when he would have there seized the treasure of the temple for his use; and Onias, when oppressed by Simon the Benjamite and his faction, applied himself to Seleucus king of Syria, and not to Ptolemy king of Egypt, for redress of his grievances: all which plainly proves, that Seleucus was then in possession of the Sovereignty of those provinces; but how he came by it is no where said in history. After the battle of Paneas, it is certain Antiochus the Great made himself master of all Cole-Syria and Palestine, and utterly excluded Ptolemy from the sovereignty, which, till then, the Egyptian kings had in those provinces. But, when the same Antiochus married his daughter Cleopatra to Ptolemy Epiphanes, he agreed to restore them to him by way of dowry with her, reserving to himself one half of the revenues of those provinces. And, if they were then restored to Ptolemy, the question ariseth herefrom, How then came Seleucus to be pos sessed of them? By what we find in Polybius, it may be inferred, that this agreement was never faithfully executed either by Antiochus or by Seleucus his son; but that both of them held these provinces, notwithstanding that article of the marriage, whereby it was agreed to surrender them to the Egyptian king. For that author tells us, that, from the time of the battle of Paneas, where Antiochus vanquished Scopas and the Egyptian army, all parts of the abovementioned provinces were subject to the king of Syria. And he also tells us, that Antiochus Epiphanes (who succeeded Seleucus,) in an answer which he gave to the ambassadors that came to him from Greece to compose the differences that were between him and king Ptolemy Philometor, denied, that Antiochus his father ever agreed to surrender Cole-Syria to Ptolemy Epiphanes on his marrying of his daughter to him; which may seem to infer, that Cole-Syria and Palestine, notwithstanding the said agreement, were still retained in the possession of the Syrian kings. But what Josephus saith of Hyrcanus journey, to congratulate king Ptolemy Epiphanes, and

z Legat. 72. p. 893.

a Polyb. Legat. 82, p. 908. b Antiq. lib. 12, c. 4.

Cleopatra his queen, on the birth of Philometor their son, and the flocking of the nobles of Cole-Syria thither on the same account, is a clear proof of the contrary, that is, that Cole-Syria and Palestine were then in the possession of the Egyptian king, by what means soever it afterwards became that he was put out of it. It is most likely, that Seleucus, having just cause of war given him by the preparations that Ptolemy Epiphanes was making against him at the time of his death, took the advantage of the minority of Philometor his son, to prosecute this war against him which his father had begun, and therein seized these provinces; for it is certain, both from the Maccabees and from Josephus, that Seleucus was in possession of them at the time of his death.

The whole of this king's reign is expressed in Daniel xi, 20. For in that text it is foretold, that after Antiochus the Great, who is spoken of in the foregoing verses, there should stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes. And Seleucus was no more than such all his time; for the whole business of his reign was to raise the one thousand talents every year; which, by the treaty of peace that his father made with the Romans, he was obliged for twelve years together, annually to pay that people; and the last of those twelve years was the last of his life. For, as the text saith, That within a few years after he should be destroyed, and that neither in anger, nor in battle; so accordingly it happened. For he reigned only eleven years, and his death was neither in battle nor in anger; that is, neither in war abroad, nor in sedition or rebellion at home, but by the secret treachery of one of his own friends. His successor was Antiochus Epiphanes his brother, of whom we shall treat in the next book.

e He was but six years old at the time of his father's death.

d The Hebrew word Yamim, which in the English Bible is rendered days, signifieth also years, and is put as often for the one as the other.

d

THE

Old and New Testaments

An. 157.

CONNECTED, &c.

BOOK III.

3

ON the death of Seleucus Philopater, Heliodorus, who had been the treacherous author of his Ptol. Phi- death, endeavoured to seize the crown of lometor 6. Syria. Antiochus the brother of Seleucus was then on his return from Rome. While at Athens in his journey, he there heard of the death of his brother, and the attempt of Heliodorus to usurp the throne; and finding that the usurper had a great party with him to support him in his pretensions, and that there was another party also forming for Ptolemy (who made some claim to the succession in right of his mother, she being sister to the deceased king,) and that both of them were agreed not to give unto him the honour of the kingdom, as the holy prophet Daniel foretold, hea applied himself to Eumenes king of Pergamus, and Attalus his brother, and by fallering speeches, and great promises of friendship, prevailed with them to help him against Heliodorus. And by their means that usurpers being suppressed, he was quietly placed on the throne, and all submitted to him, and permitted him, without any further opposition, peaceably to obtain the kingdom, as had been predicted of him in the same prophecy. Eumenes and Attalus, at this time having some suspicions of the Romans, were desirous of having the king of Syria on their side, in case a war should break out between them, and Antiochus' prom

a Appian. in Syriacis.

d Daniel xi, 21.

c Hieronymus in Dan. xi, 21.
g Appian. ibid.

ises to stick by them, whenever such a war should happen, were the inducements that prevailed with them to do him this kindness.

m

i

On his being thus settled on the throne, he took h the name of Epiphanes, that is, The Illustrious; but nothing could be more alien to his true character than this title. The prophet Daniel foretold of him, that he should be a vile person, so our English version hath it; but the word nibzeh in the original rather signifieth despicable than vile. He was truly both in all that both these words can express, which will fully appear from the character given of him by Polybius, Philarchus, Livy, and " Diodorus Siculus, who were all heathen writers, and the two first of them his contemporaries. For they tell us, that he would get often out of the palace and ramble about the streets of Antioch, with two or three servants only accompanying him; that he would be often conversing with those that graved in silver, and cast vessels of gold, and be frequently found with them in their shops talking and nicely arguing with them about the mys teries of their trades; that he would very commonly debase himself to the meanest company, and on his going abroad would join in with such, as he happened to find them met together, although of the lowest of the people, and enter into discourse with any one of them whom he should first light on; that he would in his rambles frequently drink with strangers and foreigners, and even with the meanest and vilest of them; that, when he heard of any young company met together to feast, drink, or any otherwise to make merry together, he would, without giving any notice of his coming, intrude himself among them, and revel away the time with them in their cups and songs, and other frolics, without any regard had to common decency, or his own royal character; so that several being surprised with the strangeness of the thing, would, on his coming, get up and run away out of the company.

h Appian. in Syriacis. Eusebius in Chronicon. Athenæus, lib. 5, p. 193. i Dan. xi, 21.

k Apud Athenæum, lib. 5, p. 193. 1 Ibid lib. 10, p. 438.

m Lib. 41.

n In Excerptis Valesii, p. 304.

And he would sometimes, as the freak took him, lay aside his royal habit, and, putting on a Roman gown, go round the city, as he had seen done in the election of magistrates at Rome, and ask the votes of the citizens, in the same manner as used to be there practised, now taking one man by the hand, and then embracing another, and would thus set himself up, sometimes for the office of ædile, and sometimes for that of tribune; and, having been thus voted into the office he sued for, he would take the curule chair, and, sitting down in it, hear petty causes of contracts, bargains, and sales, made in the market, and give judgment in them with that serious attention and earnestness, as if they had been matters of the highest concern and importance. It is said also of him, that he was much given to drunkenness; and that he spent a great part of his revenues in revellings and drunken carousals; and would often go out into the streets while in these frolics, and there scatter his money by handfuls among the rabble, crying out, Let him take to whom fortune gives it. Sometimes he would go abroad with a crown of roses upon his head, and, wearing a Roman gown, would walk the streets alone, and, carrying stones under his arms, would throw them to those that should follow after him. And he would often wash himself in the public baths among the common people, and there expose himself by many absurd and ridiculous actions. Which odd and extravagant sort of conduct made many doubt how the matter stood with him ;P some thinking him a fool, and some a madman; the latter of these most thought to be his truest character; and therefore, instead of Epiphanes, or the illustrious, they called him Epimanes, that is, the madman. Jeromer tells us also of him, that he was exceedingly given to lasciviousness, and often by the vilest acts of it debased the honour of his royal dignity; that he was frequently found in the company of mimics, pathics, and common prosti

o Athenæus, lib. 10, p. 438.

p Diodor. Sic. in Excerptis Valesii, p. 306. Athenæus, lib. 5, p. 193. q Athenæus, ibid.

r In Comment. ad Dan. xi, 37.