A counter-king who emerged in the chaos following the Seleucidian loss of Mesopotamia to the Parthians, Zabinas was the alleged son of Alexander Balas, in his turn likely a faux son of Antiochus IV. He was a mere pawn of the exiled Egyptian king Ptolemaios VIII Gryphon[?] - who at this time ruled only Cyprus - as a means of thwarting the regime in Alexandria. After the murder of the legitimate king Demetrios II (supported by Alexandria), Zabinas ruled parts of Syria (129-123 B.C.) until he in his turn was defeated by Demetrios' son Antiochus VIII Grypus. Zabinas is a derogative name meaning "the bought one".
... insane), and also inherited Aragon, Navarre, Granada, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and Spanish America[?]. After the death of his other grandfather, Maximillian, in 1519, he ...