(Ephiphanes) (fl. second century B.C.E.) King of Syria and Pergamum, modern Turkey He asked PTOLEMY VI PHILOMETOR (r. 180–164/163–145 B.C.E.) to aid him in ruling the remains of the crumbled Macedonian Empire. Alexander Balas slew Demetrius I Soter, the heir of the Syrian Seleucid Dynasty. When DEMETRIUS II NICATOR, the son of Demetrius I, met Alexander Balas in battle, he avenged his father’s death. Alexander Balas had maintained Egyptian support and the approval of the Senate of Rome until the fateful battle that ended his life.
