Editing Seleucus VI Epiphanes (section)

==Name, family and early life==
[[File:Antiochus VIII.jpg|264px|thumb|alt=A coin struck by Antiochus VIII of Syria (reigned 125-96 BC). Portrait of Antiochus VIII on the obverse; depiction of Zeus holding a star and staff on the reverse|Coin of [[Antiochus VIII Grypus|Antiochus VIII]], father of Seleucus VI]]
"Seleucus" was a dynastic name in the [[List of Seleucid rulers|Seleucid dynasty]],{{#tag:ref|It was customary to name the eldest son after the dynasty's founder [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus I]], while a younger son would be named Antiochus.{{sfn|Taylor|2013|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=CIJsBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 9]}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Bevan|2014|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=T4g9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 56]}}{{sfn|Hoover|1998|p= [https://archive.org/stream/AJNSecond1998Vols10to10#page/n89/mode/2up 81]}} and it is the [[Ancient Macedonian language|Macedonian]] variant of the Greek {{lang|grc|Ζάλευκος}} ({{Transliteration|grc|zaleucus}}), meaning 'the shining white'.{{efn|The linguist [[Radoslav Katičić]] considered it comparable to {{lang|grc|λευχός}}, meaning 'white'.{{sfn|Katičić|1976|p= [https://archive.org/stream/AncientLanguagesOfTheBalkans/Ancient%20Languages%20of%20the%20Balkans#page/n55/mode/2up 113]}} The name Zaleucus is etymologically related to brightness. The historian [[Frank Adcock]] agreed with the linguist [[:de:Otto Hoffmann (Sprachwissenschaftler)|Otto Hoffmann]] who considered Seleucus and Zaleucus different pronunciations of the same name.{{sfn|Adcock|1927|p= 97}}{{sfn|Hoffmann|1906|p= [https://archive.org/stream/diemakedonenihre00hoffuoft#page/174/mode/2up 174]}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Libanius|1992|p= 111}}{{sfn|Ogden|2017|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=-M8oDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 11]}} [[Antiochus VIII Grypus|Antiochus VIII]] married the [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic]] Egyptian princess [[Tryphaena]] in {{circa}} 124{{spaces}}BC,{{sfn|Otto|Bengtson|1938|pp= 103, 104}} shortly after his ascension to the throne; Seleucus VI was the couple's eldest son.{{#tag:ref|Ancient sources do not mention the name of Seleucus VI's mother but it is generally assumed by modern scholars that she was Tryphaena, who was mentioned explicitly by [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] as the mother of Seleucus VI's younger brothers [[Antiochus XI Epiphanes|Antiochus XI]] and [[Philip I Philadelphus|Philip I]].{{sfn|Bennett|2002|p= note 7}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Ogden|1999|pp= 153, 156}} From 113{{spaces}}BC, Antiochus VIII had to contend with his half-brother [[Antiochus IX Cyzicenus|Antiochus IX]] for the throne. The civil war continued for more than a decade;{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=9UWdAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 23]}} it claimed the life of Tryphaena in 109 BC,{{sfn|Wright|2012|pp=11}} and ended when Antiochus VIII was assassinated in 96{{spaces}}BC.{{sfn|Ogden|1999|pp=153–154}} In the aftermath of his brother's murder, Antiochus IX advanced on the capital [[Antioch]] and took it; he also married the second wife and widow of Antiochus VIII, [[Cleopatra Selene of Syria|Cleopatra Selene]].{{sfn|Dumitru|2016|pp= 260–261}} According to an inscription, the city of [[Priene]] sent honors to "Seleucus son of King Antiochus son of King [[Demetrius II Nicator|Demetrius]]"; the embassy probably took place before Seleucus VI ascended the throne as the inscription does not mention him as a king.{{sfn|Sumner|1978|p=150}} The embassy of Priene probably met Seleucus VI in [[Cilicia]]; Antiochus VIII might have sent his son to that region as a [[strategos]].{{sfn|Dumitru|2016|p= 262}}