Note 4 — THE BOOK OF NATIONS Geographical, Historical, Descriptive (continued 4)

The Syrian monarchy of the Seleucidæ began in 312 B. C. with Seleucus I. (surnamed Nicator), one of Alexander’s generals, and under him was extended over much of Asia Minor, including the whole of Syria from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, and the territory eastwards from the Euphrates to the banks of the Oxus and the Indus. Seleucus I. was an able and energetic monarch, and sedulously carried out the plans of Alexander the Great. He died in 280 B. C., having founded the city of Antioch in Syria as the capital of the kingdom. His successors, the dynasty known as the Seleucidæ (or “descendants of Seleucus”), ruled for about two centuries. The most notable of these monarchs were named Antiochus.

The third of the name, Antiochus the Great (223 to 187 B. C.), was the monarch at whose court Hannibal, the great Carthaginian, took refuge. Antiochus invaded Greece in 192 B. C., and there the Romans defeated him both by land and sea, and compelled him to yield a large part of his dominions in Asia Minor. Much of the eastern territory had been lost before this time, as well as Phœnicia, Palestine, and Western Syria, conquered by Ptolemy Philopator, king of Egypt.

Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 B. C.) oppressed the Jews to introduce the worship of the Greek divinities. Against him the brave Maccabees rose in rebellion. The Syrian kingdom ended in 65 B. C., conquered by the Romans under Pompey.