leucus Callinicus, king of Syria, leaves two children behind him. The eldest reigns but three years, and does not perform any exploit worthy of being recorded; and, accordingly, the prophet does not take any notice of him. The youngest is Antiochus, surnamed the Great, from his great actions; and, accordingly, our prophet gives a transient account of the principal circumstances of his life, his most important enterprises, and even the manner of his death. In it we see his expeditions into Coelosyria and Phoenicia, several cities of which are besieged and taken by that monarch; his entrance into Jerusalem, which is laid waste by the stay his troops made in it; his conquests of a great many islands; the marriage of his daughter with the king of Egypt, which does not answer the design he had in view; his overthrow by the Roman consul; his retreat to Antioch; and, lastly, his unfortunate end. These are, in a manner, the outlines of the picture of Antiochus, which can be made to resemble none but himself. Is it to be supposed, that the prophet drew those features without a design, and at random, in the picture he has left us of him? The facts, which denote the accomplishment of the prophecy, are all told by heathen authors, who lived many centuries after the prophet in question, and whose fidelity cannot be suspected in any manner. We must renounce, not only religion, but reason, to refuse to acknowledge, in such prophecies as these, the intervention of a Supreme Being, to whom all ages are present, and who governs the world with absolute power. SECTION IX.-SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR SUCCEEDS ANTIOCHUS. AGAINST PHILIP. COMPLAINTS ANTIOCHUS the Great was succeeded by Seleucus Philopator, his eldest son, whom he had left in Antioch when he set out for the eastern provinces. His reign was obscure and contemptible, occasioned by the misery to which the Romans had reduced that crown; and the exorbitant sum, a thousand talents annually, he was obliged to pay, during all his reign, by virtue of the treaty of peace concluded between the king his father and that people.* Ptolemy Epiphanes at that time reigned in Egypt. Immediately upon his accession to the throne, he had sent an ambassador into Achaia, to renew the alliance which the king his father had formerly concluded with the Achæans. The latter accepted of this offer with joy; and accordingly sent deputies to the king, Lycortas, father of Polybius the historian, and two other ambassadors. The alliance being renewed, Philopomen, who was at that time in office, inviting Ptolemy's ambassador to a banquet, they entered into discourse concerning that prince. In the praise the ambassador bestowed upon him, he expatiated very much on his dexterity in the chase, his address in riding, and his vigour and activity in the exercise of his arms; and to give an example of what he asserted, he declared, that this prince, being on horseback, in a party of hunting, had killed a wild bull with the discharge of a single javelin.t The same year Antiochus died, Cleopatra his daughter, queen of Egypt, had a son, who reigned after Epiphanes his father, and was called Ptolemy Philometor. The whole realm expressed great joy upon the birth of this prince. Colosyria and Palestine distinguished themselves above all the provinces, and the most considerable persons of those countries went to Alexandria upon that occasion with the most splendid equipages. Josephus, of whom I have spoken elsewhere, who was receiver-general of those provinces, being too old to take such a journey, sent his youngest son, Hyrcanus, in his stead, who was a young man of great wit, and very engaging manners. The king and queen gave him a very favourable reception, and did him the honour of a place at their table. A buffoon, who used to divert the king with his A. M. 3817. Ant. J. C. 187. Appian in Syr. p. 116. t Polyb. in Leg. c. 37. jests, said to him," Do but behold, sir, the quantity of bones before Hyrcanus, and your majesty may judge in what manner his father gnaws your pro vinces." These words made the king laugh; and he asked Hyrcanus, how he came to have so great a number of bones before him. "Your majesty need not wonder at that," replied he; "for dogs eat both flesh and bones, as you see the rest of the persons at your table have done," pointing to them; "but men are contented to eat the flesh, and leave the bones, like me." The mockers were mocked by that retort, and continued mute and confused. When the day for making the presents arrived, as Hyrcanus had given out that he had only five talents to present, it was expected that he would be very ill received by the king, and people diverted themselves with the thoughts of it beforehand. The greatest presents made by the rest did not exceed twenty talents; but Hyrcanus presented to the king one hundred boys, well shaped and finely dressed, whom he had bought, each of them bringing a talent as an offering, and to the queen as many girls, in magnificent habits, each with a like present for that princess. The whole court was amazed at such uncommon and surpassing magnificence; and the king and queen dismissed Hyrcanus with the highest marks of their favour and esteem. Ptolemy, in the first year of his reign, governed in so auspicious a manner, as gained him universal approbation and applause; because he followed in all things the advice of Aristomenes, who was another father to him; but afterwards, the flattery of courtiers, that deadly poison to kings, prevailed over the wise counsels of that able minister. That prince shunned him, and began to yield to all the vices and failings of his father. Not being able to endure the liberty which Aristomenes frequently took, of advising him to act more consistently with himself, he despatched him with poison. Having thus got rid of a troublesome censor, whose sight alone was importunate, from the tacit reproaches it seemed to make him, he abandoned himself entirely to his vicious inclinations; plunged into excesses and disorders of every kind; followed no other guides in the administration of affairs, than his wild passions; and treated his subjects with the cruelty of a tyrant.* The Egyptians, growing at last quite weary of the oppressions and injus tice to which they were daily exposed, began to cabal together, and to form associations against a king who oppressed them so grievously. Some persons of the highest rank having engaged in this conspiracy, they had already formed designs for deposing him, and were on the point of putting them in execution. To extricate himself from the difficulties in which he was now involved, he chose Polycrates for his prime minister, a man of great bravery as well as abilities, and who had the most consummate experience in affairs both of peace and war; for he had risen to the command of the army under his father, and had served in that quality in the battle of Raphia, on which occasion he had contributed very much to the victory. He was afterwards governor of the island of Cyprus; and happening to be in Alexandria when the conspiracy of Scopas was discovered, the expedients he employed on that occasion conduced very much to the preservation of the state.f Ptolemy, by the assistance of this prime minister, overcame the rebels. He obliged their chiefs, who were the principal lords of the country, to capitulate and submit on certain conditions. But, having seized their persons, he forfeited his promise; and, after having exercised various cruelties upon them, put them all to death. This perfidious conduct brought new troubles upon him, from which the abilities of Polycrates again extricated him.‡ The Achæan league, at the time we are now speaking of, seems to have been very powerful, and in great consideration. We have seen that Ptolemy, * A. M. 3820. Ant. J. C. 184. Diod. in Excerpt. p. 294. shortly after his accession to the throne, had been very solicitous to renew the ancient alliance with them. This he was also very desirous of in the latter end of his reign; and accordingly offered that republic six thousand shields, and two hundred talents of brass. His offer was accepted; and, in conse quence of it, Lycortas and two other Achæans were deputed to him, to thank him for the presents, and to renew the alliance; and these returned soon after with Ptolemy's ambassador, in order to ratify the treaty. Eumenes also sent an embassy for the same purpose, and offered one hundred and twenty talents, the interest of which was to be applied for the support of the members of the public council. Others came likewise from Seleucus, who, in the name of their sovereign, offered ten ships of war completely equipped; and at the same time desired to have the ancient alliance with that prince renewed. The ambassador, whom Philopomen sent to Rome to justify his conduct, had returned from thence, and desired to give an account of his commission.* For these several reasons, a great assembly was held. The first person who entered it, was Nicodemus of Elea. He gave an account of what he had said in the senate of Rome, with regard to the affair of Sparta, and the answer which had been made him. It was judged by the replies, that the senate, in reality, were not pleased with the subversion of the government of Sparta, with the demolition of the walls of that city, nor with the massacre of the Spartans; but, at the same time, they did not annul any thing which had been enacted. And, as no person happened to speak for or against the answers of the senate, no farther mention was made of it at that time. But the same affair will be the subject of much debate in the sequel. The ambassadors of Eumenes were afterwards admitted to audience. After having renewed the alliance which had been formerly made with Attalus, that king's father, and proposed, in the name of Eumenes, the offer of one hundred and twenty talents, they expatiated largely on the great friendship and tender regard which their sovereign had always showed for the Achæans. When they had ended what they had to say, Apollonius of Sicyon rose up, and observed, that the present which the king of Pergamus offered, considered in itself, was worthy of the Achæans; but, if regard was had to the end which Eumenes proposed to himself by it, and the advantage he hoped to reap by his munificence, in that case, the republic could not accept of this present without bringing upon itself everlasting infamy, and being guilty of the greatest of prevarications. "For, in a word," continued he, "as the law forbids every individual, whether of the people or of the magistrates, to receive any gift from a king upon any pretence whatever, the crime would be much greater should the commonwealth, collectively, accept the offers of Eumenes. That with regard to the infamy, it was self-evident; for, says Apollonius, what could reflect greater ignominy on a council, than to receive, annually, from a king, money for its subsistence; and to assemble, in order to deliberate on public affairs, only as so many of his pensioners, and in a manner rising from his table, after having swallowed the bait that concealed the hook ? But what dreadful consequences might not be expected from such a custom, should it be established? That Prussias, excited by the example of Eumenes, would also be liberal of his benefactions, and after him, Seleucus; that, as the interest of kings differed widely from those of republics, and as, in the latter, their most important deliberations related to their differences with crowned heads, two things would inevitably happen; either the Achæans would transact all things to the advantage of those princes, and to the prejudice of their own country, or, they must behave with the blackest ingratitude toward their benefactors." He concluded his speech with exhorting the Achæans to refuse the * A. M 3918. Ant. J. C. 186. Polyb. in Legat. c. 14. p. 850-852. ↑ Polybius, by this expression, would denote, that such a pension was a kind of bait that covered a hook, that is, the design which Eumenes had of making all those who composed the council his dependents. Καταπεπωκότας οιονει δέλεας. present which was offered; and added," that it was their duty to take umbrage at Eumenes, for attempting to bribe their fidelity by such an offer." The whole assembly, with shouts, rejected unanimously the proposal of Eumenes, however dazzling the offer of so large a sum of money might be. After this, Lycortas, and the rest of the ambassadors who had been sent to Ptolemy, were called in; and the decree made by that prince for renewing the alliance was read. Aristenes, who presided in the assembly, having asked what treaty the king of Egypt desired to renew, several having been concluded with Ptolemy upon very different conditions, and nobody being able to answer that question, the decision of that affair was referred to another time. At last the ambassadors of Seleucus were admitted to audience. The Achæans renewed the alliance which had been concluded with him; but it was not judged expedient to accept, at that juncture, of the ships he offered. Greece was far from enjoying a calm at this time; and complaints were carried, from all quarters to Rome, against Philip. The senate thereupon nominated three commissioners, of whom Q. Cecilius was the chief, to go and take cognizance of those affairs upon the spot.* Philip still retained the strongest resentment against the Romans, with whom he believed he had sufficient reason to be dissatisfied on many accounts; but more particularly, because by the articles of peace, he had not been allowed the privilege of taking vengeance on such of his subjects as had abandoned him during the war. The Romans, however, had endeavoured to console him, by permitting him to invade Athamania; and Amynander, the king of that country; by giving up to him some cities of Thessaly, which the Etolians had seized; by leaving him the possession of Demetrias and all Magnesia; and by not opposing him in his attempts upon Thrace; all which circumstances had somewhat appeased his anger. He continually meditated, however, to take advantage of the repose which the peace afforded him, in order to prepare for war, whenever a proper opportunity should present itself. But the complaints that were made against him at Rome, having been listened to there, revived all his former disgusts.† The three commissioners having arrived at Tempe in Thessaly, an assembly was called there, to which came, on one side, the ambassadors of the Thessalians, of the Perrhœbians, and Athamanians: and, on the other, of Philip king of Macedon; a circumstance that could not but greatly mortify the pride of so powerful a prince. The ambassadors explained their various complaints against Philip, with greater or less force, according to their different characters and abilities. Some, after excusing themselves for being obliged to plead against him, in favour of their liberty, entreated him to act in regard to them rather as a friend than a master; and to imitate the Romans in that particular, who endeavoured to win over their allies by friendship rather than fear. The rest of the ambassadors being less reserved, and not so moderate, reproached him to his face for his injustice, oppression, and usurpation; assuring the commissioners, that in case they did not apply a speedy remedy, the triumphs they had obtained over Philip, and their restoration of the Gre cians inhabiting the countries near Macedonia to their liberties, would all be rendered ineffectual: that this prince, like a fiery courser, would never be kept in and restrained without a very tight rein, and a sharp curb. Philip, that he might assume the air of an accuser rather than of one accused, inveighed heavily against those who had harangued on this occasion, and particularly against the Thessalians. He said, that like slaves, who being made free on a sudden, contrary to all expectation, broke into the most injurious exclamations against their masters and benefactors; so they abused, with the utmost inso lence, the indulgence of the Romans; and were incapable, after enduring a * A. M. 3819. Ant. J. C. 185. Liv. l. xxxix. n. 23-29. Ut equum sternacem non parentem, freni sperioribus castigandum esse.-Liv. long servitude, to make a prudent and moderate use of the liberty which had been granted them.* The commnissioners, after hearing the accusations and answers, the circumstances of which I shall omit as little important, and making some particular regulations, did not judge proper, at that time, to pronounce definitely upon their respective demands. From thence they went to Thessalonica, to inquire into the affairs relating to the cities of Thrace; and the king, who was very much disgusted, followed them thither. The ambassadors of Eumenes said to the commissioners, that if the Romans were resolved to restore the cities of Ænum and Maronea to their liberty, their sovereign was far from having a design to oppose it; but that, if they did not concern themselves in regard to the conditions of the cities which had been conquered from Antiochus, in that case, the service which Eumenes and Attalus his father had done Rome, seemed to require that they should rather be given up to their master than to Philip, who had no manner of right to them, but had usurped them by open force; that, besides, these cities had been given to Eumenes, by a decree of the ten commissioners whom the Romans had appointed to determine these differences. The Maronites, who were afterwards heard, inveighed in the strongest terms against the injustice and oppression which Philip's garrison exercised in their city. Here Philip delivered himself in quite different terms from what he had done before; and directing himself personally to the Romans, declared, that he had long perceived they were fully determined never to do him justice on any occasion. He made a long enumeration of the grievous injuries he pretended to have received from them; the services he had done the Romans on different occasions, and the zeal with which he had always adhered to their interest, so far as to refuse three thousand talents, fifty ships of war completely equipped, and a great number of cities, which Antiochus offered him, upon condition that he would conclude an alliance with him. That, notwith standing this, he had the mortification to see Eumenes preferred on all occa sions, with whom it was too great a condescension to compare himself; and that the Romans, so far from enlarging his dominions, as he thought his services merited, had even dispossessed him, as well of those cities to which he had a lawful claim, as of such as they had bestowed upon him. You, Romans!" said he, concluding his speech, "are to consider upon what terms you intend to have me be with you. If you are determined to treat me as an enemy, and to urge me to extremities, in that case, you need only use me as you have hitherto done: but, if you still revere in my person the title and quality of king, ally, and friend, spare me, I beseech you, the shame of being treated any longer with so much indignity." The commissioners were moved with this speech. For this reason they thought it incumbent on them to leave the affair in suspense, by making no decisive answer; and accordingly they declared, that if the cities in question had been given to Eumenes, by decree of the ten commissioners, as he pretended they were, in that case it was not in their power to reverse it in any manner: that, if Philip had acquired them by right of conquest, it was but just that he should be suffered to continue in possession of them: that if neither of these things should be proved, then the cognizance of this affair should be left to the judgment of the senate; and, in the mean time, the garrisons be drawn out of the cities, each party retaining its pretensions as before. This regulation, by which Philip was commanded, provisionally, to withdraw his garrisons out of the respective cities, so far from satisfying that prince, so entirely discontented and enraged him, that the consequence would certainly have been an open war, if he had lived long enough to prepare it. The commissioners, at their leaving Macedonia, went to Achaia. Aristenes, who was the chief magistrate, assembled immediately all the chiefs of the re Insolenter et immodice abuti Thessalos indulgentia populi Romani; velut ex diutina siti nimis avide meram haurientes libertatem. Ita, servorum modo præter spem repente manumissorum, licentiam vocis et linguæ experiri, et jactare sese insectatione et conviciis dominorum -Liv. |