Noumenios

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Noumenios was a Seleucid general and the governor (satrap) of Mesene, also known as Characene, with the capital at Antiochia in Susiana. He is said to have defeated the Persians sometime in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE.

The ancient writer Pliny calls Noumenios’ king “Antiochos,” but it isn’t clear which Antiochos this refers to. The battle would have happened before 190–189 BCE, the date of the Battle of Magnesia when Antiochos III was defeated by Rome; some place the events during the reign of Antiochos IV. Pliny states that Noumenios, appointed by Antiochos, defeated the Persians at sea and on land on the same day and erected a twofold trophy to Jupiter and Neptune in commemoration.

This story is often used to illustrate a tense relationship between the Persis rulers (the Frataraka) and the Seleucid Empire in that era. Persis may have become independent sometime between 205 BCE, when Antiochos III visited Persis peacefully, and 190–189 BCE, the latest possible date for Noumenios’ victory if Magnesia is the reference point.