Demetrius III Eucaerus

Who was Demetrius III Eucaerus?

Demetrius III, called Eucaerus and Philopator, was a ruler of the Seleucid kingdom, the son of Antiochus VIII Grypus and his wife Tryphaena.

By the assistance of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, king of Egypt, he recovered part of his father's Syrian dominions ca. 95 BC, and held his court at Damascus, from where he tried to enlarge his dominions. To the south he defeated the Maccabean king Alexander Jannaeus in battle, following an assistance request of Jewish rebels, but the hostility of the local Jewish population forced him to withdraw. While attempting to dethrone his brother, Philip I Philadelphus, he was defeated by the Arabs and the Parthian Empire, and taken prisoner. He was kept in confinement in Parthia by Mithridates II until his death in 88.