neighbouring provinces, will suffer a number of variations. As the kingdom of Egypt was that which was subject to the fewest changes, because Ptolemy, who was established there as governor, at the death of Alexander, retained the possession of it ever after, and left it to his posterity; we shall, therefore, consider this prince as the basis of our chronology, and our several epochas shall be fixed from him. This seventh volume, therefore, will contain the space of one hundred and three or four years under the three first kings of Egypt: viz. Ptolemy the son of Lagus, who reigned thirty-eight years; Ptolemy Philadelphus, who reigned forty; and Ptolemy Euergetes, whose reign continued twenty-seven. In order to throw some light upon the history contained therein, I shall, in the first place, give the principal events of it, in a chronological abridgment. Introductory to which, I must desire the reader to accompany me in some reflections, which have not escaped Monsieur Bossuet, with relation to Alexander. This prinçe, who was the most renowned and illustrious conqueror in all history, was the last monarch of his race. Macedonia, his ancient kingdom, which his ancestors had governed for so many ages, was invaded from all quarters, as a vacant succession; and after it had long been a prey to the strongest, it was at last transferred to another family. If Alexander had continued peaceably in Macedonia, the grandeur of his empire would not have excited the ambition of his captains; and he might have transmitted the sceptre of his progenitors to his own descendants; but, as he had not prescribed any bounds to his power, he was instrumental in the destruction of his house, and we shall behold the extermination of his family, without the least remaining traces of them in history. His conquests occasioned a vast effusion of blood, and furnished his captains with a pretext for murdering one another. These were the effects that flowed from the boasted bravery of Alexander, or rather from that brutality, which, under the specious names of ambition and glory, spread desolation, and carried fire and sword through whole provinces, without the least provocation, and shed the blood of multitudes who had never injured him. We are not to imagine, however, that Providence abandoned these events to chance; but, as it was then preparing all things for the approaching appearance of the Messiah, it was vigilant to unite all the nations that were to be first enlightened with the gospel, by the use of one and the same language, which was that of Greece: and the same Providence made it necessary for them to learn this foreign tongue, by subjecting them to such masters as spoke no other. The Deity, therefore, by the agency of this language, which became more common and universal than any other, facilitated the preaching of the apostles, and rendered it more uniform. But though the Deity caused the Grecian conquests to be productive of all these advantages to his churches, he did not consider the Greeks as less criminal, or less deserving of punishment. They had no intention to be subservient to his eternal purposes of mercy, and only proposed the gratification of their own ambition and avarice; but his wisdom and power caused their unjust desires to be instrumental in the accomplishment of his own decrees. It was indeed extremely remarkable, as I have already intimated, that most of the near relations, and all the officers of Alexander, should be taken off by miserable deaths. The Almighty caused those usurpers to exterminate one another, and employed their own ministration to punish them for the depredations, barbarities, and injustice, with which they had harassed so many nations, who had never injured them, and whose only crime consisted in their desire to be free and not to acknowledge them for their masters. The partition of the empire of Alexander the Great among the generals of that prince, immediately after his death, did not subsist for any length of time, and hardly took place, if we except Egypt, where Ptolemy had first established himself, and on the throne of which he always maintained himself without acknowledging any superior. A. M. 3704. Ant. J. C. 300. It was not till after the battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, wherein Antigonus, and his son Demetrius, surnamed Poliorcetes, were defeated, and the former lost his life, that this partition was fully regulated and fixed. The empire of Alexander was then divided into four kingdoms, by a solemn treaty, as had been foretold by Daniel. Ptolemy had Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Colesyria, and Palestine. Cassander, the son of Antipater, obtained Macedonia and Grecce. Lysimachus acquired Thrace, Bithynia, and some other provinces on the other side of the Hellespont and the Bosphorus. And Seleucus had Syria, and all that part of the greater Asia which extended to the other side of the Euphrates, and as far as the river Indus. Of these four kingdoms, those of Egypt and Syria subsisted, almost without any interruption, in the same families, through a long succession of princes. The kingdom of Macedonia had several masters of different families successively. That of Thrace was at last divided into several branches, and no longer constituted one entire body, by which means all traces of regular succession ceased to subsist. I. The Kingdom of Egypt. The kingdom of Egypt had fourteen monarchs, including Cleopatra, after whose death, those dominions became a province of the Roman empire. All these princes had the common name of Ptolemy, but each of them was likewise distinguished by a peculiar surname. They had also the appellation of Lagides, from Lagus the father of that Ptolemy who reigned the first in Egypt. The fifth and sixth volumes contain the histories of six of these kings, and I shall give their names a place here, with the duration of their reigns, the first of which commenced immediately upon the death of Alexander the Great. A. M. It has been also remarked, that the design of God in extending the Grecian conquests through those very nations that were to be converted by the gospel, was, that the philosophy of the Greeks, should be equally diffusive; in order to prepare the minds of those barbarous people; to train them up in a habitude of turning their reflections inward upon themselves; to render them attentive to the distinction of body and soul, matter and spirit; to awaken in them an idea of the soul's immortality, and the great end of man's existence; to recall the first principles of the law of nature; to distinguish the characteristics of the principal virtues; to furnish them with rules for discharging the duties of life, and to establish the most essential ties of society, of which individuals are the members. Christianity derived advantages from all these preparations, and has gathered in all the fruit of those seeds, which Providence scattered on the minds of men at 3758. such a remote distance, and which the grace of Jesus 3783. Christ caused to spring forth, at the period pre-ordained 3800. from all eternity by the divine decrees. 3680. 3718. Ptolemy Soter. He reigned thirty-eight years and some months. Ptolemy Philadelphus. He reigned forty years, including the two years of his reign in the lifetime of his father. Ptolemy Euergetes, twenty-five years. Ptolemy Epiphanes, twenty-four. 3824. Ptolemy Philometor, thirty-four. II. The Kingdom of Syria. The kingdom of Syria had twenty-seven kings; which makes it evident, that their reigns were often very short and indeed several of these princes waded to the throne through the blood of their prede cessors. They are usually called the Scleucida, from Seleucus, who reigned the first in Syria. History reckons up six kings of this name, and thirteen who are called by that of Antiochus; but they are all distinguished by different surnames. Others of them assumed different names, and the last, Antiochus XIII. was surnamed Epiphanes, Asiaticus, and Commagenus. In his reign Pompey reduced Syria into a Roman province, after it had been governed by kings for the space of two hundred and fifty years, according to Eusebius. The kings of Syria, the transactions of whose reigns are contained in the fifth and sixth volumes, are eight in number. A. M. 3704. 3724. 3743. 3758. 3778. 3781. 3817. 3929. Antiochus Theos, fifteen. Seleucus Callinicus, twenty. Antiochus the Great, thirty-six. III. The Kingdom of Macedonia. Macedonia frequently changed its A. M. 3707. masters, after the solemn partition had been made between the four princes. Cassander died three or four years after that partition, and left three sons. Philip, the eldest, died shortly after his father. The other two contended for the crown without enjoying it, both dying soon after with out issue. Demetrius Poliorcetes, Pyrrhus, and A. M. 3710. Lysimachus made themselves masters of all, or the greatest part of Macedonia; sometimes in conjunction, and at other times separately. After the death of Lysimachus, Seleucus possessed himself of Macedonia, but did not long enjoy it. A. M. 3723. A. M. 3724. Ptolemy Ceraunus having slain the preceding prince, seized the kingdom, and possessed it but a very short time, having lost his life in a battle with the Gauls, who had made an irruption into that country. IV. The Kingdom of Thrace, and Bithynia, &c. This fourth kingdom, composed of several separate provinces very remote from one another, had not any succession of princes, and did not long subsist in its having been killed in a battle after a reign of twenty first condition; Lysimachus, who first obtained it, years, and all his family being exterminated by assassinations, his dominions were dismembered, and no longer constituted one kingdom. SECTION III. A chronological abridgment of the history of several lesser kingdoms. Besides the provinces which were divided among the captains of Alexander, there were others which had been either formed before, or were then erected, into different states, independent of the Greeks, whose power greatly increased in process of time. Kings of Bithynia. Whilst Alexander was extending his conquests in the East, Zypethes had laid A. M. 3686. the foundations of the kingdom of Bithy nia. It is not certain who this Zypethes was, unless that Pausanias.' from his name, conjectures, that he was a Thracian. His successors, however, are better known. Nicomedes I. This prince invited the Gauls to assist him against his brother, A. M. 3726. Prusias II. surnamed the Hunter, in Nicomedes II. was killed by his son Socrates. wars with Mithridates, and bequeathed to them at his Nicomedes III. was assisted by the Romans in his death the kingdom of Bithynia, as a testimonial of his gratitude to them; by which means these territories became a Roman province. Kings of Pergamus. the smallest provinces of Mysia, on the coast of the This kingdom at first comprehended only one of Egean sea, over against the island of Lesbos. It was founded by Philetarus, a eunuch, who had served under Doci- A. M..3721. mus, a commander of the troops of An. J. C. 283. Antigonus. Lysimachus confided to him the treasures he had deposited in the castle of the city of Pergamus, and he became master both of these and the city after the death of that prince. He go verned this little sovereignty for the space of twenty Mace-years, and then left it to Eumenes his nephew. Eumenes I. enlarged his principalAntigonus Gonatas, the son of De-ity, by the addition of several cities, A. M. 3728. metrius Poliorcetes, at length obtained which he took from the kings of Syria, Ant. J. C. 263. the peaceable possession of the king- having defeated Antiochus, the son of dom of Macedonia, and transmitted it to his descen- Seleucus, in a battle. He reigned twenty-two years. dants, after he had reigned thirty-four years. He was succeeded by Attalus I. his He was succeeded by his son Deme-cousin-german, who assumed the title trius, who reigned 10 years, and then of king, after he had conquered the Ant. J. C. 241. died, leaving a son named Philip, who Galatians; and transmitted it to his years old. A. M. 3726. A. M. 3762. was but two A. M. 3772. Sosthenes, who defeated the Gauls, reigned but a short time in donia. A. M. 3741. A. M. 3763. posterity, who enjoyed it to the third generation. He assisted the Romans in their war with Philip, and died after a reign of forty-three years. He left four sons. His successor was Eumenes II. his A. M. 3807. Ant. J. C. 197. eldest son, who founded the famous library of Pergamus. He reigned thirty-nine years, and left the crown He was to his brother Attalus, in the quality of guardian to one of his sons whom he had by Stratonice, the sister of Ariarathes king of Cappadocia. The Romans en Philip after the death of Antigonus, ascended the throne at the age of four teen years, and reigned something more than forty. His son Perseus succeeded him, and A. M. 3824. reigned about eleven years. defeated and taken prisoner by Paulus Æmilius; and Macedonia, in consequence of that victory, was added to the provinces of the Roman empire. 1 Lib. v. p. 310. larged his dominions considerably, after the victory they | perly so called, or Cappadocia Major, which extended A. M. 3845. Ant. J. C. 159. A. M. 3866. Attalus II. espoused Stratonice his brother's widow, and took extraordinary care of his nephew, to whom he after he had worn it twenty-one years. Attalus III. surnamed Philometor, distinguished himself by his barbarous and extraordinary conduct. He died after he had reigned five years, and bequeathed his riches and dominions to the Romans. Aristonicus, who claimed the succession, endeavoured to defend his pretensions against the Romans, but the kingdom of Pergamus was reducof four years, into a Roman province. A. M. 3871. Ant. J.C. 133. ed, after a war A. M. 3490. Kings of Pontus. The kingdom of Pontus, in Asia Minor, was anciently dismembered from the monarchy of Persia, by Darius the son of Hystaspes, in favour of Artabazus, who is said by some historians, to have been the son of one of those Persian lords who conspired against the Magi. Pontus is a region of Asia Minor, situated partly along the coast of the Euxine sea (Pontus Euxinus,) from which it derives its name. It extends from the river Halys, as far as Colchis. Several princes reigned in that country since Artabazus. A. M. 3600. The sixth monarch was Mithridates I. who is properly considered as the founder of the kingdom of Pontus, and his name was assumed by the generality of his successors. A. M. 3641. He was succeeded by his son Ariobarzanes, who had governed PhryAnt. J. C. 263. gia under Artaxerxes Mnemon: he reigned twenty-six years. A. M. 3667. A. M. 3682. Ant. J. C. 322. When Alexander's captains divided the provinces of his empire among themselves, Cappadocia was governed by a prince named Ariarathes. Perdiccas attacked and defeated him, after which he caused him to be slain. His son Ariarathes re-entered the kingdom of his father some time after this event, and established himself so effectually, that he left it to his posterity. The generality of his successors assumed the same name, and will have their place in the series of the history. Cappadocia, after the death of Archelaus, the last of its kings, became a province of the Roman empire, as the rest of Asia also did much about the same time. Kings of Armenia each side of the Euphrates, was conquered by the Kings of Epirus. Epirus is a province of Greece, separated from Thessaly and Macedonia by mount Pindus. The most powerful people of this country were the Molossians. His successor was Mithridates II. Antigonus suspecting, in conseThe kings of Epirus pretended to derive their deAnt. J. C. 337. quence of a dream, that he favoured scent from Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, who establishCassander, had determined to destroyed himself in that country; and called themselves him, but he eluded the danger by flight. This prince was called Kriors, or the Founder, and reigned thirtyfive years. A. M. 3702. Mithridates III., who succeeded He was succeeded by his son of Pontus. After him reigned Mithridates V., surnamed Euergetes, the first who was called the friend of the Romans, because he had assisted them against the Carthaginians in the third Punic war. A. M. 3880. He was succeeded by his son Ant. J. C. 124. Kings of Cappadocia. Strabo informs us, that Cappadocia was divided into two Satrapies, or governments, under the Persians, as it also was under the Macedonians. The maritime part of Cappadocia formed the kingdom of Pontus: the other tracts constituted Cappadocia pro 1 Strab. l. xii. p. 534. acidæ, from Eacus, the grandfather of Achilles. The genealogy of the latter kings, who were the only sovereigns of this country of whom any accounts remain, is variously related by authors, and consequently must be doubtful and obscure.2 sion of kings; and as he was then very young, the Arymbas ascended the throne, after a long successtates of Epirus, who were sensible that the welfare of the people depends on the proper education of their princes, sent him to Athens, which was the residence and centre of all the arts and sciences, in order to cultivate, in that excellent school, such knowledge as was necessary to form the mind of a king. He there learned the art of reigning, and as he surpassed all his ancestors in ability and knowledge, he was in consequence infinitely more esteemed and beloved by his people than they had been. When he returned from Athens, he made laws, established a senate and magistracy, and regulated the form of the government. Neoptolemus, whose daughter Olympias had espoused Philip king of Macedon, attained an equal share in the regal government with Arymbas his eldest brother, by the influence of his son-in-law. After the death of Arymbas, acidas, his son, ought to have been his successor; but Philip had still sufficient influence to procure his expulsion from the kingdom by the Molossians, who established Alexander, the son of Neoptolemus, sole monarch of Epirus. Alexander espoused Cleopatra, the daughter of Philip, and marched with an army into Italy, where he lost his life in the country of the Brutians. Diod. l. xvi. p. 465. Justin. l. viii. c. 6. Plut. in Pyrrho. Quanto doctior majoribus, tanto et gratior popuio fuit. Just. 1. xvii. c. 3. short time. Being thus become a professed tyrant, there were no kinds of violence to which he had not recourse against the rich and the senators, to satiate his avarice and cruelty. He proposed for his model Dionysius the Tyrant, who had established his power over the Syracusans at the same time. After a hard and inhuman servitude of twelve years, two young citizens, who were Plato's disciples, and had been instructed in his maxims, formed a conspiracy against Clearchus, and slew him; but though they delivered their country from the tyrant, the tyranny still subsisted. Timotheus, the son of Clearchus assumed his place, and pursued his conduct for the space of fifteen years. A. M. 3652. Ant. J. C. 352. A. M. 3667. Ant. J. C. 337. He was succeeded by his brother Dionysius, who was in danger of being dispossessed of his authority by Perdiccas; but as this last was soon destroyed, Dionysius contracted a friendship with Antigonus, whom he assisted against Ptolemy in the Cyprian war. He espoused Amastris, the widow of Craterus, and daughter of Oxiathres, the brother of Darius. This alliance inspired him with so much courage, that he assumed the title of king, and enlarged his dominions by the addition of several places which he seized on the confines of Heraclea. A. M. 3700. Ant. J. C. 304. He died two or three years before the battle of Ipsus, after a reign of thirty-three years, leaving two sons and a daughter under the tutelage and regency of Amastris. When the Athenians, having conquered the Persians, had imposed a tribute on the cities of Greece and Ásia Minor, for the fitting out and support of a fleet intended for the defence of the common liberty, the inhabitants of Heraclea, in consequence of their attachment to the Persians, were the only people who This princess was rendered happy in her adminisrefused to acquiesce in so just a contribution. Lama-tration, by the affection Antigonus entertained for her. chus was therefore sent against them, and he ravaged She founded a city, and called it by her own name; their territories; but a violent tempest having destroy- into which she transplanted the inhabitants of three ed his whole fleet, he beheld himself abandoned to the other cities, and espoused Lysimachus, after the death mercy of that people, whose innate ferocity might of Antigonus." naturally have been increased by the severe treatment they had lately received. But they had recourse to no other vengeance than kindness; they furnished him with provisions and troops for his return, and were willing to consider the depredations which had been committed in their country as advantageous to them, if at that price they could convert the enmity of the Athenians into friendship.2 A. M. 3640. Ant. J. C. 364. Some time after this event, the populace of Heraclea excited a violent commotion against the rich citizens and senators, who having implored assistance to no effect, first from Timotheus the Athenian, and afterwards from Epaminondas the Theban, were necessitated to recall Clearchus a senator to their defence, whom themselves had banished; but his exile had neither improved his morals nor rendered him a better citizen than he was before. He therefore made the troubles, in which he found the city involved, subservient to his design of subjecting it to his own power. With this view he openly declared for the people, caused himself to be invested with the highest office in the magistracy, and assumed a sovereign authority in a 1 Justin. 1. xvi. c. 3-5. Diod. 1. xv. p. 390. Heraclienses honestiorem beneficii, quàm ultionis occasionem rati, instructos commeatibus auxiliisque dimittunt; bene agrorum suorum populationem impensam existimantes, si, quos hostes habuerant, amicos reddidissent. Justin. Kings of Syracuse. A. M. 3735. Hiero, and his son Hieronymus, reigned at Syracuse; the first fifty- Ant. J. C. 269. four years, the second but one year. A. M. 3789. Ant. J. C. 215. A. M. 3791. Ant. J. C. 213. Syracuse recovered its liberty by the death of the last, but continued in the interest of the Carthaginians, which Hieronymus had caused it to espouse. His conduct obliged Marcellus to form the siege of that city, which he took the following year. I shall enlarge upon the history of these two kings in another place. Other Kings. Several kings likewise reigned in the Cimmerian Bosphorus, as also in Thrace, Cyrene in Africa, other places; but their history is very uncertain, and Paphlagonia, Colchis, Iberia, Albania, and a variety of their successions have but little regularity. to the kingdom of the Parthians, who formed themThese circumstances are very different with respect selves, as we shall see in the sequel, into such a powerful monarchy, as became formidable even to the Roman empire. That of the Bactrians received its original about the same period: I shall treat of each in their proper places. |