Demetrius II Nicator

Demetrius II Nicator (Ancient Greek: Δημήτριος Β`, Dēmḗtrios B; Ancient Greek: Νικάτωρ, Nikátōr, "Victor"; died 125 BC) was one of the sons of Demetrius I Soter. His mother may have been Laodice V, as was the case with his brother Antiochus VII Sidetes. Demetrius ruled the Seleucid Empire for two periods, separated by a number of years of captivity in Hyrcania in Parthia, first from September 145 BC to July/August 138 BC, and again from 129 BC until his death in 125 BC. His brother Antiochus VII ruled the Seleucid Empire in the interim between his two reigns.

When he was a young boy, Demetrius' father Demetrius I fought Alexander Balas for control of the Seleucid throne. Somewhat surprisingly, Balas won, and Demetrius' father, mother, and older brother were all killed. The young Demetrius II fled to Crete, where he was raised by his guardians.

In 147 BC, while Alexander Balas was occupied with a revolt in Cilicia, Demetrius returned to Syria with a force of Cretan mercenaries led by a man called Lasthenes. In 145 BC Ptolemy VI Philometor, king of Egypt, marched an army into Syria ostensibly in support of Alexander Balas, but he soon switched his support to Demetrius, perhaps after receiving an offer to formalize the Ptolemaic occupation of Coele-Syria. Ptolemy sealed the alliance by divorcing his daughter Cleopatra Thea from Alexander and remarrying her to Demetrius. Shortly after, Antioch surrendered to the Egyptian forces and offered the kingship to Ptolemy VI. However, he insisted Demetrius would become king, believing that Rome would not tolerate the unification of Egypt and Syria. Ptolemy pledged to serve as "a tutor in goodness and a guide" to Demetrius II. He probably intended for Demetrius to serve as a puppet ruler.

Alexander returned from Cilicia with his army, but Ptolemy VI and Demetrius II defeated his forces at Battle of the Oenoparus river. Alexander then fled to Arabia, where he was killed. Ptolemy was wounded in the battle and died three days later. With both his rival and his self-appointed guardian gone, Demetrius took the opportunity to assert his control over his kingdom. By late 145, Demetrius II had expelled all Ptolemaic troops from Syria and reasserted Seleucid control by leading his own forces all the way down to the Egyptian border.

However, new troubles soon arose. Once he had expelled the Egyptian forces, he demobilised a large portion of his army. It appears that his financial situation led him to cut the soldiers' wages and debase the coinage. Demetrius had also punished the city of Antioch severely for having supported Alexander against his father and for speaking to him disrespectfully. He disarmed the citizens and the Cretan mercenaries under Lasthenes slaughtered those who resisted, including women and children. This led the Antiochenes to rise up and besiege Demetrius in his palace. Jewish troops violently restored Demetrius' control, burning down a large portion of the city in the process. This left the city even more hostile to him.

In order to secure his hold on power, Demetrius had eliminated officials associated with Alexander Balas. One of these officials, the general Diodotus, fled into Arabia, where he secured the infant son of Alexander Balas with Cleopatra Thea and proclaimed him king as Antiochus VI Dionysus. Many of Demetrius' soldiers defected to Diodotus, out of anger at his conduct or the cuts to their pay. Demetrius was defeated in battle and lost control of Apamea and Antioch to Diodotus. Numismatic evidence indicates that Apamea was lost in early 144 and Antioch in late 144 or early 143.

Demetrius proved unable to retake the capital, instead establishing himself in Seleucia Pieria. Antiochus VI died in 142 or 141, and Diodotus made himself king as Tryphon. The division of the kingdom between Demetrius in Seleucia and Diodotus in Antioch persisted. Initially, Diodotus succeeded in bringing the leader of the Jews, Jonathan Apphus, onto his side, but this relationship broke down; ultimately Diodotus captured and executed Jonathan. By means of adroit diplomacy and grants of extensive freedoms, Demetrios II was able to secure Jonathan's brother Simon Thassi as a close ally. These grants were later seen by the Hasmonean Jewish state as the moment when they achieved full independence.

Mithridates I, king of Parthia had taken advantage of the conflict between Demetrius and Tryphon to seize control of Susa and Elymais in 144 and of Mesopotamia in mid-141 BC. In 139/8, Demetrius journeyed east to reclaim these territories from the Parthians. As late as 140 vassal rulers of Persis, Elam, and even Bactria sent auxiliary troops (mostly persians and babylonians) to support Demetrius II in his war against the Parthians.