The capital of Characene, Alexandria, was originally founded by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great, with the intention of using the town as a leading commercial port for his eastern capital of Babylon.
However, the city never lived up to its expectations, and was destroyed in the mid 3rd-century BC by floods.
It was not until the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes that the city was rebuilt and renamed Antiochia.
After the city was fully restored in 166/5 BC, Antiochus IV appointed Hyspaosines as governor (eparch) of Antiochia and its surroundings.

During this period Antiochia briefly flourished, until Antiochus IV's abrupt death in 163 BC, which weakened Seleucid authority throughout the empire.
With the weakening of the Seleucids, many political entities within the empire declared independence, such as the neighbouring region of Characene, Elymais, which was situated in most of the present-day province of Khuzestan in southern Iran.
Hyspaosines, although now a more or less independent ruler, remained a loyal subject of the Seleucids.
Hyspaosines' keenness to remain as a Seleucid governor was possibly due to avoid interruption in the profitable trade between Antiochia and Seleucia.
The capital of Characene, Alexandria, was originally founded by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great, with the intention of using the town as a leading commercial port for his eastern capital of Babylon. However, the city never lived up to its expectations, and was destroyed in the mid 3rd-century BC by floods. It was not until the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes that the city was rebuilt and renamed Antiochia. After the city was fully restored in 166/5 BC, Antiochus IV appointed Hyspaosines as governor (eparch) of Antiochia and its surroundings. 
During this period Antiochia briefly flourished, until Antiochus IV's abrupt death in 163 BC, which weakened Seleucid authority throughout the empire. With the weakening of the Seleucids, many political entities within the empire declared independence, such as the neighbouring region of Characene, Elymais, which was situated in most of the present-day province of Khuzestan in southern Iran. Hyspaosines, although now a more or less independent ruler, remained a loyal subject of the Seleucids. Hyspaosines' keenness to remain as a Seleucid governor was possibly due to avoid interruption in the profitable trade between Antiochia and Seleucia.
Hyspaosines