Ancient History of the Egyptians ... A new edition, revised, corrected and illustrated with a new set of maps

Front matter

THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS, CARTHAGINIANS, ASSYRIANS, BABYLONIANS, MEDES & PERSIANS, MACEDONIANS, AND GRECIANS. BY MR ROLLIN, LATE PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS, rROFESSOR Of ELO QUENCE IN THE ROYAL COLLEGE, AND MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF INSCRIPTIONS AND BELLES LETTRES. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. IN SIX VOLUMES. VOL. V. A NEW EDITION. ILLUSTRATED WITH MATS OF ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY, NEAT LNGRAVINS5 &C. ADAPTED TO THE WORK. EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY JOHN 1'ILLANS, JAMES'S COURT, FOR THOMAS NELSON. 1820. CONTENTS. BOOK SIXTEENTH CONTINUED. THE HISTOKY OF ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS.

Chapter II. Including Part Of The Reign Of Ptolemy, The Son Of

LAGUS ; AND PTOLEMY THILADELPHUS. Page Oect. T. The four victorious Princes divide the Empire of Alexander the Great into as many Kingdoms, 1 Sect. II. Dispute between the two Sons of Cassander. Demetrius proclaimed King of Macedonia, - 10 Sect. III. Ptolemy Soter resigns his kingdom to his Son Ptolemy Philadelphus. Library of Alexandria founded, 20 Sect. IV. Magnificent Solemnity at the Inauguration of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, - 26 Sect. V. Commencement of the Reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Death of Demetrius Phalereus, - 36 Sect. VI. Ptolemy Philadelphus causes the Books of the Holy Scriptures to be translated into Greek, - 50 Sect. VII. The various Expeditions of Pyrrhus. He is slain at the Siege of Argos, - 54 Sect. VIII. Athens taken by Antigonus. Ptolemy Philadelphus improves Commerce. His Death, 88 Sect. IX. Character and Qualities of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 102

Chapter III. Including The Reign Of Ptolemy Evergetes

Sect. I. Antiochus Theos is poisoned by his Queen Laodice. The Death of Seleucus, - - 105 Sect. II. Character of Aratus, who delivers Sicyon from Tyranny. The Establishment of the Achæans, CONTENTS. Alexander's successors. Page Sect. III. Agis attempts to reform Sparta. He is condemned to die, and executed accordingly, - 135 Sect. IV. Cleomenes ascends the throne of Sparta. He reforms the Government, and re-establishes the ancient Discipline, - 151 Sect. V. Battle of Selasia, wherein Antigonus defeats Cleomenes. A great earthquake at Rhodes, - 169 BOOK SEVENTEENTH. THE HISTORY OF ALEXANDEa's SUCCESSORS continued. INCLUDING THE REIGN OF PTOLEMY PH1LOPATOR. Sect. I. Antiochus takes the Strongest Cities in Ccelosyria. He is entirely defeated at the Battle of Raphia, 179 Sect. II. The Ætolians declare against the Achæans.

Battle of Caphyia. Unhappy death of Cleomenes, 200 Sect. III. Various Expeditions of Philip. A Peace concluded between him and the Achæans, and the Ætolians, - 207 Sect. IV. Philip concludes a Treaty with Hannibal. The Romans gain a considerable victory over him, 231 Sect. V. Education and great Qualities of Philopcemen, 243 Sect. VI. Expeditions of Philip and Sulpitius. A Digression of Polybius, upon Signals made by Fire, 251 Description of the instrument employed in Signals made by Fire, - 260 Sect. VII. Philopcemen gains a famous Victory near Mantinea, over Machanidas, Tyrant of Sparta, 262 Sect. VIII. The glorious Expeditions of Antiochus. At his return, receives advice of Ptolemy Philopator's Death, - ... - CONTENTS. 3 BOOK EIGHTEENTH. THE HISTORY OF ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS CONTINUED.

Chapter I. Including Ptolemy

EPIPHANEs' REIGN. Page Oect. I. Ptolemy Epiphanes succeeds Philopator in Egypt. Troubles which soon follow, - - 276 Sect. II. Expeditions of Sulpitius. Philip loses a Battle. The Achæans declare for the Romans, - 286 Sect. III. The Ætolians and Nabis declare for the Romans. Philip defeated, and a peace concluded, 306 Sect. IV. The Romans send an Embassy to Antiochus. Conspiracy against Ptolemy. Scopas put to death, 325 Sect. V. Antiochus and the Romans prepare for War. The latter sends troops against Nabis. He is killed, 339 Sect. VI. Antiochus possesses himself of Chalcis and all Eubœa. The Romans proclaim War against him, 354 Sect. VII. Polyxenides defeated by Livius. L. Scipio carries on the War against Antiochus, and defeats him near Magnesia, .... 366 Reflections on the Conduct of the Romans respecting the Grecian States, and the Kings of Europe and Asia, 391 Sect.

VIII. Ætolians and Asiatic Gauls subdued by Fulvius and Manlius. Death of Antiochus, and Daniel's prophecy, - ... - 296 The King's Letter to the Marshal D'Asfeldt, - 404 Sect. IX. Seleucus Philopator succeeds Antiochus. Complaints against Philip, - - 411 Sect. X. Philopcemen besieges Messene. He is taken Prisoner, and put to Death. Ptolemy Epiphanes dies, 426

Chapter II. Including Past Of The Reigns Of Ptolemy Philometee, Philip, And

SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR. jSect. I. Perseus conspires against Demetrius. The latter is innocently put to death ; and Perseus succeeds to the Throne, - ... CONTENTS. Alexander's successors. Page Sect. II. Seleucus Philopator dies, and is succeeded by Antiochus Epiphanes. Disturbances in Egypt and Palestine, - - 464 Sect. III. Antiochus' Proceedings against the Jews. His Armies lose several Victories. Is struck by the Hand of God, ----- 483 Sect. IV. Prophecies of Daniel relating to Antiochus Epiphanes, - 500 I. The Wars of Antiochus Epiphanes against Egypt, foretold by Daniel the prophet, - 501 Antiochus' first Expedition into Egypt, - ib. Antiochus' second Expedition into Egypt, 502 Antiochus' third Expedition into Egypt, - 504 Antiochus' fourth Expedition into Egypt, - ib. II. Cruel Persecution exercised by Antiochus against the Jews, and foretold by the Prophet Daniel, - 505 BOOK NINETEENTH.

THE HISTORY OF ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS CONTINUED. ARTICLE I. CONTAINING THE WHOLE REIGN OF PERSEUS. Oect. I. Perseus prepares for War against the Romans. He endeavours a .Reconciliation with the Achæans, 511 Sect. II. Licinius and Perseus take the Field. The latter has at first considerably the Advantage, - 528 Sect. III. Marcius enters Macedonia. Perseus takes Alarm ; but afterwards resumes Courage, - 540 Sect. IV. Æmilius' celebrated Victory near the City of Pydna. Perseus taken Prisoner with all his Children, BOOK SIXTEENTH CONTINUED. THE HISTORY OF ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS, CONTINUED. PLAN. This second chapter includes the space of fifty-five years ; namely, the last fifteen years of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, who had already reigned twenty-three, with which the other fifteen make thirty-eight ; and forty-eight years more, being the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphia.

Section I. The Four Victorious Princes Divide The Empire Of Alexander The

GREAT INTO AS MANY KINGDOMS. After the battle of Ipsus a , the ftmr confederate princes divided the dominions of Antigonus among themselves, and added them to those they already possessed. The empire of Alexander was thus divided into four kingdoms, of which Ptolemyhad Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Cœlosyria, and Palestine; Cassander had Macedonia and Greece ; Lysimachus Thrace, Bithynia, and some other provinces beyond the Hellespont, with the Bosphorus ; and Seleucus all the rest of Asia to the other side of the Euphrates, and as far as the river Indus. The dominions of this last prince are usually called the kingdomof Syria, because Seleucus, who afterwards built Antioch in that province, made it the chief seat of his resi dence, in which he was followed by his successors, who from his name were called Seleucidæ.

This kingdom, however, a Plut. in Demet. p. 902. Appian. in Syr. p. 122, 193. Polyb. 1. xv. p. 572. Vol. V. No. 33. A THE HISTORY OF not only included Syria, but those vast and fertile provinces of Upper Asia, which constituted the Persian empire. The reign of twenty years, which I have assigned to Seleucus Nicator, commences at this period, because he was not acknowledged as king till after the battle of Ipsus; and if we add to these the twelve years, during which he exercised the regal authority without the title, they will make out the reign of thirty-one years assigned him by Usher. The four kings * are the four horns of the he-goat in the prophecy of Daniel, who succeeded in the place of the first horn that was broken. The first horn was Alexander, king of Greece, who destroyed the empire of the Medes and Per sians, designed by the ram with two horns ; and the other four horns, are those four kings who rose up after him, and divided his empire among them, but they were not of his posterity.

They are likewise shadowed out by the four heads of the leopard, which are introduced in another part of the same prophecy f . These prophecies of Daniel were exactly accomplished by this last partition of Alexander's empire; other divisions had, indeed, been made before this, but they were only of pro vinces, which were consigned to governors, under the brother aud son of Alexander, and none but the last was the legal par tition. These prophecies, therefore, are to be understood of this alone, for they evidently represent these four successors of Alexander, in the quality of four kings, " four stood up for " it." But not one of Alexander's successors obtained the regal " " And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the West on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground ; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns, and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him ; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great, and when he was strong, the great horn was broken ; and for it came up four notable horns, towards the four winds of heaven,' ' Dan. chap. viii. ver. 5, 6, 7, 8 — God afterwards explains to his prophet what he had seen : " The ram which thou sawest having two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia, and the rough goat is the king of Grecia, and the great horn that is be tween his eyes, is the first king.

Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power," Ibid, ver. 20, 21, 22. X " After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl ; the beast had also four heads ; and dominion was given to it," Dan. vii. 6. dignity till about three years before the last division of the empire. And even this dignity was at fiisl precarious, asbeingassumed by each of the several parties, merely by his own authority, and not acknowledged by any of the rest. Whereas, after the battle of Ipsus, the treaty made between the four confederates, when theyhad defeated their adversary, and divested him of his dominions, assigned each of them their dominions under the appellation of so many kingdoms, and authorised and acknowledged them as kings and sovereigns, independent of any superior power.

These four kings are, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysimachus. We can never sufficiently admire, in this and the other places, wherein the completion of the prophecies of Daniel will be observed, the strong light with which the prophet penetrates the thick gloom of futurity, at a time when there was not the least appearance of all he foretells. With how much certainty and exactness, even amidst the variety of these revolutions, and a chaos of singular events, does he determine each particular circumstance, and fix the number of the several successors ! How expressly has he pointed out the nation that was to be the Grecian $ described the countries they were to possess; measured the duration of their empires, and the extent of their power, inferior to that of Alexander ; in a word, with what lively colours has he drawn the characters of those princes, and specified their alliances, treaties, treachery, marriages, and success !

Can any one possibly ascribe to chance, or human foresight, so many circumstantial predictions, which, at the time of their being denounced, were so remote from probability ; and may we not evidently discover in them the character and traces of the Divinity, to whom all ages are present in one view, and who alone determines at his will the fate of all the kingdoms and empires of the world ? But it is now time for us to resume the thread of our history. b Onias, the first of that name, and high-priest of the Jews, died about this time, and was succeeded by his son Simon, who, for the sanctity of his life, and the equity of all his actions, was surnamed the Just. He enjoyed the pontificate for the space of nine years. c Seleucus, after the death of Antigonus, made himself master of Upper Syria, where he built Antioch on the Oron tes, and gave it that name, either from his father or his son, b Joseph.

Antiq. 1. xii. c. 2. c A. M. 3704. Ant J. C. 300. Strab. 1. xvi. p. 749. 750. Appian. in Syr. p. 124. Justin. 1, xv. c 4. A2 THE HISTORY OF for they were both called Antiochus. This city, where the Syrian kings afterwards resided, was the capital of the East for a long time, and still preserved that privilege under the Roman emperors. Antigonus had lately built a city at a small distance from this, and called it Antigonia ; but Seleucus had entirely demolished it, and employed the materials in the con struction of his own city, to which he afterwards transplanted the inhabitants of the former. A Among several other cities built by Seleucus in this country, there were three more remarkable than the rest ; the first was called Seleucia, from his own name ; the second Apamea, from his consort of that name, who was the daughter of Ar tabazus the Persian ; the third was Laodicea, so denominated from his mother.

Apamea and Seleucia were situated on the same river on which Antioch was built, and Laodicea was in the southern part of the same quarter. He allowed the Jews the same privileges and immunities in each of these new cities, as were enjoyed by the Greeks and Macedonians, and espe cially at Antioch in Syria ; where that people settled in such numbers, that they possessed a6 considerable a part of that city as their other countrymen enjoyed at Alexandria. Demetrius had withdrawn himself to Ephesus, after the battle of Ipsus, and from thence embarked for Greece, his whole resource being limited to the affection of the Athenians, with whom he had left his fleet, money, and wife Deidamia. But he was strangely surprised and offended, when he was met in his way by ambassadors from the Athenians, who came to acquaint him that he could not be admitted into their city, because the people had, by a decree, prohibited the reception of any of the kings; they also informed him, that his consort Deidamia had been conducted to Megara, with all the honours and attendance due to her dignity.

Demetrius was then sensible of the value of honours and homages extort ed by fear, and which did not proceed from the will. The posture of his affairs not permitting him to revenge the per fidy of that people, he contented himself with intimating his complaints to them in a moderate manner, and demanded his galleys, among which was that prodigious galley of sixteen benches of oars. As soon as he had received them he sailed towards the Chersonesus ; and having committed some devastations in the territories of Lysimachus, he enriched his army with the spoils, and by that expedient prevented the desertion d Strab. L xvi. p. 6£0. of his troops, who now began to recover their vigour, and render themselves formidable anew. Lysimachus, king of Thrace, in order to strengthen him self in his dominions, entered into a particular treaty with Ptolemy, and strengthened the alliance between them, by espousing one of his daughters, named Arsinoe ; shortly after which, his son Agathocles married another. e This double alliance between Lysimachus and Ptolemy gave umbrage to Seleucus, who thereupon entered into a treaty with Demetrius, and espoused Stratonice, the daughter of that prince, by Phila the sister of Cassander.

The beauty of that princess had induced Seleucus to demand her in marriage ; and as the affairs of Demetrius were at that time in a very bad condition, so honourable an alliance with so powerful a prince was exceedingly agreeable to him. In consequence of which he immediately conducted his daughter with all his fleet into Syria from Greece, where he was still in pos session of some places. During his passage he made a descent on Cilicia, which then belonged to Plistarchus, the brother of Cassander, to whom it had been assigned by the four kings, who divided the dominions of Alexander the Great after the death of Antigonus. Plistarchus went to complain of this proceeding to Seleucus, and to reproach him for contracting an alliance with the common enemy without the consent of the other kings, which he considered as an infraction of the treaty.

Demetrius, receiving intelligence of this journey, advanced directly to the city of Synada, where the treasures of the province, amounting to twelve hundred talents *, were deposited. These he carried off with all expedition to his fleet, and then set sail for Syria, where he found Seleucus, and gave him the princess Stratonice in marriage. Demetrius, after some days passed in rejoicings for the nuptials, and en tertainments given on each side, returned to Cilicia, and made himself master of the whole province. He then sent his wife Phila to Cassander, in order to excuse this proceeding. These kings imitated the princes of the East, with whom it is customary to have several wives at the same time. During these transactions of Demetrius, Deidamia, another of his wives, who had taken a journey to meet him in Greece, and had passed some time with him in that country, was seiz ed with an indisposition that ended her days.

Demetrius e A. M. 3705. Ant. J. C. 299. Plut. in Demet. p. 903. f A. M. 3706. Ant J. C. 298. * One million two hundred thousand crowns. THE HISTORY OF having reconciled himself with Ptolemy, by the mediation of Seleucus, espoused Ptolemaida, the daughter of Ptolemy ; by which means his affairs began to assume a better aspect; for he had all the island of Cyprus, and the two rich and powerful cities of Tyre and Sidon, besides his new conquests in Cilicia. It was very imprudent in Seleucus to permit so dangerous an enemy to establish himself at so small a distance from him, and to usurp from one of his allies a province so near his own dominions as Cilicia. All this shews that these princes had no established rules and principles of conduct, and were even ignorant of the true interests of their ambition.

For as to faith of treaty, equity, and gratitude, they had long since re nounced them all, and only reigned for the unhappiness of their people, as the author of the first book of Maccabees has observed f . The eyes of Seleucus were however open at last, and in order to prevent his having a neighbour of such abilities on each side of his dominions, he required Demetrius to surrender Cilicia to him for a very considerable sum of money ; but that prince not being disposed to comply with such a proposal, Seleucus' insisted upon his restoring him the cities of Tyre and Sidon that depended on Syria, of which he was king. Demetrius, enraged at this demand, replied very abruptly, that though he should lose several other battles as fatal to him as that of Ipsus, he should never resolve to purchase the friendship of Seleucus at so high a price.

At the same time he sailed to those two cities, where he reinforced their garrisons, and furnished them with all things necessary for a vigorous defence ; by which means the intention of Seleucus to take them from him was rendered ineffectual at that time. This proceeding of Seleucus was very conformable to the rules of political interest, but had such an odious aspect with reference to the maxims of honour, that it shocked all mankind, and was universally condemned : for as his dominions were of such a vast extent as to include all the countries between India and the Mediterranean, how insatiable was that rigour and avidity, which would not permit him to leave his father-in-law in the peaceable enjoyment of the shattered remains of his fortune ! S Cassander died about this time of a dropsy, after having governed Macedonia for the space of nine years, from the f Chap. i. ver. 9, 10. g A. M. 3707.

Ant. J. C. 297. death of his father, and six or seven from the last partition, He left three sons by Thessalonica, one of the sisters of Alex ander the Great. Philip, who succeeded him, and died soon after, left the crown to be contested by his two brothers. h Pyrrhus, the famous king of Epirus, had espoused Anti gone, a relation of Ptolemy, in Egypt. This young prince was the son of Æacides, whom the Molossians, in a revolt, had expelled from the throne ; and it was with great difficulty that Pyrrhus himself, then an infant at the breast, was pre served from the fury of the revolters, who pursued him with intent to destroy him. After various adventures, he was con ducted to the court of king Glaucias in Illyria, where he was taken into the protection of that prince. Cassander, the mor tal enemy of Æacides, solicited the king to deliver the young prince into his hands, and offered him two hundred talents on that occasion : Glaucias, however, was struck with horror at such a proposal, and when the infant had attained the twelfth year of his age, he conducted him in person to Epirus with a powerful army, and reinstated him in his dominions ; by which means the Molossians were compelled to submit to force.

Justin tells us, that their hatred being softened into compassion, they themselves recalled him, and assigned him guardians to govern the kingdom till he should be of age him self; but there seems to be no great probability in his account. When he had attained his seventeenth year, he began to think himself sufficiently established on the throne ; and set out from his capital city for Illyria, in order to be present at the nuptials of one of the sons of Glaucias, with whom he had been brought up. The Molossians, taking advantage of his absence, revolted a second time, drove all his friends out of the kingdom, seized all his treasures, and conferred the crown on Neoptolemus, his great-uncle. Pyrrhus being thus divested of his dominions, and finding himself destitute of all succours, retired to his brother-in-law Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, who had espoused his sister Deidamia.

This young prince distinguished himself among the bravest in the battle that was sought in the plains of Ipsus, and would not forsake Demetrius, even after he was defeated. He also preserved for him those Grecian cities which that prince had confided to him ; and when a treaty of peace was concluded between Ptolemy and Demetrius, by the mediation of Seleu cus, Pyrrhus went into Egypt as an hostage for his brother in-law. h Plut in Pyrrh. p. 383 E85. THE HISTORY OF . During his continuance at the court of Ptolemy, he gave sufficient proofs of his strength, address, and extraordinary patience, in hunting-exercises, and all other labours. Observing, that of all the wives of Ptolemy, Berenice had the greatest ascendant over him, and that she surpassed the others in prudence, as well as beauty, he attached himself to her in particular ; for as he was already an able politician, he neglected no opportunity of making his court to those on whom his fortune depended, and was studious to ingratiate himself with such persons as were capable of being useful to him.

His noble and engaging demeanour procured him such a share of Ptolemy's esteem, that he gave him Antigone, the daughter of Berenice, his favourite consort, in preference to severaf young princes, who demanded her in marriage. This lady was the daughter of Berenice, by Philip, her first husband, who was a Macedonian lord, little known with respect to any other particular. When Pyrrhus had espoused Antigone, the queen had so much influence over her consort, as to induce him to grant his son-in-law a fleet, with a supply of. money, which enabled him to repossess himself of his dominions. Here began the fortune of an exiled prince, who was afterwards esteemed the greatest general of his age ; and it must be acknowledged, that every instance of his early conduct denoted extraordinary merit, and raised great expectations of his future glory. 'Athens, as we have already observed, revolted from De metrius, and shut her gates against him.

But when that prince thought he had sufficiently provided for the security of his ter ritories in Asia, he marched against that rebellious and un grateful city, with a resolution to punish her as she deserved. The first year was employed in the reduction of the Messe nians, and the conquest of some other cities which had quitted his party ; but he returned the next season to Athens, which he closely blocked up, and reduced to the last extremity, by cutting off all communication of provisions. k A fleet of one hundred and fifty sail, sent by king Ptolemy to succour the Athenians, and which appeared on the coasts of Ægina, afforded them but a transient joy ; for when this naval force saw a strong fleet arrive from Peloponnesus to the assistance of Demetrius, beside a great number of other vessels from Cyprus, and that the whole amounted to three hundred, they weighed anchor, and fled. i A. M. 3708.

Ant J. C. 296. Plut in Demet. p. 904, 905. k A, M. 3709. Ant. J. C. 295. Although the Athenians had issued a decree, by which they made it capital for any person even to mention a peace with Demetrius, the extreme necessity to which they were reduced, obliged them to open their gates to him. When he entered the city, he commanded the inhabitants to assemble in the theatre, which he surrounded with armed troops, and posted his guards on each side of the stage where the dramatic pieces were performed ; and then descending from the upper part of the theatre, in the manner usual with the actors, he showed himself to that multitude, who seemed rather dead than living, and waited for the event in inexpressible terror, expecting it would prove the sentence for their destruction; but he dissipated their apprehensions by the first expressions he uttered; for he did not raise his voice like a man affected with the emotions of rage, nor deliver himself in any passionate or insulting language, but softened the tone of his voice, and only addressed himself to them in gentle complaints and amicable expostulations.

He pardoned their offence, and restored them to his favour ; presenting them, at the same time, with one hundred thousand measures of corn, and reinstating such magistrates as were most agreeable to them. The joy of this people may be easily conceived from the terrors with which they were before affected; and how glorious must such a prince be, who could always support so glorious, so admirable a character ! When he had regulated the state of affairs in Athens, he determined to reduce the Lacedæmonians. Archidamus, their king, advanced as far as Mantinæa to meet him ; but Deme trius defeated him in a great battle, and obliged him to have recourse to flight : After which he advanced into Laconia, and fought another battle in the very sight of Sparta. He was again victorious ; five hundred of the enemies were made prisoners, and two hundred killed upon the spot, so that he was already considered as master of the city, which had never been taken before.

In that important moment he received two pieces of intelligence, which affected him in a quite different manner. The first was, that Lysimachus had lately divested him ot all his territories in Asia; and the other, that Ptolemy had made a descent on Cyprus, and conquered all the island, except Sa lamina, where the mother of Demetrius, with his wife and children, had retired ; and that the king of Egypt carried on the siege of that city with great vigour. Demetrius left all to fly to their assistance, but was soon informed that the place Vol. V. No. 33. B THE HISTORY OF had surrendered. Ptolemy had the generosity to give the mother, wife, and children of his enemy, their liberty without any ransom, and to dismiss them with all their attendants and ef fects. He even made them magnificent presents at their de parture, which he accompanied with all imaginable marks of honour.

The loss of Cyprus was soon succeeded by that of Tyre and Sidon ; and Seleucus dispossessed him of Cilicia on another side. Thus, in a very short time, he saw himself divested of all his dominions, without any resources, or hopes for the future.

Section II. Dispute Between The Two Sons Of Cassander

Df.ME- TRIUS PROCLAIMED KING OF MACEDONIA. INo prince was ever obnoxious to greater vicissitudes of for tune, or even experienced more sudden changes, than Deme trius. He exposed himself to these events by his imprudence, amusing himself with inconsiderable conquests, while he abandoned his provinces to the first invader. His greatest succes ses were immediately followed by his being dispossessed of all his dominions, and almost reduced to despair, when suddenly an unexpected resource offered itself from a quarter where he had not the least room to expect it. 1 In the quarrel between the two sons of Cassander for the crown, Thessalonica, their mother, favoured Alexander, who was the youngest; which so enraged Antipater, the eldest son, that he killed her with his own hands, though she conjured him, by the breasts which had nourished him, to spare her life.