Anno 145.

Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, on the death of king Philometor, her brother and husband, endeavoured to secure the succession for her son Jonathan 16. which she had by him. But he being then young, others set up for Physcon king of Cyrene, the brother of the deceased, and sent ambassadors to call him to Alexandria. This necessitating Cleopatra to provide for the defence of herself and her son, Onias and Dositheus came to her with an army of Jews for her assistance. But at that time Thermus, an ambassador from Rome, being present at Alexandria, by his interposition, matters were compromised, on the terms that Physcon should take Cleopatra to wife, and breed up her son under his tuition for the next succession, and reign in the interim. That the Egyptians were thus delivered from a civil war, and the differences then among them on this occasion all brought to a composure in this manner, Josephus tells us, was wholly owing to the assistance which Onias and Dositheus then brought to the queen. However, the perfidy of Physcon made all this turn very little to the service or content of Cleopatra. For, as soon as he had married her, and thereby got possession of the crown, he murdered her son in her arms on the very day of the nuptials, and thereby acted over again the same tragedy which Ptolemy Ceraunus" had before on the marriage of his sister Arsinoe; and such incestuous conjunctions well deserve such a curse to attend them. This king was commonly called Physcon, by reason of his great belly; but the name which he affected to assume was Euergetes, that is, the Benefactor: this the Alexandrians turned into Kakergetes, that is, the Malefactor, by reason of his great wickedness; for he was the wickedest and cruelest, and also the most vile and despicable of all the Ptolemies that reigned in Egypt. He began his reign with the murder of his nephew, in the

t Justin. lib. 38, c. 8. Josephus contra Apionem, lib. 2. Valerius Maximus, lib. 9, c. 1.

u See above, part 2, book 1, under the year 280.

x Valerius Maximus, lib. 9, e. 1. Diodorus Siculus in Excerptis Vale

sii, p. 351, 375.

y Athenæus, lib. 12, p. 549, & lib. 4, p. 148.

z Athenæus, ibid. Diodorus Siculus in Excerptis Valesii, p. 351, 357. Justin. lib. 38, c. 8.

manner I have mentioned, and continued it with the same cruelty and wickedness all his reign after, putting many others to death, almost every day, some upon groundless suspicions, some for small faults, and others for none at all, as the humour took him, and some again for no other reason, but that, under the pretence of forfeiture, he might take all that they had; and those who were the forwardest to call him to the crown were many of them the first that suffered by him.

a

And things went not much better in Syria. Demetrius, being young and inexperienced, committed the management of his affairs to Lasthenes, by whose agency he hired those Cretan mercenaries that brought him to the crown; who, being a wicked and rash man, did soon run himself into those mal-administrations, that alienated from his master the affections of those who should have supported him. And Demetrius himself, being naturally of an unhappy or perverse disposition, did not mend the matter. The first false step he made was towards those soldiers which Ptolemy had placed in the maritime towns of Phoenicia and Syria, for the strengthening of their garrisons, as be passed by them toward Antioch, in his late expedition thither. These, if continued there, would have been a great strength and support to him; but, upon some suggestions growing jealous of them, he sent orders to the other soldiers garrisoned with them, to put them all to the sword: which being accordingly executed, this so disgusted the rest of the Egyptian army that were in Syria, and had there placed him on the throne, that they all left him, and returned again into Egypt. After this, he proceeded to make a severe inquisition after those who had been against him or his father in the late wars, and put them all to death, as he could get them into his power. And then, thinking he had no more enemies to fear, he disbanded the greatest part of his army, reserving none other in his pay but his Cretans, and some other mercenaries; whereby he not only deprived

d

b

a Diodorus Siculus in Excerptis Valesii, p. 346. b 1 Maccab. xi, 18.

Joseph. Antiq. lib. 13, c. 8.

c Diodorus Siculus in Excerptis Valesii, p. 346, 349. d 1 Maccab. xi, 38. Joseph. Antiq. lib. 13, c. 8.

C

himself of those veterans who served his father, and would have been his chief support in the throne, but made them also his bitterest enemies, by depriving them of the only means which they had whereby to subsist : the mischief of which he severely felt in the revolts and revolutions that after happened.

In the interim Jonathan, finding all quiet in Judea, set himself to besiege the fortress which the heathen still held in Jerusalem, that, by expelling them thence, he might remedy those mischiefs which the Jews there suffered from them. And accordingly he beset the place, with an army and engines of war, in order to take it: of which, complaint being made to Demetrius, he came to Ptolemais, and there summoned Jonathan to him to give him an account of this matter. Whereon, ordering the siege still to go on, he went to Ptolemais, taking with him some of the priests and chief elders of the land, and also many rich and valuable presents; by virtue of which, and his wise management, he so mollified the king, and ingratiated himself so far with him and his ministers, that he not only rejected all accusations against him, but also honoured him with many favours. For he not only confirmed him in the high priest's office, admitted him into a chief place among his friends, and, on his request, agreed to add to Judea the three toparchies of Apherema, Lydda, and Ramatha, which formerly belonged to Samaria, and to free the whole land under his government of all manner of taxes, tolls, and tributes, whatsoever, for three hundred talents, to be paid in lieu of them, and then returned again to Antioch; where f going on in the same methods of cruelty, folly, and rashness, he daily alienated the people more and more from him, till, at length, he made them all ready for a general defection.

Which being observed by Diodotus, afterwards called Tryphon, who formerly had served Alexander as governour of Antioch in conjunction with Hierax, hes thought this a fit time for him to play a gaining

e 1 Maccab. xi, 20–37. Joseph. Antiq. lib. 13, c. 8. f Justin. lib. 36, c. 1. g 1 Maccab. 11, 39. Epitome, Livii, lib. 52.

Joseph. Antiq. lib. 13, c. 9.
Strabo, lib. 16, p. 752.

Appian. in Syriacis.

game for his own interest, aiming at nothing less than, by the advantage of these disorders, to put the crown upon his own head. And therefore, going into Arabia to Zabdiel, who had the bringing up of Antiochus, the son of Alexander, laid before him the then state of affairs in Syria, telling him, how all the people, and especially the soldiery, were disaffected to Demetrius, and that thereby a favourable opportunity was offered for recovering to Antiochus his father's kingdom. And therefore he desired, that the youth might be put into his hands, that he might prosecute this advantage for him. For this scheme of treason was first to claim the crown for Antiochus; and, when he should have gotten it, by virtue of that claim, then to make away that youth, and wear it himself; and so it afterwards accordingly happened. But Zabdiel, either seeing through the design, or else disliking the project, would not immediately yield to the proposal, which detained Tryphon there many days further to press and solicit the matter, till at length, either by the force of his importunities, or the force of his presents, he brought over Zabdiel to comply with him, and obtained from him what he desired.

In the meat while, Jonathan pressed hard on the siege of the fortress at Jerusalem; but, finding no success in it, he sent an embassy to Demetrius, to desire of him the withdrawing of this garrison which he could not expel. Demetrius, being then very much embarrassed by the tumults and seditions of the Antiochians, whom he had provoked to the utmost aversion both against him and his government, promised Jonathan, that he would do this and much more for him, provided he would send him some forces for his assist

h In the Greek original, this Zabdiel is called Ex, from the Arabic word Almelec, that is, the King. The former was the name of his person, the other of his office; for he was king of that part of Arabia where he lived. In some Greek copies it is Z, as in Aldus' the Alexandrian, and the Complutensian; and, out of one of these copies the English version being made, hence therein we read Simalcue. But, in what copy soever Za is found, it is, by the errour of the transcribers, for Exaxxas: for, it is certain, the latter only can be the true reading. This the Syriac and Jerome's version justify; and the word so written signifieth something, the other nothing.

i 1 Maccab. xi, 41-52. Joseph. lib. 13, c. 9. Diodor. Sic. in Excerptis Valesii, p. 347, 348.

ance against the present mutineers: whereon Jonathan immediately despatched away to him three thousand men. On their arrival, Demetrius, confiding in the strength of this recruit, would have disarmed the Antiochians, and therefore commanded them all to bring in their arms; which they refusing to do, rose all in a tumult, to the number of one hundred and twenty thousand men, and beset the palace, with intent to slay the tyrant. Hereon the Jews, coming to his assistance, fell upon them with fire and sword, burning a great part of the city, and slaying of the inhabitants about one hundred thousand persons. This brought the rest to sue for peace; which being granted them, the tumult ceased; and the Jews, having thus retaliated upon the Antiochians what they had formerly suffered from them in Judah and Jerusalem, especially in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, returned with vast spoils and great honour to their own country.

it

But Demetrius, still going on with his same methods of cruelty, tyranny, and oppression, put many to death for the late sedition, confiscated the goods of others, and drove great numbers into banishment. Whereon the whole kingdom being every where filled with hatred and anger against him, they only wanted an opportunity for their revenge for the executing of upon him to the utmost. And notwithstanding his promises to Jonathan, and the great obligations which he owed to him for his late assistance, his conduct towards him was no better than to all the rest. For, thinking now he should have no more need of him, he broke the bargain he had made with him at Ptolemais, of freeing him and his people from all taxes, tolls, and tribute, for three hundred talents, to be paid him for the redemption of them, and, notwithstanding he had received the money,m demanded, that all the said taxes, tolls, and tribute, should be still paid in the utmost rigour as formerly, and threatened him with war unless this were done; whereby he alienated the Jews as much from him as he had all others.