Editing Alexander Balas (section)

===Origins and mission to Rome===
Alexander Balas claimed to be the son of [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] and [[Laodice IV]] and heir to the Seleucid throne. The ancient sources, [[Polybius]] and [[Diodorus]] say that this claim was false and that he and his sister [[Laodice VI]] were really natives of [[Smyrna]] of humble origin.<ref>Polybius 33.18.5-18; Diodorus ''Bibliotheca'' 31.32a.</ref> However, Polybius became friends with Balas's rival King Demetrius I when both were hostages in Rome, so Polybius is not an unbiased source on this matter.<ref>[[Edwyn Bevan|Bevan, Edwyn]].  [https://archive.org/details/houseseleucus00bevagoog/ The House of Seleucus] (1902).</ref>  Modern scholars disagree about whether the story of Attalus finding a commoner who looked the part is true or was propaganda put about by Alexander's opponents.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chrubasik |first1=Boris |title=[[Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire|Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire: The Men who would be King]] |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780198786924|pages=162 n. 139}}</ref>

According to Diodorus, Alexander was originally put forward as a candidate for the Seleucid throne by [[Attalus II]] of [[Pergamum]]. Attalus had been disturbed by the Seleucid king Demetrius I's interference in [[Cappadocia]], where he had dethroned king [[Ariarathes V]].<ref>Diodorus ''Bibliotheca'' 31.32a</ref> Boris Chrubasik is sceptical, noting that there is little subsequent evidence for Attalid involvement with Alexander.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chrubasik |first1=Boris |title=Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire: The Men who would be King |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780198786924|pages=130 and 163}}</ref> However, Selene Psoma has proposed that a large set of coins minted in a number of cities under Attalid control in this period was produced by Attalus II in order to fund Alexander's bid for the kingship.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Psoma |first1=Selene E. |editor1-last=Thonemann |editor1-first=Peter |title=Attalid Asia Minor: Money, International Relations, and the State |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |pages=265–300 |chapter=War or Trade? Attic-Weight Tetradrachms from Second-Century BC Attalid Asia Minor in Seleukid Syria after the Peace of Apameia and Their Historical Context}}</ref>

Alexander and his sister were maintained in [[Cilicia]] by Heracleides, a former minister of Antiochus IV and brother of [[Timarchus]], an usurper in [[Medes|Media]] who had been executed by the reigning king [[Demetrius I of Syria|Demetrius I Soter]].<ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Smith |first=Philip Peter |title=Alexander Balas |editor=William Smith |editor-link=William Smith (lexicographer) |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] |volume=1 |pages=114–115 |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |location=Boston |year=1867 |url=http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0123.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606005906/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0123.html |archive-date=2011-06-06 }}</ref> In 153 BC, Heracleides brought Alexander and his sister to [[Rome]], where he presented Alexander to the [[Roman Senate]], which recognised him as the legitimate Seleucid king and agreed to support him in his bid to take the throne. Polybius mentions that Attalus II and Demetrius I also met with the Senate at this time but does not state how this was connected to the recognition of Alexander - if at all.<ref>Polybius 33.18; {{cite book |last1=Chrubasik |first1=Boris |title=Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire: The Men who would be King |date=2016 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=9780198786924|pages=130}}</ref>