Early life and succession Antiochus V was only nine years old when he succeeded to the kingship, following the death in
Persia of his father
Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his mother
Laodice IV. The general Lysias, who had been left in charge of
Syria by Epiphanes, served as regent for the child, although he was challenged by other generals. The
Roman Senate still kept
Demetrius, son of
Seleucus IV and the rightful heir to the throne, as a hostage, refusing to release him because they considered it better to have Syria nominally ruled by a boy and his regent than the 22-year-old Demetrius.
Downfall and death When the Roman Senate heard that the Syrian kingdom kept more warships and elephants than allowed by the
Treaty of Apamea made in 188 BC, they sent a Roman embassy to travel along the cities of Syria and attempted to cripple Seleucid military power by sinking the Syrians' warships and
hamstringing their elephants. Lysias dared do nothing to oppose the Romans, but his subservience so enraged his Syrian subjects that the Roman envoy
Gnaeus Octavius was assassinated in
Laodicea in 162 BC. At this juncture Demetrius escaped from Rome and was received in Syria as the true king. Antiochus V Eupator was soon put to death together with his protector Lysias. ==See also==