List of Syrian monarchs

[Image:SASH D050 Map of ancient syria.jpg|200px|thumb|The region of Syria]
The title King of Syria appeared in the second century BC in referring to the Seleucid kings who ruled the entirety of the region of Syria. It was also used to refer to Aramean kings in the Greek translations of the Old Testament, mainly indicating the kings of Aram-Damascus. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the region came under the rule of France, the United Kingdom and Prince Faisal of Hejaz, who was proclaimed King of Syria on 8 March 1920. Faisal's reign lasted a few months before he was overthrown by France and the title fell out of use.

Background

The term Syria was first applied by Herodotus in the 5th century BC to indicate a region generally extending between Anatolia and Egypt. With the advent of the Hellenistic period, Greeks and their Seleucid dynasty used the term "Syria" to designate the region between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. The usage of the name in referring to the region during the Iron Age is a modern practice.

List of monarchs

Seleucid dynasty

According to Polybius, King Antigonus I Monophthalmus established the Syrian kingdom which included Coele-Syria. The Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great defeated the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the Battle of Panium ; he annexed the Syrian lands controlled by Egypt and united them with his Syrian lands, thus gaining control of the entirety of Syria. Starting from the 2nd century BC, ancient writers, such as Polybius and Posidonius, began referring to the Seleucid ruler as the king of Syria. The evidence for this title's usage by the kings is provided by the inscription of Antigonus son of Menophilus, who described himself as the "admiral of Alexander, king of Syria".

Portrait	Monarch	Reign	Consort	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Antiochus III the Great	200–187 BC	Laodice III Euboea	Son of Seleucus II Callinicus and Laodice II. He appointed his eldest son Antiochus (son of [Antiochus III the Great)\|Antiochus], who preceded him in death, as co-king. Antiochus III's second wife is attested in the hostile work of Polybius and the story is debated.
	Antiochus III the Great)\|Antiochus]	200–193 BC	Laodice IV	Son and co-king of Antiochus III.
110px	Seleucus IV Philopator	187–175 BC	Laodice IV	Son of Antiochus III and Laodice III. He married Laodice IV, his brother Antiochus' widow.
110px	Antiochus	175–170 BC	Unmarried	Son of Seleucus IV and Laodice IV. The minister Heliodorus held real power, then Antiochus was made co-king by his uncle Antiochus IV.
110px	Antiochus IV Epiphanes	175–164 BC	Laodice IV	Son of Antiochus III and Laodice III. Married his brother's widow.
110px	Antiochus V Eupator	164–162 BC	Unmarried	Son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and possibly Laodice IV. His regent Lysias held actual power.
110px	Demetrius I Soter	162–150 BC	Laodice V	Son of Seleucus IV and Laodice IV. Might have married his sister Laodice V, the former wife of Perseus of Macedon.
110px	Antiochus	150 BC		Known from a coin minted in the same year Demetrius I lost his throne; his identity is left to speculations.
110px	Alexander I Balas	150–145 BC	Cleopatra Thea	Claimed to be a son of Antiochus IV. He could have been an illegitimate son of Antiochus by a concubine named Antiochis.
110px	Demetrius II Nicator	145–138 BC	Cleopatra Thea	Son of Demetrius I and possibly Laodice V. First reign; Ptolemy VI Philometor of Egypt divorced his daughter Cleopatra Thea from Alexander I and married her to Demetrius.
110px	Antiochus VI Dionysus	144–142/141 BC	Unmarried	Son of Alexander I and Cleopatra Thea. Was proclaimed king against Demetrius II by general Diodotus Tryphon who held actual power and eventually killed Antiochus.

Non-dynastic

Diodotus Tryphon, who opposed Demetrius II by raising Antiochus VI to the throne, killed his protege and declared himself king ruling until 138 when the Seleucids unified Syria again.

Portrait	Monarch	Reign	Consort	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Diodotus Tryphon	142/141–138 BC		Last coins date to 138 BC but his reign might have lasted into early 137 BC.

Antonian dynasty

Hashemite dynasty

On 8 March 1920, prince Faysal of the House of Hashim, supported by the Syrian National Congress, declared himself king of the Arab Kingdom of Syria; the kingdom collapsed on 24 July of the same year.

Portrait	Name	Reign	Consort	Standard	Notes
image:King Faisal I of Syria in [July 1920.jpg\|110px]	Faisal	8 March 1920 – 24 July 1920	Huzaima bint Nasser	110px	Son of Hussein bin Ali and Abdiyah bint Abdullah of Mecca.

Biblical usage for Aramean kings

In the first translation of the Old Testament into Greek written during the third century BC, Aram and Arameans were often translated as Syria and the Syrians; hence, the king was referred to as the king of Syria, and this was carried on by many English translations. Aram in the Hebrew Old Testament and Syria in the translation indicated the kingdom of Aram-Damascus most of the times. Occasionally, other Aramean regions were also referred to as Syria. In the view of W. Edward Glenny, the rendering of Aram by Syria might be explained by an anti-Syrian bias, since at the time of the translation, Syria belonged to the Seleucids, the Jews' main enemy; Aram-Damascus was the Jews' enemy during its Iron Age prime in the 9th century BC.