Antiochus VII Eumenes, nick-named Sidetes (from Sidon), reigned 138–129 BC and was the last Seleucid king of any stature. The brother of Demetrius II, Antiochus was elevated after Demetrius' capture by the Parthians, also marrying his wife Cleopatra Thea. Their offspring was Antiochus IX, thus both half-brother and cousin of Seleucus V and Antiochus VIII. Sidetes defeated usurper Tryphon and laid siege to Jerusalem where, according to legends, the Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus bought him out by digging up the treasures of king Solomon's grave. Sidetes then attacked the Parthians, briefly taking back Mesopotamia before being ambushed and killed by Phraates II. His brother Demetrius II was by then released, but the Seleucid Empire was now restricted to Syria only.
