thus dispossessed by violence, to throw themselves | of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment, and he into the arms of this prince, and implore his protection. Immediately Apries sent a mighty army into Libya, to oppose the Cyrenians; but this army being defeated and almost cut to pieces, the Egyptians imagined that Apries had sent it into Libya, only to get it destroyed; and by that means to attain the power of governing his subjects without check or control. This reflection prompted the Egyptians to shake off the yoke of a prince whom they now considered as their enemy. But Apries, hearing of the rebellion, despatched Amasis, one of his officers, to suppress it, and force the rebels to return to their allegiance. But the moment Amasis began to address them, they placed a helmet upon his head, in token of the exalted dignity to which they intended to raise him, and proclaimed him king. Amasis having accepted the crown, stayed with the mutineers and confirmed them in their rebellion. Apries, more exasperated than ever at this news, sent Patarbemis, another of his great officers, and one of the principal lords of his court, to put Amasis under an arrest, and bring him before him; but Patarbemis not being able to carry off Amasis from the midst of the rebel army, by which he was surrounded, was treated by Apries at his return, in the most ignominious and inhuman manner; for his nose and ears were cut off by the command of that prince, who never considered, that only his want of power had prevented his executing his commission. So barbarous an outrage, committed upon a person of such high distinction, exasperated the Egyptians so much that the greatest part of them joined the rebcls, and the insurrection became general. Apries was now forced to retire into Upper Egypt, where he supported himself some years, during which Amasis made himself master of the rest of his dominions. their arms. The troubles which thus distracted Egypt, afforded Nabuchodonosor a favourable opportunity to invade that kingdom; and it was God himself who inspired him with the resolution. This prince, who was the instrument of God's wrath (though he did not know himself to be so) against a people whom he'was resolved to chastise, had just before taken Tyre, where himself and his army had laboured under incredible difficulties. To recompense their toils, God abandoned Egypt to It is wonderful to hear the Creator himself revealing his designs on this subject. There are few passages in Scripture more remarkable than this, or which give a clearer idea of the supreme authority which God exercises over all the princes and kingdoms of the earth: Son of man (says the Almighty to his prophet Ezekiel,1) Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled yet had he no wages, nor his army, for the service he had served against it. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour, wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God. Says another prophet: He shall array himself with the land 4 1 Chap. xxix. 18-20. The baldness of the heads of the Babylonians was owing to the pressure of their helmets; and their peeled shoulders to their carrying baskets of earth and large pieces of timber to join Tyre to the continent. Baldness was itself a badge of slavery; and joined to the peeled shoulders, shows that the conqueror's army sustained even the most servile labours in this memorable siege. For the better understanding of this passage, we are to know that Nabuchodonosor sustained incredible hardships at the siege of Tyre; and that when the Tyrians saw themselves closely attacked, the nobles conveyed themselves and their richest effects on ship board, and retired into other islands. So that when Nabuchodonosor took the city, he found nothing to recompense the toil which he had undergone in this siege. S. Jerom. Jer. xliii. 12. shall go forth from thence in peace. Thus shall he load APRIES (Pharaoh-Hophra) now leaving the place where he had concealed himself, advanced towards the sea coast (probably on the side of Libya); and hiring an army of Carians, Ionians, and other foreigners, he marched against Amasis, to whom he gave battle near Memphis; but being overcome, Apries was taken prisoner, carried to the city of Sais, and there strangled in his own palace. The Almighty had given by the mouth of his prophets, an astonishing relation of the several circumstances of this mighty event. It was He who had broken the power of Apries, which was once so formidable, and put the sword into the hand of Nabuchodonosor, in order that he might chastise and humble that haughty prince. I am, said he, against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, which were strong, but now are broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.—But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword into his hand. *And they shall know that I am the Lord. He enumerates the towns which were to fall a prey to the victors: Pathros, Zoan, No, (called in the Vulgate Alexandria), Sin, Aven, Pibeseth, &c.10 He takes notice particularly of the unhappy end of the king, who was to be delivered up to his enemies. Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will give Pharaoh,Hophra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life." The Lastly he declares, that during forty years the Egyp tians shall be oppressed with every species of calamity, and be reduced to so deplorable a state, That there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt." event verified this prophecy, which was gradually accomplished. Soon after the expiration of these forty years, Egypt was made a province of the Persian empire, to which its kings, though natives of the country, were tributary; and thus the accomplishment of the prediction began. It was completely fulfilled on the death of Nectanebus, the last king of Egyptian extraction, A. M. 3654. Since that time Egypt has constantly been governed by foreigners. For since the ruin of the Persian monarchy, it has been subjec successively to the Macedonians, the Romans, the Saracens, the Mamelukes, and lastly to the Turks, who possess it to this day. God was not less punctual in the accomplishment of his prophecies, with regard to such of his own Herod. l. ii. c. 163. 169. Diod. 1. i. p. 62. • Ezek. xxx. 22. 7 Ver. 24. 8 Ver. 25. Ver. 14-17. 10 The names of these towns are given as they stand in our English version. In the margin are printed against Zoan, Tanis; against Sin, Pelusium; against Aven, Heliopoli; against Pibeseth, Pubastum; and by these last names they are mentioned in the original French of M. Rollin. 11 Jer. xliv. 30. 12 Ezek. xxx. 13. people as had retired, contrary to his prohibition, into Egypt, after the taking of Jerusalem, and had forced Jeremiah along with them. The instant they had reached Egypt, and were arrived at Tahpanhes (or Tanis), the prophet, after having hid in their presence (by God's command) stones in a grotto, which was near the king's palace, declared to them, That Nabuchodonosor should soon arrive in Egypt, and that God would establish his throne in that very place; that this prince would lay waste the whole kingdom, and carry fire and sword into all places; that themselves should fall into the hand of these cruel enemies, when one part of them would be massacred, and the rest led captive to Babylon; that only a very small number should escape the common desolation, and be at last restored to their country. All these prophecies had their accomplishment in the appointed time. A. M. 3435. Ant. J. C, 569. AMASIS. After the death of Apries, Amasis became peaceable possessor of Egypt, and reigned over it forty years. He was, according to Plato, a native of the city of Sais. 2 As he was but of mean extraction, he met with no respect in the beginning of his reign, but was only contemned by his subjects: he was not insensible of this; but nevertheless thought it his interest to subdue their tempers by management and address, and win their affections by gentleness and reason. He had a golden cistern, in which himself and those persons who were admitted to his table, used to wash their feet: he melted it down, and had it cast into a statue, and then exposed the new god to public worship. The people hasted in crowds to pay their adoration to the statue. The king having assembled the people, informed them of the vile uses to which this statue had once been put, which nevertheless was now the object of their religious prostrations; the application was easy, and had the desired success; the people thenceforward paid the king all the respect that is due to majesty. He always used to devote the whole morning to public business, to receive petitions, give audience, pronounce sentence, and hold his councils; the rest of the day was given to pleasure: and as Amasis, in hours of diversion, was extremely gay, and seemed to carry his mirth beyond due bounds, his courtiers took the liberty to represent to him the unsuitableness of such a behaviour; when he answered, that it was as impossible for the mind to be always serious and intent upon business, as for a bow to continue always bent. It was this king who obliged the inhabitants of every town to enter their names in a book, kept by the magistrate for that purpose, with their profession, and manner of living. Solon inserted this custom among his laws. He built many magnificent temples, especially at Sais, the place of his birth. Herodotus admired especially a chapel there, formed of one single stone, which was twenty cubits in front, fourteen in depth, and eight in height; its dimensions within were not quite so large: it had been brought from Elephantina, Jer. xliii. xliv. Herod. l. ii. c. 172. 2 In Tim. Id. 1. ii. c. 73. and two thousand men had employed three years in conveying it along the Nile. Amasis had a great esteem for the Greeks. He granted them large privileges; and permitted such of them as were desirous of settling in Egypt, to live in the city of Naucratis, so famous for its harbour. When the rebuilding of the temple of Delphi, which had been burnt, was debated on, and the expense was computed at three hundred talents, Amasis furnished the Delphians with a very considerable sum towards discharging their quota, which was the fourth part of the whole charge. 6 He made an alliance with the Cyrenians, and married a wife from among them. He is the only king of Egypt who conquered the island of Cyprus, and made it tributary. Under his reign Pythagoras came into Egypt, being recommended to that monarch by the famous Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, who had contracted a friendship with Amasis, and will be mentioned hereafter. Pythagoras, during his stay in Egypt, was initiated in all the mysteries of the country; and instructed by the priests in whatever was most abstruse and important in their religion. It was here he imbibed his doctrine of the Metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls. In the expedition in which Cyrus conquered so great a part of the world, Egypt doubtless was subdued, like the rest of the provinces; and Xenophon positively declares this in the beginning of his Cyropadia, or institution of that prince. Probably, after that the forty years of desolation, which had been foretold by the prophet, were expired, Egypt beginning gradu ally to regain in strength, Amasis shook off the yoke, and recovered his liberty. Accordingly, we find, that one of the first cares of Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, after he had ascended the throne, was to carry his arms into Egypt. On his arrival there, Amasis was just dead, and succeeded by his son Psammenitus. A. M. 3479. Ant. J. C. 525. PSAMMENITUS. Cambyses, after having gained a battle, pursued the enemy to Memphis; besieged the city, and soon took it: however, he treated the king with clemency, granted him his life, and assigned him an honourable pension; but being informed that he was secretly concerting measures to re-ascend his throne, he put him to death. Psammenitus reigned but six months: all Egypt submitted immediately to the victor. The particulars of this history will be related more at large, when I come to that of Cambyses. Here ends the succession of the Egyptian kings. From this æra the history of this nation, as was before observed, will be blended with that of the Persians and Greeks, till the death of Alexander. At that period, a new monarchy will arise in Egypt, founded by Ptolemy the son of Lagus, which will continue to Cleopatra, that is, for about three hundred years. I shall treat each of these subjects, in the several periods to which they belong. 8 7 Or, 58,1251. sterling. Επῆρξε δὲ καὶ Ἑλλήνων τῶν ἐν τῇ Δεξ, καταβὰς δὲ * The cubit is one foot and almost ten inches. Vide ἐπὶ θάλατταν, καὶ Κυπρίων· καὶ Αἰγυπτίων p. 5. edit Hutchinsoni. supra. THE HISTORY OF THE CARTHAGINIANS. BOOK II. I shall divide the following history of the Carthaginians into two parts. In the first, I shall give a general idea of the manners of that people, their character, government, religion, power, and riches. In the second, after relating in few words, by what steps Carthage established and enlarged its power, I shall give an account of the wars by which it became so famous. PARTI. CHARACTER, MANNERS, RELIGION, AND GOVERNMENT SECTION I. CARTHAGE FORMED AFTER THE MODEL above all things, I mean their wives and children, sent them to Carthage; where, though at a time when the inhabitants of the latter were involved in a furious war, they were received and entertained with such a kindness and generosity as might be expected from the most tender and opulent parents. Such uninterrupted testimonies of a warm and sincere gratitude, do a nation more honour, than the greatest conquests and the most glorious victories. SECTION II. THE RELIGION OF THE CARTHAGINIANS. It appears from several passages of the history of Carthage, that its generals looked upon it as an indisTHE Carthaginians were indebted to the Tyrians, pensable duty, to begin and end all their enterprises not only for their origin, but for their manners, lan- with the worship of the gods. Hamilcar, father of guage, customs, laws, religion, and their great applica- the great Hannibal, before he entered Spain in a hostile tion to commerce, as will appear from every part of the manner, offered up a sacrifice to the gods; and his sequel. They spoke the same language with the Ty-marched against Rome, went as far as Cadiz in order son, treading in his steps, before he left Spain, and rians, and these the same with the Canaanites and Israelites; that is, the Hebrew tongue, or at least a lan-to pay the vows which he had made to Hercules, and guage, which was entirely derived from it. Their names had commonly some particular meaning: Thus Hanno signified gracious, bountiful; Dido, amiable, or well-beloved; Sophonisba, one who keeps faithfully her husband's secrets. From a spirit of religion, they likewise joined the name of God to their own, conformably to the genius of the Hebrews. Hannibal, which answers to Hananias, signifies Baal [or the Lord] has been gracious to me. Asdrubal, answering to Azarias, implies, the Lord will be our succour. It is the same with other names, Adherbal, Maharbal, Mastanabal, &c. The word Pœni, from which Punic is derived, is the same with Phoni, or Phoenicians, because they came originally from Phoenicia. In the Ponulus of Plautus is a scene written in the Punic tongue, which has very much exercised the learned." But the strict union which always subsisted between the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, is still more remarkable. When Cambyses had resolved to make war upon the latter, the Phoenicians, who formed the chief strength of his fleet, told him plainly, that they could not serve him against their countrymen; and this declaration obliged that prince to lay aside his design. The Carthaginians, on their side, were never forgetful of the country from whence they came, and to which they owed their origin. They sent regularly every year to Tyre, a ship freighted with presents, as a quit-rent or acknowledgment paid to their ancient country; and an annual sacrifice was offered to the tutelar gods of Tyre by the Carthaginians, who considered them as their protectors likewise. They never failed to send thither the first fruits of their revenues; nor the tithe of the spoils taken from their enemies, as offerings to Hercules, one of the principal gods of Tyre and Carthage. The Tyrians, to secure from Alexander (who was then besieging their city) what they valued 1 Rochart, part ii. l. ii. c. 16. The first scene of the fifth act, translated into Latin by Polyb. 944. Q. Curt. 1. iv. c. 2, 3. to offer tious to him. After the battle of Canna, when he up new ones, in case that god should be propiacquainted the Carthaginians with the joyful news, he recommended to them above all things, the offering up several victories he had obtained. Pro his tantis totque a solemn thanksgiving to the immortal gods, for the victoriis verum esse grates diis immortalibus agi haberique. displaying, on every occasion, this religious care to Neither did individuals alone pride themselves upon honour the deity; but it evidently was the genius and disposition of the whole nation. concluded between Philip, son of Demetrius, king of Polybius has transmitted to us a treaty of peace Macedon, and the Carthaginians, in which the great their inherent persuasion that the gods engage in, and respect and veneration of the latter for the deity, and preside over, human affairs, and particularly over the solemn treaties made in their name and presence, are strongly displayed. Mention is therein made of five or six different orders of deities; and this enumeration appears very extraordinary in a public instrument, such as a treaty of peace concluded between two nations. the historian, as it will give some idea of the CarthagiI will here present my reader with the very words of nian theology. This treaty was concluded in the predemon or genius (dalpovos) of the Carthaginians, of Hersence of Jupiter, Juno, and Apollo; in the presence of the cules and Iolaus; in the presence of Mars, Triton, and Neptune; in the presence of all the confederate gods of the Carthaginians; and of the sun, the moon, and the earth; in the presence of the rivers, meads, and waters; in the presence of all those gods who possess Carthage. What should we now say to an instrument of this kind, in which the tutelar angels and saints of a kingdom should be introduced? paid a more particular worship, and who deserve to The Carthaginians had two deities to whom they have some mention made of them in this place. The first was the goddess Cœlestus, called likewise |