ANTIOCHOS II THEOS (261-246 BC)

"Theos – The God" Antiochus Theos, after the death of his father, Antiochus I, became the ruler of the Seleucid Empire, which was still vast and largely intact. He spent the first year of his reign campaigning in Thrace and Asia Minor. Subsequently, he fought the Second Syrian War against Ptolemy II Philadelphus from 259 to 255 BCE, with Antigonus Gonatas as his ally. During this conflict, Antiochus managed to wrest part of Anatolia from the Ptolemies.

The marriage of Antiochus to Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy, sealed the peace treaty. Antiochus earned the epithet Theos ("God") from the city of Miletus in Asia Minor for liberating it from the tyranny of Timarchus. His successor was his son, Seleucus II, while his second son, Antiochus Hierax, was given control over Anatolia.