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Antiochus IV Epiphanes

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Monarch

The Resume

    (215 BC-December 164 BC)
    Born in Greece
    Original name was Mithradates
    Ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death
    Son of King Antiochus III the Great
    Known for his persecution of the Jews
    Successfully rebelled against by the Maccabees (168-65 BC)
    Defeat is associated with Hanukkah in Jewish tradition

Why he might be annoying:

    He was known for his offensive and inappropriate behavior in public spaces.
    Rabbinical sources refer to him as harasha ('the wicked').
    While he was in Egypt, a rumor spread that he had been killed, leading to revolt initially directed against other Jews who had adopted Greek ways, causing his appointed High Priest (Menelaus) to flee.
    The successful revolt caused him to come down on the city of Jerusalem with a vengeance (reportedly killing upwards of forty thousand in three days).
    He outlawed Jewish religious rites and traditions kept by observant Jews under penalty of death.
    He made the Temple an altar to Zeus, and sacrifices were to be made at the feet of an idol in his own image, which was generally the last straw for most people.
    He underestimated the guerilla forces of the Maccabees, who over a three-year period kicked the crap out of his generals and retook the city.
    After he heard that his army had been defeated in Judea, he boarded a ship and fled to the coastal cities.
    Wherever he docked the people called him 'The Fugitive,' so he drowned himself in the sea.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the first successful usurper in the history of the Seleucid realm.
    He is noted historically for his near-conquest of Egypt.
    Judah Maccabee reconsecrated the Temple of Jerusalem (December 14, 164 BC), an event which is commemorated by the holiday of Hanukkah.
    So, technically, Antiochus inadvertently gifted the world with an eight-night, eight-gift, nine-candle holiday.
    By all accounts, he died like a humiliated punk.
    After his death, power struggles between competing lines of the ruling dynasty heavily contributed to the collapse of the empire.
    Historians assess that his actions against the Jews were less motivated by religious ideology than a desire to assert his authority during a civil war (mainly because some areas of Judea were exempt from his policies).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


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