Antiochus I Soter

Antiochus I Soter was a Seleucid king of the Seleucid Empire, born around 324 BC and dead on 2 June 261 BC. He was the son of Seleucus I Nicator and Apama, the Bactrian-Sogdian princess given in marriage to Seleucus by Alexander the Great, and he succeeded his father in 281 BC after the older king's assassination. His reign was a period of instability: a revolt broke out in Syria at once, he made peace with his father's murderer Ptolemy Ceraunus, and he fought the First Syrian War with Ptolemaic Egypt over Coele-Syria. His title Soter, meaning saviour, is traditionally linked to his victory over invading Gauls in Anatolia in 275 BC, won with Indian war elephants. He married his stepmother Stratonice, executed his eldest son Seleucus for rebellion, and was succeeded by his second son Antiochus II Theos. He is the last known ruler credited with the ancient Mesopotamian title King of the Universe.