Editing Alexander II Zabinas (section)

===War with Antiochus VIII, defeat and death===
[[File:Syria in 124 BC.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Syria in early 124 BC; Alexander II was in control of the country with the exception of the city of Ptolemais]]
Supported by the Egyptian troops, Antiochus VIII waged war against Alexander II, who lost most of his lands.{{sfn|Ehling|1998|p=149}} He lost Ashkelon in 189 SE (124/123 BC).{{sfn|Spaer|1984|p=230}} The final battle took place at an unknown location in the first half of 123 BC, ending with Alexander II's defeat.{{sfn|Ehling|1998|p=149}}{{sfn|Bellinger|1949|p=64}} Different ancient historians presented varying accounts of Alexander II's end. Josephus merely stated that the king was defeated and killed,{{sfn|Josephus|1833|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9sA5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA413 413]}} while Eusebius mentioned that Alexander II committed suicide with poison because he could not live with his defeat.{{sfn|Eusebius|1875|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1iNSAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA257 257]}} Most details are found in the accounts of Diodorus Siculus and Justin:{{sfn|Bellinger|1949|p=65}}
* In the account of Diodorus Siculus, Alexander II decided to avoid the battle with Antiochus VIII since he had no confidence in his subjects'{{sfn|Stronk|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sC1WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA521 521]}} aspirations for political change or their tolerance for the hardships that warfare would bring. Instead of fighting, Alexander II decided to take the royal treasuries, steal the valuables of the temples, and sail to Greece at night. While pillaging the temple of Zeus with some of his foreign subordinates, he was discovered by the populace and barely escaped with his life. Accompanied by a few men he went to Seleucia Pieria, but the news of his sacrilege arrived before him. The city closed its gates, forcing him to seek shelter in [[Ras al-Bassit|Posidium]]. Two days after pillaging the temple, Alexander II was caught and brought in chains to Antiochus VIII in his camp, suffering the insults and humiliation at the hands of his enemies. People who witnessed the indignation of Alexander II were shocked at the scene they thought could never happen. After accepting what had occurred in front of them was reality, they looked away with astonishment.{{sfn|Stronk|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sC1WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA522 522]}}
* In the account of Justin, Alexander II fled to Antioch following his defeat at the hands of Antiochus VIII. Lacking the resources to pay his troops, the king ordered the removal of a golden Nike from the temple of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] (Zeus), joking that "victory was lent to him by Jupiter". A few days later, Alexander II himself ordered the golden statue of Jupiter to be taken out under the cover of night. The city's populace revolted against the king, and he was forced to flee. He was later deserted by his men and caught by bandits; they delivered him to Antiochus VIII, who ordered him executed.{{sfn|Justin|1742|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3xlXAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA279 279]}}
[[File:Alex zabina.png|thumb|alt=Coin of Alexander II. The obverse depicts a bust of the king. The reverse depicts a seated Zeus|The golden stater probably minted using the spoils from [[Zeus]]' temple]]
Alexander II issued two series of gold staters. One bears his epithets and dates to 125 BC according to many numismatists, such as Oliver Hoover and Arthur Houghton, and another bearing only the title of king (''[[basileus]]''). Earlier numismatists, such as [[Edward Theodore Newell]] and [[Ernest Babelon]], who only knew about the 125 BC stater, suggested that it was minted with the gold pillaged from the temple. However, the iconography of that stater does not match that used for Alexander II's late coinage, as the diadem ties fall in a straight fashion on the neck. On the other hand, the arrangement of the diadem ties on the stater that lacks the royal epithets is more consistent with Alexander II's late tetradrachm, making it more reasonable to associate that stater with the Nike theft.{{#tag:ref|The association of the gold stater with the sacrilege act can be accepted only if the account of Justin is preferred to that of Diodorus Siculus, as he stated that Alexander II was caught only two days after pillaging the temple, giving the king no time to mint currency.{{sfn|Houghton|Lorber|Hoover|2008|p=449}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Houghton|Lorber|Hoover|2008|p=449}}

Though his last coins were issued in 190 SE (123/122 BC), ancient historians do not provide the explicit date of Alexander II's death.{{sfn|Schürer|1973|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oG5jAgAAQBAJ&pg=132 132]}} He probably died by October 123 BC since the first Antiochene coins of Antiochus VIII were issued in 190 SE (123/122 BC).{{sfn|Ehling|1998|p=150}}{{sfn|Bellinger|1949|p=65}} Damascus kept striking coinage in the name of Alexander II until 191 SE (122/121 BC), when the forces of Antiochus VIII took it.{{sfn|Bellinger|1949|p=65}} According to Diodorus Siculus, many who witnessed the king's end "remarked in various ways on the fickleness of fate, the reversals in human fortunes, the sudden turns of tide, and how changeable life could be, far beyond what anyone would expect".{{sfn|Stronk|2016|p=523}} No wife or children of Alexander II, if he had any, are known;{{sfn|Ogden|1999|p= 152}} with his death, the line of Antiochus IV became extinct.{{sfn|Wright|2008|p=538}}