Scorecard - The Ptolemid-Seleucid or "Syrian" Wars

Arguably the longest generational conflict in Classical Antiquity, the nine wars between the two principal successor states of Alexander the Great’s empire, the Seleucid kingdom of Syria and Mesopotamia, and the Ptolemid kingdom of Egypt, involved over 40 years of direct fighting between 301 BC and 101 BC.  The ultimate goal of these wars was no less than absorption of one of these states by the other, to re-establish Alexander’s empire. 

As with all generational conflicts, the years when there was no direct war between the principal rivals were often characterized by indirect struggles, in which they fought through proxies or intervened in other conflicts in order to some secure advantage, as well as occasional periods of “détente,” and even dynastic marriages.

• First (274-271 BC):  Antiochus I, who ruled in Mesopotamia and Persia, and his son-in-law Magas of Cyrene, undertook a two-pronged offensive against Ptolemy II (Magas' half-brother!), who controlled Egypt and parts of Syria.  Ptolemy used his fleet, and an alliance with the Galatians, to good effect.  The war ended with Ptolemy in control of much of the coast of what are now Israel and Lebanon, as well as territories in modern Turkey.
• Second (260-253 BC): Tensions over influence in Asia Minor and other parts of the Hellenistic world led to a long, obscure war between Antiochus II and Ptolemy II, punctuated by various coups, plots, and betrayals, which ended in a draw.
• Third or "Laodike’s War” (246-241 BC): Antiochus II was murdered by his ex-wife Laodike, to insure that her son Seleucus II inherited the throne, leading to a civil war in the Seleucid lands, as the late king's second wife, Bernice of Egypt, had an infant son, also named Antiochus.  Ptolemy III of Egypt went to bat for his sister and her son, and when they were murdered, decided to conquer the Seleucid empire for himself.  In 241 BC, beset by internal problems, both sides agreed to a ten years' truce, which, amazingly, lasted for nearly 20! 
• Fourth (221-217 BC): Antiochus III ascended the Seleucid throne in 221, and began a series of wars with his neighbors to increase his power.  Although a weak ruler, Ptolemy IV, himself also recently ascended the throne, had some able subordinates, who just barely managed to beat off Antiochus’ first invasion, and then, reforming the army, went on to defeat Antiochus' second invasion, in 218-217, at the Battle of Raphia (June 22, 217 BC), the only occasion on which large numbers of African elephants were engaged against large numbers of Indian ones.  Peace followed, on the basis of status quo ante.
• Fifth (202-195): Antiochus III renewed hostilities against Ptolemy IV, by moving against his allies and dependencies.  He was successful on all fronts, essentially stripping the Ptolemids of their satellites in Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece itself, earning him the sobriquet, "The Great," but in the process provoked the first Romano-Syrian War (192-188 BC), which greatly chastened the king.
• Sixth (170-168):  The regents for 14 year old Ptolemy VI replaced him with his younger siblings, Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra II, so Antiochus IV came to the defense of his nephew.  For a time the Egyptians seemed likely to overthrow the Seleucid kingdom, but Antiochus turned the tables and very nearly managed to destroy Egypt.  The rival Egyptian royal siblings then reconciled and sought Roman aid to avert disaster.  At Eleusis, a suburb of Alexandria, Antiochus was confronted by Gaius Popilius Laenas, who told the king to evacuate Egypt.  Antiochus hesitated, so Popilius drew a circle around the royal feet and told him he had to decide before the stepped out of it.  Antiochus assented.  Antiochus did make some territorial gains, but the "Day of Eleusis" marked the end of both Ptolemid Egypt and Seleucid Syria as super powers.
• Side-Bars (168-101): There followed minor  internal -- sometimes not-so-minor -- problems in both the Seleucid and Ptolemid kingdoms, that continued off and on for decades, among them the Maccabean Wars (c. 168-160), in which the Judeans essentially overthrew Seleucid rule, and a protracted rebellion in southern Egypt, plus some homicidal dynastic squabbling, while from time to time the Romans stuck their noses in to keep things more or less calm, not to mention occasional intrusions by the Parthians.
• Seventh (148-145 BC):  Dynastic strife in the Seleucid kingdom led to the enthroning of Alexander Balas, who claimed, but most likely lacked, blood ties to the dynasty.  Seeing an opportunity, Ptolemy VI gave a daughter to the usurper.  When Alexander was ousted in a coup, Ptolemy led an army into Syria.  He was quite successful, and very nearly overran the entire kingdom, in which there were even appeals for him to assume the throne.  Wisely realizing that the Romans would never go for such an arrangement, Ptolemy decided to switch his support to the legitimate claimant, Demetrios II, to whom he gave his daughter, newly divorced from Alexander!  Then, during the final battle that secured the throne for Demetrios, Ptolemy fell from his horse, fracturing his leg, and shortly died of gangrene. 
• Eighth (128-123 BC): This was really a complex series of civil wars in the ruling families of both kingdoms, punctuated by occasional invasions of the one by the other, since the royal houses were so-intermarried.  For example, in 128 Demetrius II of Syria marched on Egypt to rescue his mother-in-law Cleopatra II from her brother-husband Ptolemy VIII (known as "Physcon -- the Sausage," due to his girth), whom she had driven out of the country, but who had returned to besiege her in Alexandria.  Peace came on the basis of status quo ante.
• Ninth (115-101 BC): Probably the most complicated of the wars, with violent conflicts in both the Ptolemid and Seleucid families, plus some intermarriage between the two.  It began with an internal struggle in the Ptolemid family, which saw Cleopatra IV flee into exile, and later marry Antiochus IX, himself beset by internal disputes. 

Finale: After the Ninth War, the Seleucid kingdom fell into permanent decline, beset with frequent coups and civil wars, was overrun by Armenia in 83 B.C., saw a brief revival under Roman auspices in 69 B.C., and then passed into Roman hands less than a decade later.  In the fall of 34 B.C., Marc Antony, on a collision course with Octavian, his erstwhile partner in dominating the Roman world, announced the “Donations of Alexandria,” giving the Roman territories of Cyrenaica, Libya, Syria, and Cilicia, as well as parts of Parthia that he had yet to conquer, to his business partner and lover Cleopatra of Egypt and her children, while declaring that her son Caesarian was the sole heir to Caesar (though Caesar himself had named Octavian), thus  effectively uniting the Seleucid lands with those of the Ptolemies.  In the process, of course, this insured Antony’s final break with Octavian and lost whatever credibility he still had with the Roman people, leading to the final Roman civil war (32-30 BC), that put an end to the Ptolemid Kingdom, not to mention the Roman Republic, which Octavian cleverly converted into a monarchy, assuming the title Augustus in 27 B.C.

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