To get to know our new ruler, we're going to recap his life up until his accession in 261 BCE at the age of about twenty-five. In addition, I'm going to pan out for a bit and give a lightning quick summary of what the political situation is like in the eastern Mediterranean and the broader Hellenistic world. Then, next time, we'll plunge back into everyone's favourite pastime: war with Egypt! Well, it's something for Antiochus II to do...

Sources for this episode: 1) Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I), London: Edward Arthur. Quotes: p.169, 171, 172. 2) Rawlinson, G. (1869) A manual of ancient history from the earliest times to the fall of the Western Empire, comprising the history of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judea, Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Rome, and Parthia. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (eBook) [Accessed 02/03/2021]. 3) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Antiochus Hierax (online) [Accessed 25/05/2021]. 4) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Antiochus II Theos (online) [Accessed 25/05/2021]. 5) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Ashoka (online) [Accessed 25/05/2021]. 6) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Laodice I (online) [Accessed 25/05/2021]. 7) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Laodice (wife of Mithridates II of Pontus) (online) [Accessed 25/05/2021]. 8) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Manuel Erotikos Komnenos (online) [Accessed 28/05/2021]. 9) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Nabatean Kingdom (online) [Accessed 25/05/2021]. 10) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Seleucus II Callinicus (online) [Accessed 25/05/2021].11) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Stratonice of Cappadocia (online) [Accessed 25/05/2021]. 12) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Stratonice of Syria (online) [Accessed 25/05/2021].