Achaeus (general)
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Coin of Achaeus, with the legend Î'ΑΣIΛEΩΣ AΧAIOÎ¥. |
Achaeus (in
Greek Aχαιος; died
213 BC), was a general and later a separatist ruler of part of the
Greek Seleucid kingdom. He was the son of
Andromachus; the latter was sister of
Laodice, the wife of
Seleucus Callinicus and the mother of
Antiochus the Great. Achaeus himself married
Laodice, the daughter of
Mithridates II, king of
Pontus. He accompanied
Seleucus Ceraunus, the son of Callinicus, in his expedition across mount
Taurus against
Attalus, and after the assassination of Seleucus revenged his death; and though he might easily have assumed the royal power, he remained faithful to the family of Seleucus.
Antiochus, the successor of Seleucus, appointed him to the command of all
Asia on this side of mount
Taurus in
223 BC. Achaeus recovered for the Syrian empire all the districts which Attalus had gained; but having been falsely accused by
Hermeias, the minister of Antiochus, of intending to revolt, he did so in self-defence, assumed the title of king, and ruled over the whole of Asia on this side of the Taurus. As long as
Antiochus was engaged in the war with
Ptolemy, he could not march against Achaeus; but after a peace had been concluded with Ptolemy, he crossed the Taurus, united his forces with Attalus, deprived Achaeus in one campaign of all his dominions and took
Sardis with the exception of the citadel. Achaeus after sustaining a siege of two years in the citadel at last fell into the hands of Antiochus in
213 BC, through the treachery of Bolis, who had been employed by
Sosibius, the minister of Ptolemy, to deliver him from his danger, but betrayed him to Antiochus, who ordered him to be put to death immediately.
* Bement, R. B.;
The kingdom of Brass (1856)
*
Polybius;
Histories, Evelyn S. Shuckburgh (translator);
London -
New York, (1889)
*
Smith, William (editor);
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,
"Achaeus (2)",
Boston, (1867)
Polybius,
4.51.4,
8.22.11 Polybius,
4.2.6,
4.48,
5.40,
5.42,
5.57,
7.15–18,
8.17–23
