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{{short description|Ruler of the Seleucid Empire}}
{{about|the Seleucid King of the third century BC|the king of Commagene of the first century BC|Antiochus I Theos of Commagene}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Antiochus I
| title = {{unbulleted list
| [[Basileus]]
| [[King of the Universe]]}}
| image = [[File:Antiochos I Soter tetradrachm obverse.jpg]]
| caption = Silver tetradrachm of Antiochus I Soter, minted in Magnesia on Mt. Sipylus, featuring a portrait of Antiochus on the obverse. SC 318c
| succession = [[Basileus]] of the [[Seleucid Empire]]
| reign = September 281 – 2 June 261 BC
| predecessor = [[Seleucus I Nicator]]
| successor = [[Antiochus II Theos]]
| spouse = [[Stratonice of Syria|Stratonice]]
| issue = {{plainlist|
*Seleucus
*Laodice
*[[Apama II]]
*[[Stratonice of Macedon|Stratonice II]]
*[[Antiochus II Theos]]}}
| house = [[List of Seleucid rulers|Seleucid dynasty]]
| house-type = Dynasty
| father = [[Seleucus I Nicator]]
| mother = [[Apama]]
| birth_date = {{Circa|324 BC}}
| birth_place = [[Babylon]], [[Macedon]]
| death_date = 2 June 261 BC<br/>(aged 61–63)
| death_place =
| religion = [[Mesopotamian religion]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/mesopotamian-chronicles-content/antiochus-cylinder/#:~:text=The+Antiochus+Cylinder+describes+how,now+in+the+British+Museum.|title=Antiochus Cylinder - Livius|website=www.livius.org}}</ref> and [[Ancient Greek religion|Greek polytheism]]
}}
'''Antiochus I Soter''' ({{lang-grc-gre|Ἀντίοχος Σωτήρ}}, ''Antíochos Sōtér''; "Antiochus [[Soter|the Savior]]"; {{Circa|324/3}}{{snd}}2 June 261 BC) was a [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] king of the [[Seleucid Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=C. H. W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0PfuOOEZX1wC|title=Ancient Babylonia|date=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-60572-5|pages=135|language=en}}</ref> Antiochus succeeded his father [[Seleucus I Nicator]] in 281 BC and reigned during a period of instability which he mostly overcame until his death on 2 June 261 BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/antiochus-i-soter/?|title=Antiochus I Soter|work=Livius}}</ref> He is the last known ruler to be attributed the ancient Mesopotamian title [[King of the Universe]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stevens|first=Kathryn|date=2014|title=The Antiochus Cylinder, Babylonian Scholarship and Seleucid Imperial Ideology|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0075426914000068/type/journal_article|journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies|language=en|volume=134|pages=73|doi=10.1017/S0075426914000068|issn=0075-4269}}</ref>

==Biography==
Antiochus's father was [[Seleucus I Nicator]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Antiochus I Soter {{!}} Seleucid king|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antiochus-I-Soter|access-date=2021-07-25|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Antiochus I Soter - Livius|url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/antiochus-i-soter/?|access-date=2021-07-25|website=www.livius.org}}</ref> and his mother was [[Apama]], daughter of [[Spitamenes]],<ref>Magill, Frank N. et al. (1998), ''The Ancient World: Dictionary of World Biography, Volume 1'', Pasadena, Chicago, London,: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Salem Press, p. 1010, {{ISBN|0-89356-313-7}}.</ref><ref>Holt, Frank L. (1989), ''Alexander the Great and Bactria: the Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia'', Leiden, New York, Copenhagen, Cologne: E. J. Brill, pp 64–65 (see footnote #63 for a discussion on [[Spitamenes]] and [[Apama]]), {{ISBN|90-04-08612-9}}.</ref> being one of the princesses whom [[Alexander the Great]] had given as wives to his generals in 324 BC.<ref> [[Arrian]], [https://archive.org/details/L269ArrianAnabasisOfAlexanderI57/page/n215 ''Anabasis'' 7.4.6]</ref><ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Seleucid Dynasty|display=Seleucid Dynasty s.v. Antiochus I. Soter |volume=24|page=604}}</ref> The Seleucids fictitiously claimed that Apama was the daughter of [[Darius III]], in order to legitimise themselves as the inheritors of both the Achaemenids and Alexander, and therefore the rightful lords of western and central Asia.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shahbazi |first1=A. Sh. |title=Apama |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/apama-women-achaemenid-and-hellenisiic |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref>

In 294 BC, prior to the death of his father [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus I]], Antiochus married his stepmother, [[Stratonice of Syria|Stratonice]], daughter of [[Demetrius Poliorcetes]]. The ancient sources report that his elderly father reportedly instigated the marriage after discovering that his son was in danger of dying of [[lovesickness]].<ref>[[Plutarch]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Demetrius*.html#38 ''Demetrius'', 38] gives the most famous account of this tale. See also [[Appian]], [https://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-the-syrian-wars/appian-the-syrian-wars-12/#59 ''Syr''. IX.59]</ref> Stratonice bore five children to Antiochus: Seleucus (later executed for rebellion), Laodice, [[Apama II]], [[Stratonice of Macedon|Stratonice II]] and [[Antiochus II Theos]], who succeeded his father as king.

The ''Ruin of Esagila Chronicle'', dated between 302 and 281 BC, mentions that a crown prince, most likely Antiochus, decided to rebuild the ruined [[Babylon]]ian temple [[Esagila]], and made a sacrifice in preparation. However, while there, he stumbled on the rubble and fell. He then ordered his troops to destroy the last of the remains.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/mesopotamian-chronicles-content/bchp-6-ruin-of-esagila-chronicle/|title=BCHP 6 (Ruin of Esagila Chronicle)|work=Livius}}</ref>

On the assassination of his father in 281 BC, the task of holding together the empire was a formidable one. A revolt in [[Syria]] broke out almost immediately. Antiochus was soon compelled to make peace with his father's murderer, [[Ptolemy Keraunos]], apparently abandoning [[Macedon]]ia and [[Thrace]]. In [[Anatolia]] he was unable to reduce [[Bithynia]] or the Persian dynasties that ruled in [[Cappadocia]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 278 BC the [[Galatia|Gaul]]s broke into Anatolia, and a victory that Antiochus won over these Gauls by using Indian [[war elephants]] (275 BC) is said to have been the origin of his title of ''Soter'' ([[Greek language|Greek]] for "saviour").<ref name="EB1911"/>

At the end of 275 BC the question of [[Coele-Syria]], which had been open between the houses of Seleucus and [[Ptolemy I of Egypt|Ptolemy]] since the partition of 301 BC, led to hostilities (the [[Syrian Wars#First Syrian War .28274-271 BC.29|First Syrian War]]). It had been continuously in [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic]] occupation, but the [[Seleucid Empire|house of Seleucus]] maintained its claim. War did not materially change the outlines of the two kingdoms, though frontier cities like [[Damascus]] and the coast districts of Asia Minor might change hands.<ref name="EB1911"/>

{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=270|caption_align=center
| align = left
| direction =vertical
| header=Cylinder of Antiochus I
| image1 = Antiochus cylinder with transcription.jpg
| caption1 = [[Antiochus cylinder|Cylinder of Antiochus]], as great king of kings of [[Babylon]], restorer of the temples [[Esagila|E-sagila]] and [[E-zida]]. Written in traditional [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], a voluntary archaism meant to convey prestige.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haubold |first1=Johannes |title=Greece and Mesopotamia: Dialogues in Literature |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107010765 |page=135 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85sLLYY-owgC&pg=PA135 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Andrade |first1=Nathanael J. |title=Syrian Identity in the Greco-Roman World |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107244566 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ROhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Antiochus cylinder |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1351032&partId=1&object=23121&page=1 |website=British Museum}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wallis Budge |first1=Ernest Alfred |title=Babylonian Life and History |date=1884 |publisher=Religious Tract Society |page=[https://archive.org/details/babylonianlifea03budggoog/page/n114 94] |url=https://archive.org/details/babylonianlifea03budggoog |language=en}}</ref>
| footer=
}}

In 268 BC Antiochus I laid the foundation for the Ezida Temple in [[Borsippa]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/pdf/oelsner2002.pdf|title=Hellenization of the Babylonian Culture?|last=Oelsner|first=Joachim|date=2000|website=The Melammu Project|access-date=6 June 2017}}</ref> His eldest son Seleucus had ruled in the east as viceroy from c. 275 BC until 268/267 BC; Antiochus put his son to death in the latter year on the charge of rebellion. Around 262 BC Antiochus tried to break the growing power of [[Pergamum]] by force of arms, but suffered defeat near [[Sardis]] and died soon afterwards.<ref name="EB1911"/> He was succeeded in 261 BC by his second son [[Antiochus II Theos]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.attalus.org/translate/malalas.html|title=Johannes Malalas - translation|last=Smith|first=Andrew|website=www.attalus.org|access-date=2017-06-06}}</ref>

===Ai-Khanoum===
[[File:Antiochos I Soter Ai Khanoum mint.jpg|thumb|Coin of Antiochos I Soter, [[Ai-Khanoum]] mint.]]
Recent analysis strongly suggests that the city of [[Ai-Khanoum]], located in [[Takhar Province]], northern [[Afghanistan]], at the confluence of the [[Panj River]] and the [[Kokcha River]] and at the doorstep of the [[Indian subcontinent]], was founded c. 280 BC by Antiochus I.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lyonnet |first=Bertille |title=Questions on the Date of the Hellenistic Pottery from Central Asia (Ai Khanoum, Marakanda and Koktepe) |journal=Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia |volume=18 |year=2012 |pages=143–173 |doi=10.1163/157005712X638672 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Martinez-Seve |first=Laurianne |title=The Spatial Organization of Ai Khanoum, a Greek City in Afghanistan |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=118 |issue=2 |year=2014 |pages=267–283 |doi=10.3764/aja.118.2.0267 |s2cid=194685024 }}</ref>

===Relations with India===
Antiochus I maintained friendly diplomatic relations with [[Bindusara]], ruler of the [[Maurya Empire]] of India. [[Deimachus|Deimachos of Plateia]] was the ambassador of Antiochus at the court of Bindusara. The 3rd century Greek writer [[Athenaeus]], in his ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'', mentions an incident that he learned from [[Hegesander (historian)|Hegesander]]'s writings: Bindusara requested Antiochus to send him sweet [[wine]], dried [[common fig|figs]] and a [[sophist]]. Antiochus replied that he would send the wine and the figs, but the Greek laws forbade him to sell a sophist.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|pp=34–35}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=38}}

Antiochus is probably the Greek king mentioned<ref name="Charpentier">Jarl Charpentier, "Antiochus, King of the Yavanas" ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London'' '''6'''.2 (1931: 303–321) argues that the Antiochus mentioned was unlikely to be Antiochus II, during whose time relations with India were broken by the Parthian intrusion and the independence of Diodotus in Bactria, and suggests instead the half-Iranian Antiochus I, with stronger connections in the East.</ref> in the [[Edicts of Ashoka]], as one of the recipients of the Indian Emperor [[Ashoka]]'s [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[proselytism]]:
[[File:Antiochos I elephant.jpg|thumb|Antiochos I coin. [[Antioch]] mint. Macedonian shield with Seleucid anchor in central boss. [[War elephant|Elephant]] walking right.]]

{{quote|And even this conquest [preaching Buddhism] has been won by the Beloved of the Gods here and in all the borderlands, as far as six hundred [[yojana]]s (5,400–9,600 km) away, where Antiochus, king of the [[Yona|Yavanas]] [Greeks] rules, and beyond this Antiochus four kings named [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy]], [[Antigonus Gonatas|Antigonos]], [[Magas of Cyrene|Magas]] and [[Alexander II of Epirus|Alexander]] rule.<ref>Translation of Jarl Charpentier 1931:303–321.</ref>}}

Ashoka also claims that he encouraged the development of [[herbal medicine]], for men and animals, in the territories of the Hellenic kings:
{{quote|Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's [Ashoka's] domain, and among the people beyond , the [[Chola]]s, the [[Pandya]]s, the Satiyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as the borders [[Tamraparni]] and where the Greek king Antiochus rules, and among the kings who are neighbors of Antiochos, everywhere has Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, made provision for two types of medical treatment: medical treatment for humans and medical treatment for animals. Wherever medical herbs suitable for humans or animals are not available, I have had them imported and grown. Wherever medical roots or fruits are not available I have had them imported and grown. Along roads I have had wells dug and trees planted for the benefit of humans and animals.<ref>[[Edicts of Ashoka]], 2nd Rock Edict.</ref>}}

Alternatively, the Greek king mentioned in the Edict of Ashoka could also be Antiochus's son and successor, [[Antiochus II Theos]], although the proximity of Antiochus I with the East may makes him a better candidate.<ref name="Charpentier"/>

==Neoclassical art==
[[File:David-Antiochus et Stratonice.jpg|thumb|''Antiochus and Stratonica'' (1774), [[Jacques-Louis David]], [[École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts]].]]
[[File:Theodoor van Thulden Antiochus and Stratonice.jpg|thumb|''Antiochus und Stratonike'', [[Theodoor van Thulden]] (1669).]]
[[File:Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres - La maladie d'Antiochus, ou Antiochus et Stratonice - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Antiochus and [[Stratonice of Syria|Stratonice]] by [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]].]]
The love between Antiochus and his stepmother Stratonice was often depicted in [[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical art]], as in a painting by [[Jacques-Louis David]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation |last=Kosmin |first=Paul J. |author-link=Paul J. Kosmin |title=The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in the Seleucid Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9UWdAwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |date=2014 |isbn=978-0-674-72882-0 }}
* {{citation |last=Mookerji |first=Radha Kumud |author-link=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |title=Chandragupta Maurya and his times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C |edition=4th |year=1988 |orig-year=first published in 1966 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=81-208-0433-3 }}
*{{cite book|last=Traver|first=Andrew G.|title=From Polis to Empire, the Ancient World, c. 800 B.C.-A.D. 500: A Biographical Dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/frompolistoempir00andr|url-access=registration|access-date=7 September 2013|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313309427}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Antiochus I}}
* [https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_syriaca_00.html Appianus' ''Syriaka''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119142414/https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_syriaca_00.html |date=2015-11-19 }}
* [https://www.livius.org/am-ao/antiochus/antiochus_i_soter.html Antiochus I Soter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019034406/http://www.livius.org/am-ao/antiochus/antiochus_i_soter.html |date=2016-10-19 }}: fact sheet at [[Livius.org]]
* [https://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/chron00.html Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenic Period] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001014820/https://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/chron00.html |date=2012-10-01 }}
* [http://virtualreligion.net/iho/antiochus_1.html Antiochus I Soter] entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
* [http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/pdf/oelsner2002.pdf Hellenization of the Babylonian Culture?]
* [http://coinindia.com/galleries-greek-antiochos.html Coins of Antiochus I]

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid dynasty]]||{{Circa|324}}/323 BC||261 BC}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Seleucus I Nicator]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Seleucid rulers|Seleucid ruler]]|years=281–261 BC}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Antiochus II Theos]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Hellenistic rulers}}
{{Early Rulers of Mesopotamia}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antiochus 01 Soter}}

Antiochus I - Revision history

CleanupBot at 05:23, 24 November 2023