Seleucus VII Philometor

The last members of the once mighty Seleucid dynasty are shadowy figures; local dynasts with complicated family ties whose identities are hard to ascertain: many of them also bore the same names. Seleucus was unknown until recently. From coins issued by him and his mother, Ptolemaic princess Cleopatra Selene, it is presumed that he was her son by king Antiochus X Eusebes, and a brother of later king Antiochus XIII Asiaticus. He appears to have "reigned" during the occupation of Syria by Armenian king Tigranes (83-69 BC). In reality, only a few cities were loyal to the Seleucids during this period.

Some time after Tigranes had conquered Syria (83 BC), his mother travelled to Rome to have her sons recognized as kings of Egypt, but to no avail. They were there between at least 75 BC and 73 BC; recognized as "Kings of Syria", and "maintained a royal state".{{Aut|E.R. Bevan}}, The House of Seleucus, London, 1902, p. 263.

The young boy-king is probably the same Seleucus who later went to marry a Ptolemaic princess called Berenice IV on an unknown date (a sister of the famous Cleopatra VII of Egypt) to become co-regent of Egypt,{{Cite web|url=http://instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/berenice_iv.htm|title=Berenice IV}} but allegedly was murdered by the discontented bride for his lack of manners. He bore the derogatory name Kybiosaktes, the term for the foul-smelling work of cutting tuna fish.

In 2002, the numismatist Brian Kritt announced the discovery and decipherment of a coin bearing the portrait of Cleopatra Selene and a co-ruler. Kritt read the name of the ruler as Seleucus Philometor and, based on the epithet, identified him with Cleopatra Selene's son, unnamed by Cicero. Kritt gave the newly discovered ruler the regnal name Seleucus VII, and considered it very likely that he is identical with Kybiosaktes.{{cite journal|url=https://community.vcoins.com/celator-vol-16-no-04/|last=Kritt|first=Brian|year=2002|title=Numismatic Evidence For A New Seleucid King: Seleucus (VII) Philometor|journal=The Celator|publisher=Kerry K. Wetterstrom|volume=16|issue=4|issn=1048-0986|access-date=2022-10-01|archive-date=2018-10-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014553/https://community.vcoins.com/celator-vol-16-no-04/|url-status=dead}} But Hoover rejected Kritt's reading, noting that the coin was badly damaged and some letters were unreadable. Hoover read the king's name as Antiochus and identified him with Antiochus XIII.{{cite journal|last=Hoover|first=Oliver D.|year= 2005|title=Dethroning Seleucus VII Philometor (Cybiosactes): Epigraphical Arguments Against a Late Seleucid Monarch|journal= Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik|publisher=Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH|volume=151|issn=0084-5388}}

{{Portal|Asia|Egypt}}

• List of Syrian monarchs
• Timeline of Syrian history

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|first=Heinz|last=Heinen|chapter=Séleucos Cybiosactés et le Probléme De Son Identité|language=fr|title=Antidorum W. Peremans Sexagenario Ab Alumnis Oblatum|series=Studia Hellenistica|volume=16|publisher=Publications universitaire de Louvain|year=1968|editor-first=Lucien|editor-last=Cerfaux |display-editors=etal |oclc=876029154}}

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{{S-hou|Seleucid dynasty||Unknown||Unknown}}

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{{S-bef|before=Tigranes}}

{{S-ttl|title=Seleucid King (King of Syria)|years=83 BC–69 BC

|regent1=Cleopatra Selene I (83 BC–69 BC)

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{{S-aft|after=Antiochus XIII Asiaticus}}

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{{Hellenistic rulers}}

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Category:1st-century BC Seleucid monarchs

Category:Ancient Egyptian royal consorts

Category:Asian people whose existence is disputed

Category:Kings consort