Philip II Philoromaeus (
Ancient Greek: Φίλιππος ὁ Φιλορωμαῖος, "Friend of the Romans") or Barypous (Βαρύπους, "Heavy-foot"), a ruler of the
HellenisticSeleucid Empire, was the son of the Seleucid king
Philip I Philadelphus, and the last Seleucid king.
Biography
Philip II himself briefly ruled parts of Syria in the 60s BC, as a
client king under
Pompey. He competed with his second cousin
Antiochus XIII Asiaticus for the favours of the great Roman general, but Pompey would have none of them and had Antiochus murdered. No coins of Philip II are known, which is unusual for Seleucid rulers (the ephemeral
Seleucus V Philometor is the only other king for whom this is the case). This may indicate that Philip did not rule in any of the mint cities.
Philip may have survived his deposition: a Seleucid prince Philip is mentioned as a prospective bridegroom to queen
Berenice IV of Egypt, sister of
Cleopatra VII in 56 BC. The union was, however, checked by the Roman governor of Syria
Aulus Gabinius who probably had Philip II killed.
Philip himself was indeed an insignificant pawn, but with him ended eleven generations of Seleucid kings, arguably some of the most influential rulers of the
Hellenistic world.
Keil, Josef; Wilhelm, Adolf (1931). Denkmäler aus dem Rauhen Kilikien. Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua (in German). Vol. III. Manchester: The University Press. p. 64.
OCLC769301925.
Dobláš, Josef (1924). "Φίλιππος Βαρύπους. Příspěvek к Dějinám Posledních Seleukovců". Listy Filologické/Folia Philologica (in Czech). 51 (4/5). Centre for Classical Studies at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
ISSN0024-4457.
JSTOR23454237.