Chapter XVII: Part III: , European Nations; of which only 1 volume, Greeks, has (9)

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 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, Coele-Syria
and Phoenicia. Otherwise, why should he have given his daughter to
a second pretender to the throne?

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.

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.

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.

31. The ensuing history of the Seleucidae 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 Phoenicia. 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 Seleucidae to wear themselves out in mutual quarrels--do not seem to have taken any account 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 Seleucidae 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 Seleucidae. 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 Ptolemaeorum_, 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 Academie 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.
_intitule Annales des Lagides_. Paris, 1820.

LETRONNE, _Recherches pour servir a l'histoire de l'Egypte pendant
la domination des Grecs et des Romains, tirees des inscriptions
Grecques et Latines, relatives a la chronologie, a 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.

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
([Greek: phylas]), 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 _Mem. de
l'Academie des Inscript._ vol. ix. Compare:

# J. L. F. MANSO, _Letters upon ancient Alexandria_, in his
_Vermischte Schriften_, vol. i.

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 Phoenicia, Judaea, Coele-Syria, and Cyprus.

The possession of Phoenicia and Coele-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 Phoenician 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.

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 Aethiopia; 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.

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
[Greek: Strategos nykterinos], 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.

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.

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.

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 Saeculi Ptolemaeorum_. _In Opuscul._ t. i.

MATTER, _Essai historique sur l'ecole d'Alexandrie_, 1820.

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 Phoenicia 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 Aethiopia, 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 Aethiopian 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.

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.

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.

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 Seleucidae; 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.

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,
Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, 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. Graec._ t. ii.

MONTFAUCON, _Coll. Patr._ t. i. and in CHISHULL, _Antiquit.
Asiaticae_.

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.

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).

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
palaeography, and for the knowledge of Egyptian administration.

AMEILHON, _Eclaircissemens sur l'inscription Grecque du monument
trouve a Rosette_. Paris, 1803.

HEYNE, _Commentatio de inscriptione Graeca ex Aegypto Londinum
apportata_, in the _Commentat. Societ. Gotting._ vol. xv.

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.

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 Eulaeus an eunuch, and Lenaeus, these individuals, asserting their claims to Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, 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 Achaeans 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.

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.

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. He may be regarded as one of the good princes of the Ptolemaic dynasty, especially if compared with his brother.

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 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.

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.

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 Caesar'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 Caesar'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 Ptolemaei VII._
Inserted in _Comment. Soc. Gotting._ vol. iii.

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 Caesar 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: Caesar 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 Caesar besieged in Bruchium, the malcontent
Pothinus having brought Achillas, the commander of the royal
troops into the city. The hard struggle in which Caesar 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 Caesar
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.

24. During the life of Caesar, 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 Caesar, 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 Caesarion, a son whom she pretended to have had by Caesar.--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 Phoenicia--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.

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.

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.

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, Boeotia 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 Achaeans. 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
Aetolians, 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.

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 Aeacidas 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.