Demetrius I Soter

Demetrius I Soter ("the savior"): name of a Seleucid king, ruled from 161 to 150.

Successor of: Antiochus V Eupator

Relatives:

Main deeds:

188: Peace of Apamea; Antiochus III the Great is forced to pay tribute to Rome, and to give his son Antiochus IV Epiphanes as hostage
187: Seleucus IV Philopator succeeds Antiochus III
178: Antiochus III is replaced as hostage by Seleucus' son Demetrius
175: When Seleucus is killed, Antiochus IV Epiphanes succeeds; Demetrius is left in Rome
November/December 164: death of Antiochus IV, who is succeeded by his son Antiochus V Eupator; Lysias acts as regent; in Media, revolt of Timarchus of Miletus
162: A Roman ambassador, Gnaeus Octavius, demands that the Seleucid navy is disbanded because its existence is a violation of the terms of the Peace of Apamea; the Antiochene mob kills Octavius; the Senate states that Antiochus V is responsible; several senators help Demetrius escape (Ptolemy VI Philometor and Polybius of Megalopolis were involved too)
after 29 October 162 and before September 161: Antiochus is overthrown and killed by Demetrius; Rome accepts the fait accompli and recognizes Demetrius; Timarchus proclaims himself king and invades Babylonia
Operations against the Maccabaean rebels in Judaea
161: Alcimus made high priest in Jerusalem
27 March 160: Judas the Maccabean defeats Nicanor at Adasa
April/May 160: Bacchides defeats Judas, who is killed in action; Jonathan succeeds his brother
160: Demetrius overthrows Timarchus and accepts the title Soter, "savior", from the grateful Babylonians
May 159: Death of Alcimus
158: Civil war in Cappadocia; Demetrius supports Orophernes II against Ariarathes V Philopator, who has refused the hand of Antiochus' sister Laodice V (widow of the Macedonian king Perseus); perhaps, king Demetrius married Laodice himself
156: End of the Cappadocian war; Orophernes defeated by Ariarathes, who is supported by Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamon
Summer 152: Revolt of Alexander I Balas, who is supported by Rome, the Seleucid princess Laodice VI, Attalus II, Ariarathes V of Cappadocia, and the Egyptian king Ptolemy VI Philometor
Jonathan also supports Alexander and is recognized as high priest (recognition of the Hasmonaeans); Judaean troops play a role in this civil war; after this, several quiet years in Judaea
June 150: Demetrius is defeated near Antioch

Succeeded by: Alexander I Balas

Sources:

1 Maccabees 7-10
2 Maccabees 14-15
Appian of Alexandria, Syrian Wars, 46-47
Diodorus of Sicily, Library of World History, 31.27a, 31.32
Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 12.389ff, 13.1ff, 13.35ff, 13.58ff
Livy, Periochae 46.12, 47.7, 48.28, 52.10
Polybius of Megalopolis, World History, 31.2, 31.11-15, 32.2, 32.10, 33.19