The Syrian Wars were a series of six conflicts between the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt and the Seleucid Empire, both successor states of Alexander the Great's empire. They were fought over Coele-Syria, the region between Egypt and Syria that includes Palestine and Phoenicia and controls trade routes and ports. The territory changed hands several times, and the Seleucid king Antiochus III finally took it from the Ptolemies at the battle of Panium around 200 BCE. The last of the wars ended when Antiochus IV invaded Egypt and was ordered by a Roman envoy, Popilius Laenas, to withdraw, a sign of the rising power of Rome in the eastern Mediterranean. Both kingdoms were weakened by this long rivalry.
Before and after
- from 280 BCE to 146 BCEFounding of Achaean League
- from 280 BCE to 275 BCEPyrrhic War
- from 279 BCE to 1480Construction of Lighthouse of Alexandria
- 276 BCEBirth of Eratosthenes
- from 274 BCE to 168 BCESyrian Wars
- c. 270s BCEAristarchus of Samos proposes that the Earth orbits the Sun
- from 267 BCE to 261 BCEChremonidean War
- from 264 BCE to 146 BCEPunic Wars
- from 264 BCE to 241 BCEFirst Punic War
More in Wars, politics & history
- c. 509 BCECleisthenes lays the foundations of Athenian democracy
- 335 BCEAlexander the Great crosses into Asia
- 217 BCEHannibal destroys the Roman army at Cannae
- from 59 BCE to 51 BCECaesar begins the conquest of Gaul
- 2 September 31 BCEOctavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra at Actium
- August 70 CEThe Romans destroy the Temple in Jerusalem
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 3rd century BCE.