Heliodorus and the Assassination of Seleucus IV according to Dan 11:20 and 2 Macc 3

The impetus for the assassination of Seleucus IV in 175 B. C. E. is commonly associated with his robbing the temples and oppressing the peoples of the Seleucid kingdom in order to pay tribute to Rome according to the Treaty of Apamea. Reconsideration of the relevant evidence – especially Dan 11:20 and 2 Macc 3, with attention to a passage from Appian, inscriptions from Delos, the Heliodorus stele and the Ptolemaios dossier – suggests another explanation for these events. If Seleucus robbed the temples to finance his “royal splendor,” it is possible that Heliodorus and others tasked with taxing the kingdom may have objected to his controversial policies and taken action against him because of them.