Dichalkon - Alexander I Balas

Alexander I Balas seized the Seleucid throne by claiming to be a son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes — a claim widely doubted in antiquity and almost certainly fabricated, reportedly promoted by Attalus II of Pergamon and others who wanted a pliable pretender against Demetrius I. Rome recognized him diplomatically in 152 BC, lending the fiction enough credibility to hold. His reign lasted only until 145 BC, when Demetrius II and Ptolemy VI Philometor combined against him. Bronze civic issues of this type circulated in Syria during that narrow, unstable window before the dynasty lurched into its next dynastic war.