Editing Alexander Balas (section)

===Reign (150–147 BC)===
[[Image:Rare marriage commemorative of Alexander I Balas and Cleopatra Thea.jpg|thumb|Marriage commemorative of Alexander I Balas and [[Cleopatra Thea]].]]
Alexander gained control of Antioch at this time and his chancellor, Ammonius, murdered all the courtiers of Demetrius I, as well as his wife [[Laodice V|Laodice]] and his eldest son Antigonus.<ref>Livy, ''Periochae'' 50; {{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=132 n. 33}}</ref> [[Ptolemy VI Philometor]] of Egypt entered into an alliance with Alexander, which was sealed by Alexander's marriage to his daughter [[Cleopatra Thea]]. The wedding took place at Ptolemais, with Ptolemy VI and Jonathan Apphus in attendance. Alexander took the opportunity to shower honours on Jonathan, whom he treated as his main agent in Judaea.<ref>I Maccabees 10.61-65; Josephus ''AJ'' 13.80-85</ref><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=131–2}}</ref> The marriage was advertised by a special coinage issue, depicting the royal pair side by side - only the second depiction of a queen on Seleucid coinage. She is shown with divine attributes (a [[cornucopia]] and a [[Calathus (basket)|calathus]]) and is depicted in front of the king. Some scholars have seen Alexander as little more than a Ptolemaic puppet, arguing that this coinage emphasises Cleopatra's dominance over him and that the chancellor Ammonius was a Ptolemaic agent.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Volkmann |first1=Hans |title=Demetrios I. und Alexander I. von Syrien |journal=Klio |date=1925 |volume=19 |issue=19 |page=406|doi=10.1524/klio.1925.19.19.373 |s2cid=194387728 }}; {{cite book|title=Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der späten Seleukiden (164–63 v. Chr.): Vom Tode des Antiochs IV. bis zur Einrichtung der Provinz Syria unter Pompeius|last1=Ehling|first1=Kay|date=2008 |location=Stuttgart |pages=155–156}}</ref> Other scholars argue that the alliance was advertised as an important one, but that the arguments for Alexander's subservience have been overstated.<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=167–169}}</ref>