THIRD PERIOD.

History of the kingdoms and states which arose upon the dismemberment of the Macedonian Monarchy after the battle of Ipsus.

I. History of the Syrian empire under the Seleucidæ, B. C. 312—64.

Sources. Neither for the history of the Syrian, nor for that of the Egyptian and Macedonian kingdoms, has any eminent writer been preserved. The fragments of the lost books of Diodorus, and, from the time that these kingdoms became allies of Rome, those of Polybius, several narratives of Livy, the Syriaca of Appian, and a few of Plutarch's Lives, are the principal authorities; too frequently we are obliged to rely upon the extracts of Justin. For the history of the Seleucidæ, in consequence of the political connection between these princes and the Jews, the Antiquities of Josephus and the book of Maccabees become of importance. Besides these authorities, the many coins that have been preserved of these kings, afford much information respecting their genealogy and chronology.

Of modern publications on the subject, the principal work is

Vaillant, Imperium Seleucidarum sive historia regum Syriæ, 1681, 4to. The enquiry is principally grounded on coins, as is the case with

Froelich, Annales rerum et regum Syriæ. Viennæ, 1754.

Seleucus Nicator,

1. The kingdom of the Seleucidæ was founded in Upper Asia by Seleucus Nicator. It was an extensive empire; but, being composed of various countries united only by conquest, it could possess but little internal stability except what it derived from the power of its rulers. That power fell with the founder; and the transfer of the seat of empire from the banks of the Tigris to Syria, entangled the Seleucidæ in all the political disputes of the western world, and facilitated the insurrection of the upper provinces. The history of this kingdom divides itself into the periods before and after the war with Rome; although at the breaking out of this war the seeds of its decline and fall had already been sown.

Seleucus received, 321, Babylon as his province; but after the defeat of Eumenes was obliged to take to flight, 315, in order to avoid subjection to the conqueror Antigonus. But his moderate government had rendered him so popular, that after the victory won by Ptolemy over Demetrius at Gaza, 312, he could safely venture to return with only a few adherents to Babylon. In this year commences the kingdom of the Seleucidæ.

founds the kingdom of the Seleucidæ. B. C. 313. 311.

2. In the ten following years, and while Antigonus was busied in Asia Minor, Seleucus laid the foundation of his power over all Upper Asia, with a facility to which the detestation excited by the rigid government of Antigonus mainly contributed. After his victory over Nicanor of Media, all in that quarter declared spontaneously for him; and the unsuccessful expedition of Demetrius taught Antigonus himself, that it would no longer be prudent to assert his claims. As early as 307, Seleucus was in possession of all the countries between the Euphrates, Indus, and Oxus.

Campaign against India, 305.

3. Great campaign in India undertaken by Seleucus against king Sandracottus. He penetrated as far as the Ganges, and the close alliance he formed with the Indian sovereign lasted a long time after, and was kept up by embassies. The great number of elephants which he brought back with him was not the only advantage accruing from this expedition; the intercourse with the east seems to have been permanently reestablished.

Seat of government removed into Syria, 301.

4. By the battle of Ipsus Seleucus added to his dominions the greater part of the territories of Antigonus;—Syria, Cappadocia, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. Unfortunately Syria now became the head province, notwithstanding Cœle-Syria and Phœnicia were left in the hands of Ptolemy. How widely different would have been the course of historic events, had the seat of empire remained at Seleucia on the Tigris, and the Euphrates continued to be the western boundary of the Seleucidæ!

5. Reciprocal relations between the several kings, who now combine in forming a kind of political system, in which continued exertions to maintain a balance of power by alliance and marriage are plainly discernible.

Connection between Seleucus and Demetrius Poliorcetes, by the marriage of the former with the beautiful Stratonice, daughter of the latter; made with the view of counterbalancing a similar connection between Ptolemy and Lysimachus; Lysimachus and his son Agathocles having united themselves with two daughters of Ptolemy.

Long peace in Asia, 301—283.

6. The eighteen years of tranquillity enjoyed by Asia after the battle of Ipsus, prove that Seleucus was one of the few followers of Alexander who had any genius for the arts of peace. He either founded or embellished a vast number of cities, the most important of which were the capital, Antiochia in Syria, and the two Seleucias, one on the Tigris, the other on the Orontes: the flourishing prosperity of several of these places was the result of the restoration of eastern trade; new channels for which appear to have been opened at this period on the main streams of Asia, and more particularly on the Oxus.

The empire divided into satrapies.

7. The home department of his empire was organized into satrapies, of which there were seventy-two. But Alexander's maxim, "to give the satrapies to natives," was wholly forgotten by his followers; and the Seleucidæ were not long before they experienced the evil consequences of swerving from that practice. Under such a prince as Seleucus scarce any kingdom could of itself fall to pieces; but the king himself paved the way for the dismemberment of his empire, by ceding 293. Upper Asia, together with his consort Stratonice, to his son Antiochus; not, however, without the previous approbation of the army.

Conquest of Asia Minor. 282. 281.

8. War with Lysimachus, kindled by ancient jealousy, and now fomented by family feuds. The battle of Curopedion cost Lysimachus his throne and his life; and Asia Minor became a part of the Syrian realm. But as Seleucus was crossing over to Europe, to add Macedonia to his dominions, he fell by the hand of an assassin, Ptolemy Ceraunus, and with him the splendour of his kingdom was extinguished.

Antiochus Soter, 281—262.

9. The reign of his son, Antiochus I. surnamed Soter, seemed not unprosperous, inasmuch as the empire preserved its former extension; but in any state founded upon conquest, the failure of new attempts at an increase of territory is a sure token of approaching ruin; and this was the case here.—In such a state, the more immediately all depends on the person of the ruler, the more rapid and sensible are the effects of degeneration in a family like that of the Seleucidæ.

The late conquests of his father in Asia Minor entangled Antiochus in new wars; although, by the marriage of his stepdaughter Phila with Antigonus Gonatas, he ceded his claims on Macedonia, 277.—Fruitless attempt at subjecting Bithynia, 279; the king of that country, Nicomedes, calls in the Gauls, who had invaded Macedonia, and gives them a settlement in Galatia, 277, where they keep their footing, even after the victory won over them by Antiochus, 275, and by their participation in the wars, as mercenaries, become of importance.—The newly risen state of Pergamus likewise thrives, at the expense of the Syrian empire, in spite of Antiochus's attack, 263; and the inroad into Egypt, for the purpose of supporting the rebel Magas, is anticipated by Ptolemy II. 264.

Antiochus Theus, 262—247. Rise of the Parthian and Bactrian kingdoms.

10. Antiochus II. surnamed Θεός. During his reign the sway was in the hands of women; and the diseased state of the interior of the empire became palpable by the secession of various eastern provinces, out of which arose the Parthian and Bactrian kingdoms. The boundless luxury of the court hurried on the decline of the ruling family; having once begun to sink, it could not without difficulty have retrieved its virtue independently of the matrimonial connections now constantly formed from within itself.

Ascendancy of his stepsister and wife Laodice, and of his sister Apame, relict of Magas; the latter involves him in war with Ptolemy II. to vindicate her claims upon Cyrene; it ends by Antiochus's marriage with Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy, and his repudiation of Laodice, 260—252. Having, after the death of Ptolemy, 247, put away Berenice and taken back Laodice; the latter, distrusting his motives, cuts him off by poison.—The secession of Parthia happened in consequence of the expulsion of the Macedonian governor by Arsaces, founder of the house of the Arsacidæ: that of Bactria, on the other hand, was brought about by the Macedonian governor himself, Theodotus, who asserted his independence. (Concerning these two kingdoms, see below, book iv. period iii. Dist. Kingdoms iv. parag. 4, 5.) At first, the former of these kingdoms comprised but a part of Parthia; the latter only Bactria, and, perhaps, Sogdiana; both, however, were soon enlarged at the expense of the Seleucidæ.

Seleucus Callinicus, 247—227.

11. Seleucus II. surnamed Callinicus. His reign, twenty years in duration, is one unbroken series of wars; in which the kingdom, already enfeebled, was subverted, partly by the struggle with Egypt, caused by the hatred between Laodice and Berenice; partly by the jealousy of his brother Antiochus Hierax; and partly by vain attempts at recovering the upper provinces.

Assassination of Berenice, and most unfortunate war thereby kindled with Ptolemy Evergetes of Egypt, 247—244. The assistance which Seleucus obtains from his junior brother, Antiochus, governor of Asia Minor, induces Ptolemy to a truce, 243; but another war ensues between the two brothers, in which Antiochus, at first conqueror, is himself soon afterwards conquered in his turn, 243—240; and during this contest, Eumenes of Pergamus greatly increases his territory at the expense of Syria, 242.—His first campaign against Arsaces, who had formed an alliance with the Bactrian king, ended in a defeat, 238, regarded by the Parthians as the real epoch of the foundation of their kingdom. In the second campaign, 236, he himself fell into the hands of the Parthians, and remained a prisoner till the day of his death, 227.

Seleucus Ceraunus, 227. 224.

12. His elder son Seleucus III. surnamed Ceraunus, on the point of taking the field against Attalus king of Pergamus, was removed by poison. But the dominion of the Seleucidæ was reestablished in Asia Minor by his mother's fraternal nephew, Achæus; and the crown ensured to the younger brother Antiochus, governor of Babylon.

Antiochus the Great, 224—187.

13. The long reign of Antiochus III. surnamed the Great, is not only the most eventful in Syrian history, but likewise marks an epoch, by the relations now commencing between Syria and Rome.—To earn the title of great was a task of no extreme difficulty in such a line of princes.

Insurrection in Media and Persia. 218. 220.

14. Great power of Hermias the Carian, who soon became so formidable to the young monarch, that he was obliged to rid himself of him by murder. The great stand made by the brothers, Molo and Alexander, satraps of Media and Persia, who probably had an understanding with Hermias, threatened the king with the loss of all the upper provinces: it ended in the defeat of Molo, Hermias being at last no longer able to hinder the king from marching against him in person.

War with the Ptolemies: insurrection of Asia Minor, 220. 219. 217. 216.

15. The intrigues of Hermias excited Achæus to rebellion in Asia Minor: but Antiochus held more important, first to execute the plan he had previously traced, of ejecting the Ptolemies from their possessions in Syria; great as the success which at first attended this expedition, it was completely traversed by the battle of Raphia.—Combining with Attalus of Pergamus, Antiochus then defeated Achæus, who, being shut up in the citadel of Sardes, was treacherously delivered into his hands.

Campaign in the upper provinces, 214—205. 210. 206.

16. Great campaign of Antiochus in the upper provinces, in consequence of the seizure of Media by Arsaces III.—Hostilities ended in a compact, by which Antiochus agreed formerly to cede Parthia and Hyrcania; Arsaces, on his side, pledging himself to furnish assistance against Bactria.—But the war with Bactria was also followed by a peace, leaving the king, Euthydemus, in possession of his crown and dominions.—The expedition now undertaken by Antiochus, in company with Demetrius of Bactriana, against India, extended, probably far up the country, and was attended with important consequences to Bactriana. (See below, history of Bactria, book iv. per. iii. Dist. Kingdoms iv. parag. 5.)

The result of these great expeditions was the establishment of the supremacy of the Seleucidæ in Upper Asia; those countries excepted which had been formally resigned.

On his return through Arachotus and Carmania, where he wintered, he likewise undertook a naval expedition on the Persian gulf: here Gerrha, in possession of its freedom, appears a flourishing place of trade.

War with Egypt, 203.

17. Resumption of the plan against Egypt, after the death of Ptolemy Philopator; and alliance with Philip of Macedonia, then carrying on war in Asia. Antiochus, it is true, attained his end in the expulsion of the Ptolemies from their possessions in Syria, Cœle-Syria, and Phœnicia; but then, his success brought him in contact with 203—198. Rome, an event of decisive importance to himself and his successors.

War with Rome. 197. 195.

18. Growth of the disputes between the king and Rome, proceeding from the conquest of the major part of Asia Minor and the Thracian Chersonesus; meanwhile Hannibal had taken refuge at the Syrian court, and the probability daily increased of a great league being formed against Rome, although that power, after conquering Carthage, 201, and Macedonia, 197, had succeeded in winning over Greece even, by the magic spell of freedom. But Antiochus ruined all: instead of following Hannibal's advice, and attacking the Romans on their own ground, he stood on the defensive, and suffered himself to be invaded by them in Asia. His defeat at Magnesia near Mount Sipylus compelled him to accede to such 190. conditions as Rome chose to dictate, and the power of the Syrian empire was for ever broken.

For the history of this war, see below in the Roman history. Book v. per. ii. parag. 10, 11.

Conditions of peace with Rome.

19. The conditions of the peace were: 1st. That Antiochus should evacuate Asia Minor; (Asia cis Taurum.) 2nd. That he should pay down 15,000 talents; and to Eumenes of Pergamus four hundred. 3rd. That Hannibal and some others should be delivered up, and the king's younger son Antiochus, be given as an hostage.—The loss of the surrendered countries was a consequence of this peace, less disadvantageous to the Syrian kings, than the use made of it by the conquerors. By adding the greatest part of the ceded territories to those of the kings of Pergamus, the Romans raised up alongside of their enemy a rival, whom they might at their own will use as a political engine against him.—Rome took care likewise that the stipulated sum should be paid by instalments in twelve years, to the end that Syria might be kept in a permanent state of dependence.

Seleucus Philopator, 187—176.

20. Murder of the king, 187. The reign of his elder son, Seleucus IV. surnamed Philopator, was a period of tranquillity; peace arising from weakness.—Though once he unsheathed his sword in defence of Pharnaces king of Pontus, against Eumenes, his fear of Rome soon compelled him to restore it to the scabbard. He exchanged his son for his brother at Rome; but fell a victim to the ambition of his minister Heliodorus.

Antiochus Epiphanes, 176—164.

21. Antiochus IV. surnamed Epiphanes. Educated at Rome, he sought to combine the popular manners of a Roman with the ostentatious luxury of a Syrian; and thereby became an object of universal hatred and contempt. Our information respecting his history is too meagre to allow of our deciding whether most of the evil reported of him, in the Jewish accounts especially, may not be exaggerated. At any rate, among all his faults, we may still discern in him the germs of good qualities.

His war against Egypt, 172—168:

22. War with Egypt, springing out of Ptolemy Philometor's claims upon Cœle-Syria and Palestine. Obscure as many parts are in the history of this war yet it is evident that success attended the arms of Antiochus, and that he would have become master of Egypt had not Rome interfered.

The pretext for war, on the Egyptian side, was, that those provinces had by Antiochus III. been promised as a dowry to Cleopatra, sister of Antiochus and the mother of Philometor: Antiochus Epiphanes, on his side, laid claim to the regency of Egypt, as uncle to the young king, who, however, was soon declared of age.—Opening of the war, and victory won by Antiochus at Pelusium, 171; in consequence of which Cyprus is betrayed into his hands.—Pelusium is fortified with a view of insuring the possession of Cœle-Syria, and of facilitating an irruption into Egypt.—Another victory, 170, and Egypt subdued as far as Alexandria. Philometor driven by a sedition out of Alexandria, where his brother Physcon is seated on the throne, falls into the hands of Antiochus, who concludes with him a most advantageous peace, and takes his part against Physcon. Hence siege is laid to Alexandria, 169; attended with no success. Upon the retreat of Antiochus, Philometor, concluding a separate peace with his brother, according to which both are to rule in conjunction, is admitted into Alexandria. Antiochus, bitterly enraged, now declares war against both brothers, who crave assistance from Rome: he once more penetrates into Egypt, 168; where the Roman ambassador, Popillius, assumes so lofty a tone, that the Syrian king is glad to purchase peace by the surrender of Cyprus and Pelusium.

his intolerance:

23. The religious intolerance of Epiphanes, exhibited in his wish to introduce the Grecian worship everywhere among the subjects of his empire, is the more remarkable, as such instances were less frequent in those times. This intolerance seems to have taken its rise, not only in the love of pomp, but in the cupidity of the king, who by that means was enabled to appropriate to himself the treasures of the temples, no longer inviolate, since the defeat of his father by Rome. The 167. consequent sedition of the Jews, under the Maccabees, laid the foundation of the future independence of that people, and contributed not a little to weaken the Syrian kingdom.

See below; History of the Jews, book iv. per. iv; Small states Jews, parag. 6. The deep decay of the finances of the Seleucidæ, palpable from the latter days of Antiochus the Great, may be accounted for well enough, by the falling off of the revenue, accompanied with increased luxury in the kings, (an instance of which is furnished in the festivals celebrated by Antiochus Epiphanes at Daphne, 166,) and in the vast presents constantly sent to Rome, in addition to the tribute, for the purpose of keeping up a party there.

his death, 165.

24. His expedition also into Upper Asia, Persis especially, where great disorders were likewise excited by the introduction of the Grecian religion, had for its object not only the recovery of Armenia, but the rifling of the temples. He died, however, on his way to Babylon.

Antiochus Eupator. 164—161.

25. The real heir to the throne, Demetrius, being detained at Rome as an hostage, Epiphanes was first succeeded by his son Antiochus V. surnamed Eupator, a child nine years old. During his short reign, the quarrels of his guardians, the despotism of the Romans, the protracted war with the Jews, and the commencing conquests of the Parthians, reduced the kingdom of the Seleucidæ to a powerless state.

Contest between Lysias, regent in the absence of Epiphanes, and Philip, appointed by the king, previously to his death, as guardian of the young prince, terminated by the defeat of Philip, 162.—Eupator's right acknowledged at Rome, in order that the guardianship might fall into the hands of the senate, who administer the government by means of a commission sent over into Syria, and completely deprive the king of all power of resistance. Octavius, head of the commission, put to death, probably at the instigation of Lysias.—While the Parthian king, Mithridates I. is prosecuting his conquests at the expense of the Syrian kingdom in Upper Asia, Demetrius secretly escapes out of Rome, takes possession of the throne, and causes Eupator and Lysias to be put to death, 161.

Demetrius Soter, 161—150.

26. Demetrius I. surnamed Soter. He succeeded in getting himself acknowledged at Rome, on which all now depended. The attempts to extend his power, by supporting Orofernes, the pretender to the crown of Cappadocia, against the king Ariarathes, had their origin partly in family relations, but still more, as was the case with almost all political transactions of those times, in bribery. By this act he only drew upon himself the enmity of the kings of Egypt and Pergamus; as, moreover, he was hated by his subjects on account of his intemperance, the chances of success were greatly in favour of the shameful 154. usurpation of Alexander Balas, brought about by Heraclidas the expelled governor of Babylon, and backed by the yet more shameful conduct of the Roman senate, who acknowledged his title to the throne. The Syrian kingdom was now fallen so low, that both king and usurper were obliged to court the favour of the Jews under Jonathan, hitherto regarded as rebels. In the second battle Demetrius lost his life.

Alexander Balas, 150—145.

27. The usurper Alexander Balas endeavoured to confirm his power by a marriage with Cleopatra, daughter of Ptolemy Philometor: but he soon evinced himself more unworthy even than his predecessor of wielding the sceptre. While he abandoned the government to his favourite, the detested Ammonius, the eldest remaining son of Demetrius succeeds not only in raising a party against the usurper, but even in prevailing on Philometor to side with himself, and give him in marriage Cleopatra, whom he takes away from Balas. The consequence of this alliance with 145. Egypt was the defeat and downfal of Balas, although it cost Philometor his life.

The account, that Philometor wished to conquer Syria for himself, must probably be understood as meaning that he had formed the design of recovering the ancient Egyptian possessions, Cœle-Syria and Phœnicia. Otherwise, why should he have given his daughter to a second pretender to the throne?

Demetrius Nicator, 145—126. 145. 144. 143. 142. 140—130.

28. Demetrius II. surnamed Nicator, 145—141, and for the second time, 130—126. The disbanding of his father's mercenaries having roused the indignation of the army, the cruelty of his favourite Lasthenes kindled a sedition in the capital, which could not be quenched without the assistance of the Jews, under their high priest and military chieftain, Jonathan.—While affairs were in this posture, Diodotus, subsequently called Tryphon, a dependent of Balas, excited an insurrection, by bringing forward Antiochus, the latter's son, and even, with the help of Jonathan, seating him on the throne of Antioch: soon after, Tryphon, having by treachery got Jonathan into his power, removed Antiochus by murder, and assumed the diadem himself.—Notwithstanding Demetrius kept his footing only in a part of Syria, he was enabled to obey the call of the Grecian colonists in Upper Asia, and support them against the Parthians, who had overrun the country as far as the Euphrates.—Although victorious in the commencement of the contest, he was soon after taken by the Parthians, and remained ten years a prisoner, though treated meanwhile as a king.

Antiochus of Sida. 139. 132. 131.

29. In order to maintain herself against Tryphon, Cleopatra marries the younger, and better brother, Antiochus of Sida, (Sidetes); he being at first in alliance with the Jews,—who, however, were soon after subdued—defeats and overthrows Tryphon. Being now lord and master of Syria, he undertakes a campaign against the Parthians; at the commencement, befriended by the subjects of the Parthians, he is successful, but soon afterwards is attacked in winter quarters by those very friends, and cut to pieces, together with all his army.

If the accounts of the wanton licentiousness of his army are not exaggerations, they furnish the clearest proof of the military despotism of those times. By continued pillage and extortion, the wealth of the country had been collected in the hands of the soldiers; and the condition of Syria must have been pretty nearly the same as that of Egypt under the Mamluk sultans.

Demetrius Nicator restored, 130—126. 126.

30. Meanwhile Demetrius II. having escaped from prison, again seated himself on the throne. But being now still more overbearing than before, and meddling in the Egyptian affairs, Ptolemy Physcon set up against him a rival in the person of Alexander Zebinas a pretended son of Alexander Balas; by him he was defeated and slain.

The Parthian king Phraates II. had, at first, liberated Demetrius, to whom his sister Rhodogune was united by marriage, in order that, by appearing in Syria, he might oblige Antiochus to retreat. Antiochus having fallen, Phraates would fain have recaptured Demetrius, but he escaped.

126—85.

31. The ensuing history of the Seleucidæ is a picture of civil wars, family feuds, and deeds of horror, such as are scarcely to be paralleled. The utmost verge of the empire was now the Euphrates; all Upper Asia acknowledging the dominion of the Parthians. The Jews, moreover, having completely vindicated their independence, the kingdom was consequently confined to Syria and Phœnicia. So thoroughly decayed was the state, that even the Romans—whether because there was no longer anything to plunder, or because they conceived it more prudent to suffer the Seleucidæ to wear themselves out in mutual quarrels—do not seem to have taken any account Syria becomes a Roman province, 64. of it, until, at the conclusion of the last war with Mithridates, they thought proper formally to annex it to their empire as a province.

War between Alexander Zebinas and the ambitious relict of Demetrius, Cleopatra, who with her own hand murders her eldest son Seleucus, B. C. 125, for pretending to the crown, which she now gives to her younger son, Antiochus Gryphus; the new king, however, soon saw himself compelled to secure his own life by the murder of his mother, 122; Alexander Zebinas having been the year before, 123, defeated and put to death. After a peaceful rule of eight years, 122—114, Antiochus Gryphus is involved in war with his half-brother Antiochus Cyzicenus, son of Cleopatra by Antiochus Sidetes: it ends, 111, in a partition of territory. But the war between the brothers soon burst out anew, and just as this hapless kingdom seemed about to crumble into pieces, Gryphus was murdered, 97.—Seleucus, the eldest of his five sons, having beaten and slain Cyzicenus, 96; the eldest son of the latter, Antiochus Eusebes, prosecuted the war against the sons of Gryphus; Eusebes being at last defeated, 90, the surviving sons of Gryphus fell to war among themselves, and the struggle continued until the Syrians, weary of bloodshed, did what they ought to have done long before, viz. made over the sovereign power to Tigranes the king of Armenia, 85. Yet Eusebes's widow, Selene, retained Ptolemais till 70; and her elder son Antiochus Asiaticus, at the time that Tigranes was beaten by Lucullus, in the Mithridatic war, took possession of some provinces in Syria, 68; these were wrested from him after the total defeat of Mithridates by Pompey, when Tigranes was obliged to give up his claim, and Syria became a province of the Roman empire, 64. Antiochus Asiaticus died 58; his brother Seleucus Cybiosactes, having married Berenice, was raised to the Egyptian throne, but murdered at her command, 57; and thus the family of the Seleucidæ was completely swept away.

II. History of the Egyptian kingdom under the Ptolemies, 323—30.

The sources of this history are for the most part the same as in the foregoing section; see above, p. 232; but unfortunately still more scanty; for in the first place, less information can here be derived from the Jewish writers; secondly, as on the coins struck under the Ptolemies no continuous series of time is marked, but only the year of the king's reign, they are by no means such safeguards to the chronology as those of the Seleucidæ. With respect to some few events, important illustrations are supplied by inscriptions.

By modern writers, the history of the Ptolemies has been composed under a form almost entirely chronological, and by no means treated of in the spirit which it deserves.

Vaillant, Historia Ptolemæorum, fol. Amstelodam. 1701. Illustration by the aid of coins.

Champolion Figeac, Annales des Lagides, ou Chronologie des Rois d'Egypte, successeurs d'Alexandre le Grand. Paris, 1819, 2 vols. This treatise, which was honoured with a prize by the Académie des Inscriptions, has by no means exhausted the whole of the subject. See

J. Saint-Martin, Examen Critique de l'ouvrage de M. Ch. F. intitulé Annales des Lagides. Paris, 1820.

Letronne, Recherches pour servir à l'histoire de l'Egypte pendant la domination des Grecs et des Romains, tirées des inscriptions Grecques et Latines, relatives à la chronologie, à l'etat des arts aux usages civils et religieux de ce pays. Paris, 1828. It cannot be denied that the author has thrown a much clearer light on the subjects mentioned in his title.

Flourishing state of Egypt under the Ptolemies.

1. Egypt, under the Ptolemies, fulfilled, and perhaps more than fulfilled, the designs projected by Alexander; it became not only a mighty kingdom, but likewise the centre of trade, and of science. The history of Egypt, however, confines itself, almost solely, to that of the new capital, Alexandria; the foundation of that city produced, imperceptibly, a change in the national character, which never could have been wrought by main force. In the enjoyment of civil welfare and religious freedom, the nation sunk into a state of political drowsiness, such as could scarce have been expected in a people who so often rose up against the Persians.

Alexandria, originally, was no doubt a military colony; it was not long, however, before it became a general place of resort for all nations, such as was scarcely to be met with in any other town of that day. The inhabitants were divided into three classes; Alexandrines, (that is to say, foreigners of all nations, who had settled in the place; next to the Greeks, the Jews were, it appears, the most numerous,) Egyptians, and Mercenaries in the king's service. The Greeks and Macedonians divided into wards (φυλας), constituted the citizens; they were under municipal government; the others, such as the Jews, formed bodies corporate according to their respective nations. The more important, in so many respects, that Alexandria is for history, the more it is to be regretted that the accounts respecting it, which have reached us, are so far from satisfactory!—Concerning the topography of ancient Alexandria:

Bonamy, Description de la ville d'Alexandrie in the Mém. de l'Académie des Inscript. vol. ix. Compare:

† J. L. F. Manso, Letters upon ancient Alexandria, in his Vermischte Schriften, vol. i.

Ptolemy Soter, B. C. 323—284. 321. 307.

2. Ptolemy I. surnamed Soter, the son of Lagus, received Egypt for his share, at the first division after the death of Alexander. Aware of the value of his lot, he was the only one of Alexander's successors that had the moderation not to aim at grasping all. No doubt he was, by the ambition of the other princes, entangled in their quarrels, but his conduct was so cautious, that Egypt itself was never endangered. Twice attacked in that country, first by Perdiccas, afterwards by Antigonus and Demetrius, he availed himself successfully of his advantageous position, and moreover, in this period, added to his dominion several countries without Africa, such as Phœnicia, Judæa, Cœle-Syria, and Cyprus.

The possession of Phœnicia and Cœle-Syria, by reason of their forests, was of indispensable necessity to Egypt as a naval power. They frequently changed masters. The first occupation of those provinces by the Egyptian government, occurred in 320, soon after the rout of Perdiccas by Ptolemy's general Nicanor, who took the Syrian satrap Laomedon prisoner, established his footing in the whole of Syria, and placed garrisons in the Phœnician cities. In 314 it was again lost to Antigonus, after his return out of Upper Asia, and the siege of Tyre. Ptolemy having defeated Demetrius at Gaza, 312, repossessed himself of those countries, but soon after evacuated them on the appearance of Antigonus, to whom they were ceded by the peace of 311. At the conclusion of the last grand league against Antigonus, 303, Ptolemy once more occupied them: but alarmed at a false report, that Antigonus had gained a victory, he retreated into Egypt, leaving nevertheless troops in the cities. After the battle of Ipsus, 301, those countries were made over to him, and continued in the hands of the Ptolemies until they were lost at the second invasion of Antiochus the Great, 203.

Cyprus, (see p. 154) like most other islands, acknowledged submission to those who possessed the sovereignty of the sea, and therefore could not escape the dominion of the Ptolemies. It was taken possession of by Ptolemy as early as 313. Still the separate cities of the islands preserved their kings, among whom Nicocles of Paphos, having entered into a secret league with Antigonus, was put to death, 310. After the great seafight, 307, Cyprus fell into the hands of Antigonus and Demetrius. Subsequently to the battle of Ipsus, 301, it remained indeed at first in the power of Demetrius; but that prince being gone over to Macedonia, Ptolemy, 294, seized an opportunity of recovering it, and the island from that time remained under the dominion of Egypt. Availing themselves of their naval strength, the Egyptian kings frequently exerted sovereign power over the coasts of Asia Minor, especially Cilicia, Caria, and Pamphylia, which appear to have absolutely formed a part of their territory under the second Ptolemy. It is, however, hardly possible to define with accuracy what were their real possessions in those quarters.

Cyrene and Libya annexed to Egypt.

3. Ptolemy likewise extends his territory within Africa, by the capture of Cyrene; in consequence of which Libya, or the neighbouring countries betwixt Cyrene and Egypt, fell under his dominion. It is probable, also, that even in his reign the frontier of the Egyptian empire was advanced into Æthiopia; but for this assertion we have no positive authority.

The fall of Cyrene was brought about by domestic broils: at the time the place was besieged by Thimbron, a portion of the exiled nobles fled to Ptolemy; the Egyptian prince commanded that they should be reinstated by his general Ophellas, who took possession of the town itself, 321. An insurrection in 312 was quelled by Agis, Ptolemy's general: nevertheless it would appear that Ophellas had almost established his independence, when, by the treachery of Agathocles, with whom he had entered into a league against Carthage, he perished, about 308. Cyrene was now seized by Ptolemy, and given to his son Magas, who ruled over it fifty years.

Constitution of the government.

4. With respect to the internal government of Egypt, our information is far from complete. The division into districts or nomes was continued; subject perhaps, in some cases, to alterations. The power of the king appears to have been unlimited; the extreme provinces were administered by governors, appointed by the sovereign; similar officers were probably placed at the head of the various districts of Egypt itself; but hardly any document relative to the home department of that country has reached our time. High public situations, at least in the capital, appear exclusively reserved to Macedonians or Greeks; no Egyptian is ever mentioned as holding office.

There were four magistrates at Alexandria: the Exegetes, whose office was to provide for the wants of the city; the Chief Judge; the Hypomnematographus—(Registrar of the archives?)—and the Στρατηγὸς νυκτερινὸς, no doubt, the supervisor of the police, whose duty it was to watch over the peace of the city at night. We have the express testimony of Strabo, that these offices, which continued under the Romans, had already existed under the kings; whether their establishment can be dated as far back as the time of Ptolemy I. is a question that does not admit of a solution.—The number of the districts or nomes appears to have been augmented; probably with a political view, in order that no governor or monarch should be invested with too great a share of power.

The priest-caste and religion remain.

5. Be that as it may, it is an undoubted fact, that the ancient national constitution and administration were not entirely obliterated. The caste of priests, together with the national religion, continued to exist; and though the influence of the former was considerably diminished, it did not entirely cease. A certain sort of worship was, by appointed priests, paid to the kings, both in their lifetime and after their death. Memphis, though not the usual residence of the court, remained the capital of the kingdom; there the ceremony of coronation was performed; and its temple of Phtha was still the head sanctuary. What influence had not the religion of the Egyptians upon that of the Greeks! It were difficult to say which nation borrowed most from the other.

Character of the first of the Ptolemies.

6. The regeneration of Egypt from the state of general ruin into which she had been plunged, and the permanent tranquillity she enjoyed during nearly thirty years, the duration of the reign of Ptolemy I.—at a time when the rest of the world was harassed by continual wars,—must have heightened her prosperity under so mild and beneficent a ruler. But Ptolemy was certainly the only prince who could have taken advantage of these favourable circumstances. Though a soldier by profession he was highly accomplished, was himself a writer, and had a genius for all the arts of peace, which he fostered with the open-handed liberality of a king: while amidst all the brilliant splendour of his court, he led himself the life of a private individual.

Increase of Alexandria by the importation of vast numbers of colonists; especially Jews.—Erection of several superb buildings, more particularly the Serapeum.—Measures taken for the extension of trade and navigation.—The twofold harbour on the sea, and on the lake Mareotis.—The Pharus built.

Literature encouraged.

7. But what more than any thing else distinguished Ptolemy from his contemporaries was his regard for the interests of science. The idea of founding the Museum sprung out of the necessities of the age, and was suited to the monarchical form of government now prevalent. Where in those days of destruction and revolution could the sciences have found a shelter, if not under the protection of a prince? But under Ptolemy they found more than a shelter, they found a rallying point. Here accordingly the exact sciences were perfected: and although the critic's art which now grew up could not form a Homer or a Sophocles, should we, had it not been for the Alexandrines, be at present able to read either Homer or Sophocles?

Foundation of the Museum, (Society of the learned,) and of the first library in Bruchium, (afterwards removed to the Serapeum;) probably under the direction of Demetrius Phalereus. A proper estimation of the services rendered by the Museum is yet wanting: what academy in modern Europe, however, has done so much?

Heyne, De genio Sæculi Ptolemæorum. In Opuscul. t. i.

Matter, Essai historique sur l'école d'Alexandrie, 1820.

Ptolemy Philadelphus, 284—246.

8. Ptolemy II. surnamed Philadelphus, son of Berenice, the second wife of his father, had ascended the throne in 286 as joint king. His reign, which lasted thirty-eight years, was more peaceful even than that of his predecessor, whose spirit seemed to inspire him in every thing, save that he was not a warrior: but, by that very reason, the arts of peace, trade, and science were promoted with the greater energy. In his reign Egypt was the first power by sea, and one of the first by land, in the world; and even though the account given by Theocritus of its thirty-three thousand cities may be regarded as the exaggeration of a poet, it is very certain that Egypt was in those days the most flourishing country in existence.

The commerce of Alexandria was divided into three main branches: 1. The land-trade over Asia and Africa. 2. The sea-trade on the Mediterranean. 3. The sea-trade on the Arabian gulf, and Indian ocean.—With regard to the land-trade of Asia, especially that of India carried on by caravans, Alexandria was obliged to share it with various cities and countries: since one of its chief routes traversed the Oxus, and Caspian, to the Black sea; while the caravans, travelling through Syria and Mesopotamia, spread for the most part among the seaports of Phœnicia and Asia Minor.—The trade over Africa extended far west, and still farther south. Westward it was secured by the close connection between Cyrene and Alexandria; and no doubt followed the same roads as in earlier times: of far greater importance was that carried on with the southern countries, or Æthiopia, into the interior of which they now penetrated, principally for the purpose of procuring elephants. The navigation on the Arabian and Indian seas had likewise for its immediate object the Æthiopian trade, rather than the Indian.—The measures taken by Ptolemy with this view, consisted partly in the building of harbours (Berenice, Myos Hormos) on the Arabian gulf; partly in establishing a caravan from Berenice to Coptos on the Nile, down which latter the goods were further transmitted to their destination; for the canal connecting the Red sea with the Nile, although, perhaps, completed at this time, was nevertheless but little used. The grand deposit for these wares was the lesser harbour of Alexandria, united by a canal with the lake Mareotis, which in its turn communicated by another canal with the Nile; so that the account we receive of the lesser harbour being more thronged and full of bustle than the larger one, need not excite our surprise. With regard to the trade on the Mediterranean, it was shared between Alexandria, Rhodes, Corinth, and Carthage. The chief manufactories appear to have been those of cotton stuffs, established in or near the temples.

The best inquiry into the trade of Alexandria will be found in J. C. D. De Schmidt, Opuscula, res maxime Aegyptiorum illustrantia, 1765, 8vo.

Revenue of Egypt.

9. It would be important to know what, in a state like Egypt, was the system of imposts, which under Philadelphus produced 14,800 silver talents, (four millions sterling,) without taking into account the toll paid in grain. In the extreme provinces, such as Palestine, the taxes were annually farmed to the highest bidder, a mode of levy attended with great oppression to the people. The case appears to have been very different with regard to Egypt itself; the customs, however, constituted the main branch of the revenue.

Events of the reign of Philadelphus.

10. The wars waged by Ptolemy II. were limited to those against Antiochus II. of Syria, and Magas of Cyrene, half-brother to the Egyptian king; the former sprung out of the latter. Luckily for Egypt, Ptolemy II. was of a weak constitution, and by his state of health was incapacitated from commanding his armies in person.—Under his reign the first foundation was laid, by means of reciprocal embassies, of that connection with Rome which afterwards decided the fate of Egypt.

Magas had, after the defeat of Ophellas, received Cyrene, 308. He had married Apame, daughter of Antiochus I., and in 266 had raised the standard of rebellion with the intention of invading Egypt itself, when an insurrection in Marmarica compelled him to retreat; he contrived, notwithstanding, to prevail upon his father-in-law to undertake an expedition against Egypt, which, however, was frustrated by Philadelphus, 264. To terminate this contest, Magas was about to unite his daughter Berenice with the eldest son of Philadelphus; Apame, wishing to thwart the negotiation, fled over to her brother, Antiochus II. whom, after her husband's death, 258, she excited to a war against Egypt, which closed in 252.—The embassy to Rome originated in the victory won by the Romans over Pyrrhus, 273; it was answered by another from the Romans, 272.

Character of Ptolemy Philadelphus.

11. The son inherited from his father all but the simplicity of domestic life: under the reign of Philadelphus, the court was first thrown open to that effeminate luxury, which soon wrought the destruction of the Ptolemies as it had previously done that of the Seleucidæ; at the same time was introduced the pernicious practice of intermarriages in the same family, by which the royal blood was more foully contaminated here even than in Syria. Philadelphus set the first example, by repudiating Arsinoe the daughter of Lysimachus, and then marrying his own sister, likewise named Arsinoe; this princess preserved her influence over the king as long as she lived, although she did not bring him an heir, but adopted the children of her predecessor.

Ptolemy Evergetes, 246—221.

12. Ptolemy III. surnamed Evergetes. Under him, Egypt, from being merely mercantile, assumed the character of a conquering state; notwithstanding his warlike spirit, he was not uninspired with that genius for the arts of peace peculiar to his family. His conquests were directed partly against Asia in the war with Seleucus II. and extended as far as the borders of Bactria; and partly, it is probable, against the interior of Ethiopia, and the western coast of Arabia. Countries so wealthy, and with which commerce had made men so well acquainted, could hardly escape the arms of such a formidable power as Egypt; yet she seems to have made scarcely any other use of this extension of territory, than to insure the safety of her commercial routes.

The main source of the history of Ptolemy Evergetes, is the inscription on the monument erected by that prince at Adule in Ethiopia: it contains a chronological list of his conquests, a copy of which has been preserved to us by Cosmas Indicopleustes; modern researches, however, have shown the probability of its having consisted of two inscriptions, one referring to Evergetes, the other to a later king of Abyssinia.—According to this monument, Ptolemy inherited from his father, besides Egypt itself, Libya, that is to say, western Africa as far as Cyrene, Cœle-Syria, Phœnicia, Lycia, Caria, Cyprus, and the Cyclades.—War with Seleucus Callinicus caused by the murder of Berenice (see above, p. 237.); lasted until the ten years' truce, 246—240. During this war, he conquered the whole of Syria as far as the Euphrates, and most of the maritime countries in Asia Minor, from Cilicia to the Hellespont: an easy prey to a naval power. Whether the conquest of the countries beyond the Euphrates, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Persis, Susiana, and Media as far as Bactria, was effected in these four years, or not till between 240 and 230, is a question which cannot be determined with certainty. If we may judge by the booty brought back, this campaign was rather a foray than a regular expedition for conquest, though Ptolemy, indeed, appointed governors in Cilicia and Babylonia; yet the peculiar situation of affairs in Asia at the time, Seleucus being at war with his brother Antiochus Hierax, and the Parthian and Bactrian kingdoms being also in a state of infant feebleness, afforded unusual opportunities for an expedition of this sort.

The southern conquests, so far as they may be referred to Evergetes, were effected during the last period of his reign, in a separate war. They comprised: 1st. The greatest part of modern Abyssinia,—for as the catalogue of nations commences with that of Abyssinia, it necessarily follows that Nubia had already been subjected to Egypt.—The mountain range along the Arabian gulf, the plain of Sennaar as far as modern Darfur, the lofty chain of mountains to the south, beyond the fountains of the Nile. All these conquests were made by the king in person; and from those distant lands to Egypt, commercial roads were opened. 2nd. The western coast of Arabia, from Leuke Kome to the southern point of Arabia Felix, was conquered by his generals and admirals: here, likewise, the security of the commercial roads was established.

Monumentum Adulitanum, published in Fabricius, B. Græc. t. ii.

Montfaucon, Coll. Patr. t. i. and in Chishull, Antiquit. Asiaticæ.

The assertion that the monument bears two different inscriptions is made by Salt, in the narrative of his travels contained in the Travels of Lord Valentia.

13. Egypt was singularly blessed in having three great kings, whose reigns filled one whole century. A change now ensued; but that change was brought about by the natural course of events; in fact, it could scarcely be expected that the court should remain untainted by such luxury as must have prevailed in a city, which was the main seat of trade, and the deposit of the treasures of the richest countries.

Ptolemy Philopator, 221—234.

14. Ptolemy IV. surnamed Philopator. A debauchee and a tyrant, who, during the greater portion of his reign, remained under the tutelage of the crafty Sosibius, and, after the decease of that individual, fell into the yet more infamous hands of Agathocles and his sister Agathoclea. Philopator being contemporary with Antiochus the Great, the dangers that threatened Egypt under such a reign seemed to be doubled; they were, however, averted by the ill-deserved victory of Raphia (see above, p. 238).

Ptolemy Epiphanes, 204—181. 203. 202.

15. Agathocles and his sister would fain have taken into their own hands the guardianship of his son Ptolemy V. surnamed Epiphanes, a child only five years old; but the people having risen up and made a terrible example of them, the office of guardian was confided to the younger Sosibius and to Tlepolemus. The reckless prodigality of the former soon gave rise to a feud between him and his colleague, who was at least cunning enough to keep up appearances. Meanwhile the critical posture in which the kingdom was placed, by the attack of the enleagued kings of Syria and Macedonia, compelled the nation to defer the regency to Rome and the senate, who had hitherto carefully cherished an amicable connection with Egypt.

The regency confided to M. Lepidus, 201, who hands over the administration to Aristomenes of Acarnania. The sequel will show how decidedly important this step was for the ulterior destinies of Egypt. By the war of the Romans against Philip, and their differences with Antiochus, Egypt was, no doubt, for the present extricated from her embarrassment; but nevertheless in 198 she lost her Syrian possessions, notwithstanding Antiochus III. had promised to give them as a dowry to Cleopatra, the affianced bride, and subsequently the consort of the young king of Egypt.

To this time, or about 197, belongs the celebrated inscription on the Rosetta stone, erected by the caste of priests as a tribute of gratitude for past benefits, after the consecration of the king at Memphis upon his coming of age: a monument important alike for palæography, and for the knowledge of Egyptian administration.

Ameilhon, Eclaircissemens sur l'inscription Grecque du monument trouvé à Rosette. Paris, 1803.

Heyne, Commentatio de inscriptione Græca ex Aegypto Londinum apportata, in the Commentat. Societ. Gotting. vol. xv.

Character of Epiphanes. 184. 183.

16. The hopes conceived of Epiphanes, were grievously disappointed as he grew up to manhood. His guardian Aristomenes fell a victim to his tyranny; nay, his cruelty drove even the patient Egyptians to rebel, although the insurrections were stilled by his counsellor and general Polycrates. His reign happened during the period in which Rome crushed the power of Macedonia and Syria; and notwithstanding the close alliance between Epiphanes and Antiochus III. the Romans succeeded in holding the Egyptian king in dependence; he was, however, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, brought to an early grave by intemperance and debauchery.

Ptolemy Philometor, 181—145.

17. Of his two sons, the elder, a child five years old, was his immediate successor; this prince, by the title of Ptolemy VI. surnamed Philometor, ascended the throne under the guardianship of his mother Cleopatra, who fulfilled the duties of her office to the satisfaction of all, until 173. But, after her death, the regency having fallen into the hands of Eulæus an eunuch, and Lenæus, these individuals, asserting their claims to Cœle-Syria and Phœnicia, engaged with Antiochus Epiphanes in a war exceedingly detrimental to Egypt, until Rome commanded peace to be made.

Antiochus, after the victory of Pelusium, B. C. 171, and the treacherous surrender of Cyprus, having possessed himself of Egypt as far as Alexandria, a faction arose in the city; Philometor was expelled, and his younger brother Physcon seated on the throne, 170.—The exile Philometor fell into the power of Antiochus, who compelled the fugitive to sign a separate peace, highly injurious to the interests of Egypt. The articles were not, however, ratified; Philometor secretly entering into an agreement with his brother that they should both rule in common, 169. Antiochus having in consequence again made an inroad into Egypt, the two kings addressed themselves for assistance to the Achæans and to the Romans: the latter forthwith despatched an embassy to Antiochus, commanding him to evacuate the territory of their allies, which happened accordingly, 168.

Disputes between the sons of Epiphanes.

18. In the contest, which soon afterwards ensued between the two brothers, the younger was driven out and sought a refuge at Rome; when a partition of the kingdom between the princes was determined upon: the senate, however, after due consideration, refused to confirm the decision, so that the disputes between the two kings were rekindled and protracted, until the younger fell into the power of the elder.

In the first division, 164, Philometor received Egypt and Cyprus; and the infamous Physcon had for his share Cyrene and Libya. But, during his stay at Rome, Physcon, contrary to all justice, obtained the promise of Cyprus; Philometor refusing to give up that portion of his share, and Cyrene having risen up against its king, Physcon ran the risk of losing the whole of his dominions. In the war which, supported by Rome, he waged against his brother, Physcon fell, 159, into the hands of Philometor, who not only forgave him, but, leaving him in possession of Cyrene and Libya, added some cities in the place of Cyprus, and promised him his daughter in marriage.

Philometor interferes in the affairs of Syria.

19. During the last period of his reign, Philometor was almost exclusively busied with Syrian affairs. He supported Alexander Balas against Demetrius, and even gave him his daughter Cleopatra. Nevertheless, he afterwards passed over to the side of Demetrius, seated him on the throne, gave him in marriage this same Cleopatra, who had been taken away from Balas. But in the battle in which Balas was overthrown, the Egyptian king also received his death wound. 145. He may be regarded as one of the good princes of the Ptolemaic dynasty, especially if compared with his brother.

Ptolemy Physcon, 145—117.

20. His younger brother Ptolemy VIII. surnamed Physcon, and likewise Evergetes II. a monster both in a moral and a physical sense, who had hitherto been king of Cyrene, now possessed himself of the throne of Egypt by marrying his predecessor's widow and sister, Cleopatra, whom, however, after having murdered her son, he repudiated for her daughter of the same name. This prince accordingly, once more united the divided kingdom; but at the same time that he was purchasing the sanction of Rome by vile adulation, he maintained himself at Alexandria by means of military law, which soon converted the city into a desert, and obliged him to attract foreign colonists by large promises. Another 130. bloody massacre, however, produced an insurrection in the town, which compelled the king to flee to Cyprus, the Alexandrines, meanwhile, raising to the throne his repudiated wife Cleopatra. Physcon, nevertheless, with the assistance of his mercenaries, recovered the sceptre, and wielded it to the day of his death.

That a prince of such a character should nevertheless be a friend to science, and himself an author, must ever be regarded as a singular phenomenon; yet his exaction of manuscripts, and his treatment of the learned, whole crowds of whom he expelled, betray the despot.

Ptolemy Lathyrus, 116—81. 116. 107. 89. 88.

21. His widow, the younger Cleopatra, to gratify the Alexandrines, was obliged to place on the throne the elder of her two sons, Ptolemy IX. surnamed Lathyrus, who was living in a sort of banishment at Cyprus: to the younger, Ptolemy Alexander I. who was her favourite, she accordingly gave the island of Cyprus. But Lathyrus not choosing to obey her in everything, she compelled him to exchange Egypt for Cyprus, and gave the former to her younger son. But neither was the new king able to brook the tyranny of his mother: as she threatened even his life, he saw no other means of escape than to anticipate her design; but failing in his project, he was obliged to take to flight, and, after a vain attempt to recover the throne, perished. The Alexandrines then reinstated in the government his elder brother Lathyrus, who ruled till the year 81, possessing both Egypt and Cyprus.

Revolt and three years' siege of Thebes in Upper Egypt, still one of the most wealthy cities even in those days, but after its capture almost levelled to the earth; about 86.—Complete separation of Cyrenaica from Egypt: this province had been bequeathed by Physcon as a separate branch-state to his illegitimate son, Apion, 117; that prince, after a tranquil reign, bequeathed it, in his turn, to the Romans, 96, who at first allowed it to retain its independence.

Obscure period of the history. 81—66.

22. Lathyrus left one daughter born in wedlock, Berenice, and two illegitimate sons, Ptolemy of Cyprus and Ptolemy Auletes. Besides the above, there was a lawful son of Alexander I. of the same name as his father, and at that time residing at Rome with the dictator Sylla. The following history is obscured by clouds, which, amid the contradiction of accounts, cannot be entirely dispelled. Generally speaking, Egypt was now a tool in the hands of powerful individuals at Rome, who regarded it but as a financial speculation whether they actually supported a pretender to the Egyptian crown, or fed him with vain hopes. All now saw that Egypt presented a ripe harvest; but they could not yet agree by whom that harvest should be reaped.

The first successor of Lathyrus in Egypt was his legitimate daughter Cleopatra Berenice, 81: at the end of six months, however, Sylla, then dictator at Rome, sent his client Alexander II. to Egypt, 80; that prince married Berenice, and with her ascended the throne. Nineteen days after Alexander murdered his consort, and, according to Appian, was himself about the same time cut off by the Alexandrines, on account of his tyranny. We afterwards hear, notwithstanding, of a king Alexander, who reigned until 73, or, according to others, until 66; when, being driven out of Egypt, he fled to Tyre, and called upon the Romans for that aid, which probably through Cæsar's intercession, would have been granted, had not the supplicant soon after died at the place of his refuge. He is said to have bequeathed by will his kingdom to Rome; and although the senate did not accept the legacy, it does not appear to have formally rejected the offer; in consequence of which, frequent attempts were made at Rome for effecting the occupation.—Either, therefore, Appian's account must be false, and this person was the same Alexander II. or he was some other person bearing that name, and belonging to the royal house.—Be this as it may, after the death of Lathyrus the kingdom was dismembered: and one of his illegitimate sons, Ptolemy, had received Cyprus, but that island was taken from him, 57, and converted into a Roman province: the other, Ptolemy Auletes, seems to have kept his footing either in a part of Egypt, or in Cyrene, and was probably the cause of Alexander's expulsion, at whose decease he ascended the throne; although the Syrian queen Selene, sister to Lathyrus, asserted her son's claims at Rome, as legitimate heir to the throne of Egypt. With Cæsar's assistance, Auletes, however, succeeded in obtaining the formal acknowledgment of his right at Rome, 59. But the measures taken by the Romans with regard to Cyprus, gave rise to a sedition at Alexandria, 57, in consequence of which Auletes, being compelled to flee, passed over into Italy: or, perhaps, he was ordered to take this step by the intrigues of some Roman grandees, anxious of an opportunity to reinstate him. Pompey's attempts, with this view, are thwarted by Cato, 56. Meanwhile the Alexandrines placed Berenice, the eldest daughter of Auletes, on the throne; she married first Seleucus Cybiosactes, as being the lawful heir; and after putting that prince to death, united herself to Archelaus, 57.—Actual restoration of Auletes by the purchased assistance of Gabinius, the Roman governor of Syria; and execution of Berenice, whose husband had fallen in the war, 54. Not long after, this miserable prince, no less effeminate than tyrannical, died, 51.

J. R. Forster, Commentatio de successoribus Ptolemæi VII. Inserted in Comment. Soc. Gotting. vol. iii.

Cleopatra, 51—31.

23. Auletes endeavoured by his last testament to insure the kingdom to his posterity, nominating as his successor, under the superintendence of the Roman nation, his two elder children. Ptolemy Dionysos, then thirteen years old, and Cleopatra, seventeen, who were to be united in wedlock: his two younger children, Ptolemy Neoteros and Arsinoe, he recommended to the Roman senate. Notwithstanding these measures, Egypt would not have escaped her fate upwards of twenty years longer, had not the impending calamities been diverted by the internal posture of affairs at Rome, and still more by the charms and policy of Cleopatra, who through her alliance with Cæsar and Antony not only preserved but even aggrandized her kingdom. From this time, however, the history of Egypt is most closely implicated with that of Rome.

Feuds between Cleopatra and her brother, excited and fomented by the eunuch Pothinus, in whose hands the administration was: they lead to open war: Cleopatra, driven out, flees to Syria, where she levies troops: Cæsar in pursuit of the conquered Pompey arrives at Alexandria, and in the name of Rome, assumes the part of arbitrator between the king and queen, but suffers himself to be guided by the artifices of Cleopatra, 48. Violent sedition in Alexandria, and Cæsar besieged in Bruchium, the malcontent Pothinus having brought Achillas, the commander of the royal troops into the city. The hard struggle in which Cæsar was now engaged, demonstrates not only the bitterness of the long rankling grudge of the Alexandrines against Rome, but shows also how decisive, to the whole of Egypt, were the revolutions of the capital. Ptolemy Dionysos having fallen in the war, and Cæsar being victorious, the crown fell to Cleopatra, 47, upon condition of marrying her brother, when he should be of age: but as soon as the prince grew to manhood, and had been crowned at Memphis, she removed him by poison, 44.

Egypt becomes a Roman province.

24. During the life of Cæsar, Cleopatra remained under his protection, and consequently in a state of dependence. Not only was a Roman garrison stationed in the capital city, but the queen herself, together with her brother, were obliged to visit him at Rome. After the assassination of Cæsar, she took the side of the triumviri, not without endangering Egypt, threatened by Cassius who commanded in Syria; and after the death of her brother, succeeded in getting them to acknowledge as king, Ptolemy Cæsarion, a son whom she pretended to have had by Cæsar.—But the ardent passion conceived by Antony for her person, soon after the discomfiture of the republican party, now attached her inseparably to his fortunes; which, after vainly attempting to win over the victorious Octavius, she at last shared.

The chronology of the ten years in which Cleopatra lived, for the most part, with Antony, is not without difficulty, but, according to the most probable authorities, may be arranged in the following manner. Summoned before his tribunal, on account of the pretended support afforded by some of her generals to Cassius, she appears in his presence at Tarsus, in the attire, and with the parade, of Venus, 41; he follows her into Egypt. In the year 40, Antony, called back to Italy by the breaking out of the Perusine war, is there induced, by political motives, to espouse Octavia; meanwhile Cleopatra abides in Egypt. In the autumn of 37, she goes to meet him in Syria, where he was making ready for the war against the Parthians, until then prosecuted by his lieutenants; here she obtained at his hands Phœnicia—Tyre and Sidon excepted,—together with Cyrene and Cyprus; and in 36 went back to Alexandria, where she remained during the campaign. The expedition ended, Antony returned into Egypt and resided at Alexandria. From thence it was his intention to attack Armenia in 35; this design, however, he did not effect until 34, when, after taking the king prisoner, he returned in triumph to Alexandria, and presented to Cleopatra, or to his three children by her, all the countries of Asia from the Mediterranean to the Indus, already conquered or to be conquered. Preparing then to renew, in conjunction with the king of Media, his attack on the Parthians, he is prevailed upon by Cleopatra to break with Octavia, who was to bring over troops to him, 38. A war between him and Octavius being now unavoidable, the Parthian campaign already opened is suspended, and Cleopatra accompanies Antony to Samos, 32, where he formally repudiated Octavia. From hence she followed him in his expedition against Octavius, which was decided by the battle of Actium, fought September 2, 31.—Octavius having pursued his enemy into Egypt, Alexandria was besieged, 30, and after Antony had laid violent hands on himself, the place surrendered; and Cleopatra, not brooking to be dragged a prisoner to Rome, followed the example of her lover, and procured her own death.

Flourishing state of Egypt.

25. Even in this last period, Egypt appears to have been the seat of unbounded wealth and effeminacy. The line of infamous princes who had succeeded to the third Ptolemy were unable to destroy her prosperity. Strange, however, as this seems, it may be easily accounted for when we consider that the political revolutions scarcely ever overstepped the walls of the capital, and that an almost perpetual peace ruled in the country: that Egypt was the only great theatre of trade; and that that trade must have increased in the same proportion as the spirit of luxury increased in Rome, and in the Roman empire. The powerful effects wrought on Egypt by the growth of Roman luxury, are most convincingly demonstrated by the state of that country when it had become a Roman province; so far from the trade of Alexandria decreasing in that period,—though the city suffered in the first days after the conquest—it subsequently attained an extraordinary and gigantic bulk.

III. History of Macedonia and of Greece in general, from the death of Alexander to the Roman conquest, B. C. 323—146.

The sources for this history are the same as have been quoted above: see p. 232. Until the battle of Ipsus, 301, Diodorus is still our grand authority. But in the period extending from 301 to 224, we meet with some chasms: here almost our only sources are the fragments of Diodorus, a few of Plutarch's lives, and the inaccurate accounts of Justin. From the year 224, our main historian is Polybius; and even in those parts where we do not possess his work in its complete form, the fragments that have been preserved must always be the first authorities consulted. Livy, and other writers on Roman history, should accompany Polybius.

Among modern books, besides the general works mentioned above p. 1. we may here in particular quote:

John Gast, D. D. The History of Greece, from the accession of Alexander of Macedon, till the final subjection to the Roman power, in eight books. London, 1782, 4to. Although not a master-piece of composition, yet too important to be passed over in silence.

Extent of Macedonia.

1. Of the three main kingdoms that arose out of Alexander's monarchy, Macedonia was the most insignificant, not only in extent,—particularly as till B. C. 286 Thrace remained a separate and independent province,—but likewise in population and wealth. Yet, being, as it were, the head country of the monarchy, it was considered to hold the first rank; and here at first resided the power which, nominally at least, extended over the whole. As early, however, as the year 311, upon the total extermination of Alexander's family, it became a completely separate kingdom. From that time its sphere of external operation was for the most part confined to Greece, the history of which, consequently, is closely interwoven with that of Macedonia.

Posture of affairs in Greece at Alexander's decease: Thebes in ruins: Corinth occupied by a Macedonian garrison: Sparta humiliated by the defeat she had suffered at the hands of Antipater in her attempt at a revolt against Macedonia, under Agis II. 333—331: Athens on the other hand flourishing, and although confined to her own boundaries, still by her fame, and her naval power, the first state in Greece.

Antipater. Lamian war, B. C. 323.

2. Although at the first division of the provinces, Craterus, as civil governor, was united with Antipater, the latter had the management of affairs. And the termination, as arduous as it was successful, of the Lamian war,—kindled immediately after the death of Alexander, by the Greeks, enthusiastic in the cause of freedom,—enabled him to rivet the chains of Greece more firmly than they had ever been before.

The Lamian war—the sparks of which had been kindled by Alexander's edict, granting leave to all the Grecian emigrants, twenty thousand in number, nearly the whole of whom were in the Macedonian interest, to return to their native countries,—was fanned to a flame by the democratic party at Athens. Urged by Demosthenes and Hyperides, almost all the states of central and northern Greece, Bœotia excepted, took up arms in the cause; and their example was quickly followed by most of those in Peloponnesus, with the exception of Sparta, Argos, Corinth, and the Achæans. Not even the Persian war produced such general unanimity! The gallant Leosthenes headed the league.—Defeat of Antipater, who is shut up in Lamia; Leosthenes, however, falls in the siege of that place, B. C. 323, and although Leonatus—who with the view of ascending the throne by his marriage with Cleopatra, had come to the assistance of the Macedonians—was beaten and slain, 322, the Greeks were finally overwhelmed by the reinforcements, brought to Antipater out of Asia, by Craterus. And Antipater having fully succeeded in breaking the league, and negotiating with each separate nation, was enabled to dictate the terms. Most of the cities opened their gates to Macedonian troops; besides this, Athens was obliged to purchase peace through the mediation of Phocion and Demades, by an alteration in her constitution,—the poorer citizens being excluded from all share in the government, and for the most part translated into Thrace—and by a pledge to deliver up Demosthenes and Hyperides; whose place Phocion occupied at the head of the state.—The Ætolians, the last against whom the Macedonian wars were directed, obtained better terms than they had ventured to expect, Antipater and Craterus being obliged to hurry over to Asia in order to oppose Perdiccas.

Olympias retires to Epirus. Antipater dies, and names Polysperchon his successor, 320—316.

3. That hatred which, even in the lifetime of Alexander, had sprung up between Antipater and Olympias, in consequence of his not permitting the dowager queen to rule, induced her to withdraw to Epirus; her rankling envy being still more embittered by the influence of the young queen Eurydice. See above, p. 224. Antipater, dying shortly after his expedition against Perdiccas, in which his colleague Craterus had fallen, and he himself had been appointed regent, nominates his friend, the aged Polysperchon, to succeed him as regent and head guardian, to the exclusion of his own son Cassander. Hence arose a series of quarrels between the two, in which, unfortunately for themselves, the royal family were implicated and finally exterminated, Cassander obtaining the sovereignty of Macedonia.

Cassander having secured the interest of Antigonus and Ptolemy, makes his escape to the former, 319: he had previously endeavoured also to raise a party in Macedonia and Greece, particularly by getting his friend Nicanor to be commander at Athens.—Measures taken by Polysperchon to oppose him; in the first place, he recalls Olympias out of Epirus, but the princess dares not come without an army; in the next place, he nominates Eumenes commander of the royal troops in Asia (see above, p. 225); he likewise endeavours to gain the Grecian cities, by recalling the Macedonian garrisons, and changing the governors set over them by Antipater. These latter, however, were in most of the cities too firmly established to suffer themselves thus to be deposed; and even the expedition into Peloponnesus, undertaken by Polysperchon to enforce his injunctions was attended but with partial success.—In the same year occurs a twofold revolution in Athens, whither Polysperchon had sent his son Alexander, nominally for the purpose of driving out Nicanor, but virtually to get possession of that important city. In the first place, Alexander and Nicanor appearing to unite both for the attainment of one and the same object, the democratic party rise up, and overthrow the rulers, hitherto taken from Antipater's party, and headed by Phocion, who is compelled to swallow poison: soon after, however, Cassander occupies the city, excludes from the administration all that possess less than ten mines, and places at the head of affairs Demetrius Phalereus, who, from 318 to 307, ruled with great prudence.—Not long after, Olympias returns with an army from Epirus; the Macedonian troops of Philip and Eurydice having passed over to her side, she wreaks her revenge on the royal couple, and on the brother of Cassander, all of whom she puts to death, 317. Cassander, nevertheless, having obtained reinforcements in Peloponnesus, takes the field against her; she is besieged in Pydna, where, disappointed in the hope of being relieved either by Polysperchon or by Æacidas of Epirus, both of whom were forsaken by their men, she is obliged to surrender, 316. Cassander, having caused her to be condemned by the Macedonian people, has her put to death.

Cassander.

4. Cassander being now master, and, from 302, king of Macedonia, confirmed his dominion by a marriage with Thessalonice, half-sister to Alexander, and at the same time endeavoured to corroborate as far as possible his authority in Greece. Polysperchon and his son Alexander, it is true, still made head in Peloponnesus; but the states without the peninsula, Ætolia excepted, were all either allies of Cassander, or occupied by Macedonian troops. 314. After the defeat of the league against Antigonus, in which Cassander had borne a part, general peace was concluded, with the proviso, that the Grecian cities should be free, and that the young Alexander, when of age, should be raised to the throne of Macedonia: 311. this induced Cassander to rid himself both of the young prince and his mother Roxana by murder: but he thereby exposed himself to an attack from Polysperchon, who, availing himself of the discontent of the Macedonians, brought back Hercules, the only remaining illegitimate son of Alexander. Cassander diverted the storm by a new crime, instigating Polysperchon to murder the young Hercules, under promise of sharing the government: Polysperchon, however, unable to possess himself of the Peloponnesus which had been promised him, appears to have preserved but little influence. Cassander met likewise with formidable opponents in the persons of Antigonus and his son; and although delivered by the breaking 308. out of the war with Ptolemy from the danger of the first invasion of Greece by Demetrius, his situation was more embarrassing at the second irruption; from which, however, he was extricated by the circumstance of Antigonus being obliged 307. to recall his son, on account of the newly formed league (see above, p. 230).

Antigonus, on his return from Upper Asia, declares loudly against Cassander, B. C. 314; despatches his general Aristodemus to Peloponnesus, and frames a league with Polysperchon and his son Alexander; the latter, however, Cassander succeeds in winning over by a promise of the command in Peloponnesus. Alexander was soon after murdered, but his wife Cratesipolis succeeded him, and commanded with the spirit of a man. Meanwhile, Cassander carried war against the Ætolians, who sided with Antigonus, 313; but Antigonus, 312, having sent his general Ptolemy into Greece with a fleet and army, Cassander lost his supremacy. In the peace of 311, the freedom of all the Grecian cities was stipulated; but this very condition became the pretext of various and permanent feuds; and Cassander having murdered the young king, together with his mother, drew upon himself the arms of Polysperchon, who wished to place Hercules on the throne, 310; but the pretender was removed in the manner above described, 309.—Cassander now endeavouring to reestablish his power over Greece, Demetrius Poliorcetes was by his father sent into that country in order to anticipate Ptolemy of Egypt, in the enforcement of the decree for the freedom of the Greeks, 308; the result at Athens was the restoration of democracy, and the expulsion of Demetrius Phalereus.—From any further attack of Demetrius, Cassander was delivered by the war which broke out between Antigonus and Ptolemy, (see above, p. 229.) and had the leisure, once more, to strengthen his power in Greece, until 302, when Demetrius arrived a second time, and, as generalissimo of liberated Greece, pressed forward to the borders of Macedonia; Demetrius was, however, recalled by his father into Asia, and at the battle of Ipsus, 301, lost all his dominions in that quarter of the world. Yet although Athens closed her harbours against him, he still maintained his possessions in Peloponnesus, and even endeavoured to extend them; from thence, in 297, he sallied forth, and once more took possession of his beloved Athens, and after driving out the usurper Lachares, forgave her ingratitude.

Cassander dies, and leaves the throne to his sons;

5. Cassander survived the establishment of his throne by the battle of Ipsus only three years: and bequeathed Macedonia as an inheritance to his three sons, the eldest of whom, Philip, shortly after followed his father to the grave.

Antipater and Alexander.

6. The two remaining sons, Antipater and Alexander, soon worked their own destruction. Antipater having murdered his own mother Thessalonice, on account of the favour she showed his brother, was obliged to flee; he applied for help to his father-in-law Lysimachus of Thrace, where he soon after died. Meanwhile Alexander, fancying that he likewise stood in need of foreign assistance, addressed himself to Pyrrhus, king of Macedonia, and to Demetrius Poliorcetes, both of whom obeyed the call only with the expectation of being paid. After various snares reciprocally laid for each other, the king of Macedonia was murdered by Demetrius, and with him the race 295. of Antipater became extinct.

Demetrius, 294—287.

7. The army proclaimed Demetrius king; and in his person the house of Antigonus ascended the throne of Macedonia, and, after many vicissitudes, established their power. His seven years' reign, in which one project succeeded the other, was a constant series of wars; and as he never could learn how to bear with good fortune, his ambition was at last his ruin.

The kingdom of Demetrius comprised Macedonia, Thessaly, and the greatest part of the Peloponnesus; he was also master of Megara and Athens.—Twofold capture of Thebes, which had been rebuilt by Cassander, 293, and 291; unsuccessful attempt upon Thrace, 292. His war with Pyrrhus, 290, in whom men fancied they beheld another Alexander, had already alienated the affections of the Macedonians; but his grand project for the recovery of Asia induced his enemies to get the start of him; and the hatred of his subjects compelled him secretly to escape to Peloponnesus, to his son Antigonus, 287. Athens, taking advantage of his misfortunes, drove out the Macedonian garrison, and, by the election of archons, reestablished her ancient constitution; although Demetrius laid siege to the town, he allowed himself to be pacified by Crates. Having once more attempted to prosecute his plans against Asia, he was obliged, 286, to surrender to Seleucus his father-in-law, who, out of charity, kept him till the day of his death, 284.

Pyrrhus of Epirus, 287, 286.

8. Two claimants to the vacant throne now arose, viz. Pyrrhus of Epirus and Lysimachus of Thrace; but although Pyrrhus was first proclaimed king, with the cession of half the dominions, he could not, being a foreigner, support his power any longer than the year 286, when he was deposed by Lysimachus.

The sovereigns of Epirus, belonging to the family of the Æacidæ, were properly kings of the Molossi. See above, p. 150. They did not become lords of all Epirus, nor consequently of any historical importance, until the time of the Peloponnesian war. After that period Epirus was governed by Alcetas I. about 384, who pretended to be the sixteenth descendant from Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles; Neoptolemus, father to Olympias, by whose marriage with Philip, 358, the kings of Epirus became intimately connected with Macedonia, d. 352; Arymbas, his brother, d. 342; Alexander I. son of Neoptolemus, and brother-in-law to Alexander the Great; he was ambitious to be as great a conqueror in the west as his kinsman was in the east, but he fell in Lucania, 332. Æacides, son of Arymbas, d. 312. Pyrrhus II. his son, the Ajax of his time, and, we might almost say, rather an adventurer than a king. After uninterrupted wars waged in Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and Sicily, he fell at last at the storming of Argos, 272. He was followed by his son Alexander II. in the person of whose successor, Pyrrhus III. 219, the male line became extinct. Although the daughter of this last prince, Deidamia, succeeded to the throne, the Epirots were not long before they established a democratic government, which endured till such time as they were, together with Macedonia and the rest of Greece, brought under the Roman yoke, 146.

Lysimachus. 282.

9. In consequence of the accession of Lysimachus, Thrace, and for a short time even Asia Minor, were annexed to the Macedonian kingdom. But rankling hatred and family relations soon afterwards involved Lysimachus in a war with Seleucus Nicator, in which, at battle of Curopedion, he lost both his throne and his life.

Execution of the gallant Agathocles, eldest son of Lysimachus, at the instigation of his step-mother Arsinoe: his widow Lysandra and her brother Ptolemy Ceraunus, who had already been driven out of Egypt by his step-mother Berenice, go over, followed by a large party, to Seleucus, whom they excite to war.

Seleucus.

10. The victorious Seleucus, already lord of Asia, now causing himself to be proclaimed likewise king of Macedonia, it seemed as if that country was again about to become the head seat of the whole monarchy. But shortly after he had crossed over into Europe, Seleucus fell by the murderous hand of Ptolemy Ceraunus, who, 281. availing himself of the treasures of his victim, and of the yet remaining troops of Lysimachus, took possession of the throne; by another act of treachery he avenged himself of Arsinoe, his half-sister; but just as he conceived himself securely established, he lost both his crown and his life by the irruption of the Gauls into Macedonia.

The irruption of the Gauls, threatening desolation not only to Macedonia but to the whole of Greece, took place in three successive expeditions. The first under Cambaules, (probably 280,) advanced no further than Thrace, the invaders not being sufficiently numerous. The second in three bodies; against Thrace under Ceretrius; against Pæonia under Brennus and Acichorius; against Macedonia and Illyria under Belgius, 279. By the last-mentioned chieftain Ptolemy was defeated; he fell in the contest. In consequence, Meleager first, and Antipater subsequently, were appointed kings of Macedonia; but both, on account of incapacity, being soon afterwards deposed, a Macedonian noble, Sosthenes, assumed the command, and this time liberated his country. But the year 278 brought with it the main storm, which spent its fury principally on Greece: Sosthenes was defeated and slain: and although the Greeks brought all their united forces into the field, Brennus and Acichorius burst into Greece on two different sides, and pushed on to Delphi, the object of their expedition; from hence, however, they were compelled to retreat; and most of them were cut off by hunger, cold, or the sword. Nevertheless a portion of those barbarians stood their ground in the interior of Thrace, which, consequently, was for the most part lost to Macedonia: another portion, consisting of various hordes, the Tectosagæ, Tolistobii, and Trocmi, crossed over to Asia Minor, where they established themselves in the country called after them Galatia (see above, p. 236). Although there can be no doubt that the Tectosagæ must have come from the innermost parts of Gaul, the mode of attack demonstrates that the main tide of invaders consisted of the neighbouring races; and, in fact, in those days the countries from the Danube to the Mediterranean and Adriatic were mostly occupied by Gauls.—Greece, though she strained every nerve, and with the exception of Peloponnesus, was united in one league, could scarcely bring forward more than 20,000 men to stem the torrent.

Antigonus Gonnatas.

11. Antigonus of Gonni, son to Demetrius, now seated himself on the vacant throne of desolated Macedon; he bought off his competitor, Antiochus I. named Soter, by treaty and marriage. Successfully as he opposed the new irruption of the Gauls, he was dethroned by Pyrrhus, who, 274. on his return from Italy, was a second time proclaimed king of Macedonia. That prince, however, having formed the design of conquering the Peloponnesus, and, after an ineffectual attack on Sparta, which was repelled with heroic gallantry, wishing to take possession of Argos, fell at the 272. storming of the latter place.

Extraordinary as these frequent revolutions appear, they may be easily accounted for by the mode of warfare in those days. Every thing depended on the armies; and these were composed of mercenaries, ever willing to fight against him they had defended the day before, if they fancied his rival to be a more valiant or fortunate leader. Since the death of Alexander, the Macedonian phalanx was no longer dependent on its captains, but they on their men. The impoverishment of the countries, in consequence of war, was such, that the soldier's was almost the only profitable trade; and none prosecuted that trade more ardently than the Gauls, whose services were ever ready for any one who chose to pay for them.

12. After the death of Pyrrhus, Antigonus Gonnatas recovered the Macedonian throne, of which he and his descendants kept uninterrupted possession, yet not till after a violent contest with Alexander, the son and successor of Pyrrhus. But no sooner were they secure from foreign rivals, than the Macedonian policy was again directed against Greece, and the capture of Corinth seemed to insure the dependence of the whole country, when the formation of the Ætolian, and the yet more important Achæan, league, gave rise to relations entirely new, and of the highest interest, even for the universal history of the world. After so many storms, the sun of Greece was about to set in all his splendour!

The ancient confederacy of the twelve Achæan cities (see above, p. 145.) had subsisted until the death of Alexander, but was dissolved in the subsequent commotions; particularly when, after the battle of Ipsus, 301, Demetrius and his son made Peloponnesus the principal seat of their power. Some of these cities were now garrisoned by those princes, while in others arose tyrants, generally favourable to their interests. In 281, four asserted their freedom and renewed the ancient federation; which, five years afterwards, was gradually joined by the rest, Antigonus being busied elsewhere, in consequence of his occupation of the Macedonian throne. But the league did not become formidable till the accession of foreign states. This took place, in the first instance, with Sicyon, through the exertions of the liberator of that town, Aratus, who now became the animating spirit of the federation; and in 243 brought over Corinth, after the expulsion of the Macedonian garrison, and Megara. Afterwards the league gradually acquired strength, by the junction of several Grecian cities, Athens among others, 229; and thereby excited the jealousy of the rest. And as Aratus, who was more of a statesman than a general, and possessed but little independence, had in the very outset joined the party of Ptolemy II. the league soon became involved in the disputes of the great powers, and was too often but a mere tool in their hands. The main principles on which it was founded were the following: 1. Complete political equality of all the federate cities; in this respect it essentially differed from all the earlier federations in Greece. 2. Unconditional preservation of the domestic government in every one of the cities. 3. The meeting twice a year of deputies from all the cities, at Ægium, and afterwards at Corinth; for transacting all business of common interest, particularly foreign affairs, and also for the purpose of electing the strategus, or military leader and head of the union, and the ten demiurgi, or supreme magistrates.—But what more than all contributed to exalt this league, founded on pure liberty, was the virtue of Aratus, 213, Philopœmen, 183, and Lycortas, 170; men who breathed into it the spirit of union, until, enfeebled by Roman policy, it was overthrown.

† Breitenbauch, History of the Achæans and their league, 1782.

The Ætolian league was formed about 284, in consequence of the oppressions of the Macedonian kings. The Ætolians had likewise a yearly congress, panætolium, at Thermus; where they chose a strategus and the apocleti, who constituted the state council. They had, besides, their secretary, γραμματεύς; and supervisors, ἔφοροι, whose particular functions are, however, matter of doubt. This federation did not increase like the Achæan, none but Ætolians being admitted. The more unpolished this piratical nation remained, the more frequently it was used as the tool of foreign, and particularly of Roman, policy.

Demetrius II. 243—233.

13. Antigonus, in the latter part of his reign, had recourse to various means, and more especially to an alliance with the Ætolians, for the purpose of counterpoising the Achæans. He died in his eightieth year, and was succeeded by his son, Demetrius II. who waged war upon the Ætolians, now, however, supported by the Achæans; and endeavoured to repress the growth of the latter, by favouring the tyrants of particular cities. The remainder of the reign of this prince is little more than a chasm in history.

The vulgar assertion that this prince conquered Cyrene and Libya, originates in a confusion of names; his uncle Demetrius, son of Poliorcetes of Ptolemais, being mentioned by Plutarch as king of Cyrene. The history of that town, from 258 to 142, is enveloped in almost total darkness: cf. Prolog. Trogi, l. xxvi. ad calcem Justini.

Antigonus Doson, 233—221.

14. Demetrius's son Philip was passed over; his brother's son, Antigonus II. surnamed Doson, being raised to the throne. This king was occupied the most of his time by the events in Greece, where a very remarkable revolution at Sparta, as we learn from Plutarch, had raised up a formidable enemy against the Achæans; and so completely altered the relative position of affairs, that the Macedonians, from having been opponents, became allies of the Achæans.

Sketch of the situation of Spartan affairs at this period: the ancient constitution still continued to exist in form; but the plunder of foreign countries, and particularly the permission to transfer landed estates, obtained by Epitadeus, had produced great inequality of property. The restoration of Lycurgus's constitution had, therefore, a twofold object; to favour the poor by a new agrarian law and release from debts, and to increase the power of the kings by repressing that of the ephori.—First attempt at reform 244, by king Agis III; attended in the beginning with partial success, but eventually frustrated by the other king, Leonidas, and terminating in the extinction of Agis and his family, 241. Leonidas, however, was succeeded, 236, by his son Cleomenes, who victoriously defeated the plans of Aratus to force Sparta to accede to the Achæan league, 227; this king, by a forcible revolution, overthrew the ephori, and accomplished the project of Agis, at the same time increasing the Spartans by the admission of a number of periæci; and enforcing the laws of Lycurgus referring to private life; but as in a small republic a revolution cannot be confirmed without some external war, he attacked the Achæans as early as 224; these being defeated, implored, through Aratus, the help of Antigonus; Cleomenes in consequence was, at the battle of Sellasia, 222, obliged to yield to superior force, and with difficulty escaped over to Egypt; while Sparta was compelled to acknowledge her independence as a gift at the hands of Antigonus. Such was the miserable success of this attempt made by a few great men on a nation already degenerate. The quarrels between the ephori and king Lycurgus and his successor Machanidas, placed Sparta in a state of anarchy, which ended, 207, in the usurpation of the sovereign power by one Nabis, who destroyed the ancient form of government. Let him who would study great revolutions commence with that just described; insignificant as it is, none perhaps furnishes more instructive lessons.

Plutarchi Agis et Cleomenes. The information in which is principally drawn from the Commentaries of Aratus.

Philip II. 221—179.

15. Philip II. son of Demetrius. He ascended the throne at the early age of sixteen, endowed with many qualities, such as might, under favourable circumstances, have formed a great prince. Macedonia had recruited her strength during a long peace; and her grand political aim, the supremacy of Greece, secured by the connection of Antigonus with the Achæans, and by the victory of Sellasia, seemed to be already within her grasp. But Philip lived in a time when Rome was pursuing her formidable plans of aggrandizement: the more vigorous and prompt his efforts were to withstand that power, the more deeply was he entangled in the new maze of events, which embittered the rest of his life, and at last brought him to the grave with a broken heart, converted by misfortune into a despot.

War of the two leagues, 221—217.

16. The first five years of Philip were occupied by his participation in the war between the Achæans and Ætolians, called the war of the two leagues; notwithstanding the treachery of his minister Apellas and his dependents, the prince was enabled to dictate the conditions of peace, according to which both parties were to remain in possession of what they then had. The conclusion of this peace was hastened by the news of Hannibal's victory at Thrasymenus, Philip being then instigated to form more extensive projects by Demetrius of Pharus, who had fled before the Romans, and soon acquired unlimited influence with the Macedonian king.

The war of the two leagues arose out of the piracies of the Ætolians on the Messenians, the latter of whom the Achæans undertook to protect, 221. The errors committed by Aratus compelled the Achæans to have recourse to Philip, 220; whose progress, however, was for a long time impeded by the artifices of Apellas's faction, who wished to overthrow Aratus. The Acarnanians, Epirots, Messenians, and Scerdilaidas of Illyria, (who, however, soon after declared against Macedonia,) combined with Philip and the Achæans; the Ætolians, on the other hand, commanded by their own general, Scopas, had for their allies the Spartans and Eleans.—The most important consequence of this war for Macedonia was, that she began again to be a naval power.—About the same time a war broke out between the two trading republics of Byzantium and Rhodes (the latter supported by Prusias I. of Bithynia) insignificant in itself, but which, as a commercial war, originating in the duties imposed by the Byzantines, was the only one of its kind in this age, 222. The Rhodians, so powerful in those days by sea, compelled their adversaries to submit.