Editing Alexander II Zabinas (section)

===Epithets and royal image===
[[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] kings did not use [[regnal number]]s, which is a modern practice; instead, they used epithets to distinguish themselves from similarly named monarchs.{{sfn|McGing|2010|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=D8kjH-4ehf4C&pg=247 247]}}{{sfn|Hallo|1996|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=SbsEtMon-dEC&pg=PA142 142]}} The majority of Alexander II's coins did not feature an epithet,{{sfn|Fleischer|1991|p=75}} but the 125 BC series of gold staters bore the epithets ''Theos'' ''Epiphanes'' (god manifest) and ''Nikephoros'' (bearer of victory). Three bronze issues, one of them minted in [[Seleucia Pieria]], are missing the epithet ''Theos'' but retain ''Epiphanes'' and ''Nikephoros''.{{sfn|Houghton|Lorber|Hoover|2008|p=449}} Those epithets, an echo of those of Antiochus IV's, served to emphasise the legitimacy of Alexander II as a Seleucid king.{{sfn|Houghton|Lorber|Hoover|2008|p=444}}

[[Alexander the Great]] (d. 323 BC), founder of the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)#Empire|Macedonian Empire]], was an important figure in the Hellenistic world; his successors used his legacy to establish their legitimacy. Alexander the Great never had his image minted on his own coins,{{sfn|Rice|2010|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-aFtPdh6-2QC&pg=PA33 33]}} but his successors, such as the Ptolemaics, sought to associate themselves with him; cities were named after him, and his image appeared on coins.{{sfn|Wallace|2018|p= 164}} In contrast, the memory of Alexander the Great was not important for Seleucid royal ideology.{{#tag:ref|The image of Alexander the Great appeared on the coinage of the first Seleucid king [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus I]], who used his predecessor's memory to legitimise his rule.{{sfn|Erickson|2013|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nwiuoKUoyEQC&pg=PA110 110], [https://books.google.com/books?id=nwiuoKUoyEQC&pg=PA112 112]}} On the other hand, Seleucus I's successors, starting with his son [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochus I]], dropped Alexander the Great's image from their coinage, and derived their legitimacy from the deified Seleucus I.{{sfn|Wright|2005|p=71}} However, the "Alexander portrait type", based on the image of Alexander created by his immediate successors, was the base for the royal portrait type used by the Seleucid monarchs. The "Alexander portrait type" is characterised by the upward gaze of the king, and an anastolic hair (a cut where the hair arises off-centre from the forehead, allowing it to fall over it, forming a fringe, and the remaining hair falling on the shoulders, forming a mane or crown).{{sfn|Plantzos|1999|p=54}}{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=196}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Hoover|2002|p=54}}{{sfn|Dahmen|2007|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=BcZ9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 15]}} However, Alexander I and Alexander II, both having Egyptian support, were the only Seleucid kings who paid particular attention to Alexander the Great by depicting themselves wearing the lion scalp, a motif closely connected to the Macedonian king.{{sfn|Hoover|2002|pp=54, 56}} By associating himself with Alexander the Great, Alexander II was continuing the practice of Alexander I, who used the theme of Alexander the Great to strengthen his legitimacy.{{#tag:ref|Alexander I, in contrast to all previous kings, was probably born out of wedlock to Antiochus IV and a concubine, and he was called a bastard by the second century historian, [[Appian]].{{sfn|Wright|2011|p= 43}} Since Antiochus IV was a deified king, Alexander I used the epithet ''theopator'' (son of the god), which emphasised his divine descent and paid no attention to his mother whose status was insignificant for a god's son. By using the iconography of Alexander the Great, Alexander I was alluding to the fact that a son of a deity does not need conventional legitimacy, since Alexander the Great was said to be the son of [[Amun#Greece|Zeus-Amon]] instead of his actual father, [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]].{{sfn|Wright|2011|p= 44}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Wright|2011|pp= 44{{ndash}}45}}
[[File:Alexander II dyonisus.jpg|thumb|alt= Coin of Alexander II. On the obverse, the bust of the god Dionysus surrounded by ivy leaves is shown. On the reverse the statue of a standing winged Tyche is depicted|Coin minted by Alexander II depicting [[Dionysus]] on its obverse]]
The native Syro-Phoenician religious complex was based on triads that included a supreme god, a supreme goddess, and their son; the deities taking those roles were diverse. It is possible that by 145 BC Dionysus took the role of the son.{{sfn|Wright|2005|pp= 77, 78}} The [[Levant]] was a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural region, but the religious complex was a unifying force. The Seleucid monarchs understood the possibility of using this complex to expand their support base amongst the locals by integrating themselves into the triads.{{sfn|Wright|2005|p= 77}} Usage of the radiate crown, a sign of divinity, by the Seleucid kings, probably carried a message: that the king was the consort of [[Atargatis]], Syria's supreme goddess.{{#tag:ref|Wright proposed the hypothesis regarding the connection between the Seleucid radiate crowns and Atargatis. He considered it likely, but difficult to prove, that a radiate crown indicates a ritual marriage between the goddess and a king.{{sfn|Wright|2005|p= 79}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Wright|2005|pp= 79, 80}} The radiate crown was utilised for the first time at an unknown date by Antiochus IV, who chose [[Manbij|Hierapolis-Bambyce]], the most important sanctuary of Atargatis, to ritually marry [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]], considered a manifestation of the Syrian goddess in the Levant.{{sfn|Wright|2005|pp= 74,78}} Alexander I's nickname, Balas, was probably used by the king himself. It is the Greek rendering of [[Baal|Ba'al]], the Levant's supreme god. By using such an epithet, Alexander I was declaring himself the embodiment of Ba'al. Alexander I also used the radiate crown to indicate his ritual marriage to the supreme goddess.{{sfn|Wright|2005|p= 81}} Alexander II made heavy use of the motifs of Dionysus in his coins.{{sfn|Ehling|1995|p= 5}} It is possible that, by utilising Dionysus, the son of the supreme god, Alexander II presented himself as the spiritual successor of his god-father, in addition to being his political heir.{{sfn|Wright|2005|p= 81}}