies in the Black Sea region.

To consolidate his position, Seleucus is forced to concede territory in Anatolia to the rulers of Cappadocia and …