Editing Demetrius II Nicator (section)

====Victory over Alexander Balas====
About 147 BC he returned to Syria with a force of [[Cretan]] mercenaries led by a man called [[Lasthenes (mercenary leader)|Lasthenes]], while Alexander Balas was occupied with a revolt in [[Cilicia]]. In 145 BC [[Ptolemy VI Philometor]], king of Egypt, marched with an army into Syria ostensibly in support of Alexander Balas, but he soon switched his support to Demetrius, perhaps after receiving an offer to formalize the Ptolemaic occupation of [[Coele-Syria]].<ref>Grainger 2010, p, 351&ndash;355</ref> Ptolemy sealed the alliance by divorcing his daughter [[Cleopatra Thea]] from Alexander and remarrying her to Demetrius. Shortly after, Antioch surrendered to the Egyptian forces and offered the kingship to Ptolemy VI. However, he insisted Demetrius would become king, believing that Rome would not tolerate the unification of Egypt and Syria. Ptolemy pledged to serve as "a tutor in goodness and a guide" to Demetrius II. He probably intended for Demetrius to serve as a puppet ruler.<ref>[[I Maccabees]] 11; Josephus ''Antiquities of the Jews'' 13.106-107, 115</ref><ref name="Bevan Chap 9">{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Africa/Egypt/_Texts/BEVHOP/9*.html|title=E. R. Bevan: The House of Ptolemy • Chap. IX|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>{{sfn|Chrubasik|2016|pages=133–134}}

Alexander returned from Cilicia with his army, but Ptolemy VI and Demetrius II defeated his forces at [[Battle of the Oenoparus]] river.<ref>Strabo 16.2.8.</ref> Alexander then fled to Arabia, where he was killed. Ptolemy was wounded in the battle and died three days later.<ref>[[I Maccabees]] 11.1-11.19</ref> With both his rival and his self-appointed guardian gone, Demetrius took the opportunity to assert his control over his kingdom. By late 145, Demetrius II had expelled all Ptolemaic troops from Syria and reasserted Seleucid control by leading his own forces all the way down to the Egyptian border.<ref>Josephus, ''Antiquites of the Jews'' 13.120; ''[[Astronomical Diaries]]'' III.144 obv. 35</ref><ref name="Bevan Chap 9"/>{{sfn|Chrubasik|2016|pages=134–135}}