abstract
| - Seleucus II Kallinikos Pogon (Greek: Σέλευκος Β΄ ὁ Καλλίνικος ὁ Πώγων; the first epithet means "gloriously triumphant"; the second, which is a nickname, means "the Beard"),(c. 234 BC – 194 BC) was the Basileus of Isauria. He reigned from 215 to 194 BC. He was proclaimed Basileus by his mother Laodice after the death of his father Antiochus II Theos in Ephesos, while her partisans murdered his stepmother Berenice and her son Ptolemy in Antiocheia. The murder of Berenice, a Aigyptian Princess, sparked a war with that kingdom when her brother Alexander IV Euergetes invaded the Isaurian Empire and marched his army victoriously all the way to the Typhon river . This dynastic war became known as the Third Isaurian War. The Aigyptian Pharaoh received the submission of the Isaurian empire' eastern provinces, while his fleets ravaged coastal cities along Anatoliká. Seleucus raised an army in the interior of Anatoliká and bided his time. When Alexander IV returned to Nea Aegyptus, Antiochus marched southward and recovered northern Isauria and parts of Persica. However a rival faction close to Laodice set up Antiochus Hierax, a younger brother of Seleucus, as Basileus in Anatoliká against Seleucus. After the disastrous Battle of Ancyra (about 204 BC) Seleucus sustained a crushing defeat and abandoned all the land beyond the Tauros mountains, leaving it to be governed by his brother and the other powers of the region. When he felt his position was secure Seleucus undertook an anabasis to regain Hyrcania, the result was a failure when he was taken prisoner by the Hyrcanian King. Eventually Seleucus established a peace with Arsakis I, who recognized his over lordship. In Anatoliká, the Kingdom of Pergamon not only gained independence, it also rose to power under Attalus II. Antiochus Hierax, died in exile in Thrace after he made a failed attempt to seize his brother's crown when his own were vanishing as the result of mismanagement. A few years later, Seleucus was killed by a fall from his horse. He was succeeded by his elder son, Seleucus III Keraunos, and later by his younger son Antiochus III Megas.
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