Hi there. You're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast. Episode 113, The War of the Three Kings. With the body of Demetrius Ithor lying mutilated in the swamps outside of Antioch,

Alexander Ballas was now the sole ruler of the Seleucid Empire. His was a victory won on multiple fronts,

sponsored by the many foreign kings who wished to bring down the ambitious Demetrius and

strengthen their influence over the weakening realm. Perhaps the most to gain from this victory

was Ptolemy the Sixth Philometer, whose dominion at one point was almost overwhelmed by the might of his

Syrian rivals. Now the tables were turned. A new Seleukid ruler was heavily indebted and owed his

crown to Egyptian support. And with his avaricious younger brother too busy indulging himself

in Kairini, the stars appeared to be aligning for a major shake-up in

Ptolemy's favor. One of Alexander Ballas's first acts as sole king was to purge the court of Antioch

from those in Demetrius's camp and installed a figure known as Ammonius as his key minister,

alongside other officials named Hyrax and Diodotus of Cassiana.

These were men that assisted in his war against the former Salucic King,

and Ammonius was given the responsibility of murdering many of the royal friends that were loyal to Demetrius,

along with Queen Laudyke the Fifth and her youngest son Antigonus. Though this violence was visited upon

the royal family, not all were caught in the slaughter. Shortly after Alexander made landfall in

coyly Syria in 152, Demetrius placed his two elder sons Demetrius and Antiochus in the protection

of one of his friends living

in the Carrion city of Nidus. He had done so as insurance lest the war did not go in his favor,

and that way at least some of his children could survive the bloodshed that would inevitably

follow, which proved to be an astute prediction. All they could do for now is remain in Asia Minor and bide their time

until they came of age. With the government secured with loyal followers, Bollus dispatched a messenger

to the court in Alexandria to alert them of his victory and make a proposition. He requested

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