Antiochus V Eupator (reigned 164-162 BC), was only nine when he succeeded as head of the Seleucid dynasty. The kingdom was governed in his name by Camarilla.

Their government was feeble and corrupt. The attempt to check the Jewish rebellion ended in a weak compromise. Their subservience to Rome so enraged the Greek cities of Syria that the Roman envoy Gnaeus Octavius (consul 165 BC) was assassinated in Laodicea (162). At this juncture Demetrius, the son of Seleucus IV, escaped from Rome and was received in Syria as the true king.

Antiochus Eupator was put to death.