Yr. of Fl. 2265. Ante Chr. Tigranes, menia, The Syrians, being quite exhaufted with the continual wars carried on in their country, by the ambitious and turbulent princes of the race of Seleucus, and feeing no end to the devastations, flaughters, and other calamities which attended their inteftine divifions, refolved to exking of Ar- clude them all, and fubmit to a foreign prince, who might deliver them from the miseries of a civil war, and reftore tranquility to their country. They firft caft their eyes on Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus; but it was feared his quarrels with Rome might bring a new war upon Syria. Some propofed Ptolemy, king of Egypt; but this propofal was rejected, because the Egyptians had always been declared enemies to the Syrians. They therefore pitched on Tigranes, king of Armenia, and fent ambaffadors to acquaint him with the refolution they had taken. Tigranes agreed to their propofal, came into Syria, took poffeffion of that kingdom, and reigned eighteen years in great tranquility; the first fourteen of which he governed it by Megdates, his lieutenant, till he was obliged to recall him, with the troops he had under his command, to oppofe the Romans. Tigranes no fooner entered Syria, than Eufebes, abandoning his dominions, fled into Cilicia, where he paffed the reft of his life in obfcurity. What became of Philip is not known. Porphyrius, indeed, mentions both these princes as living near thirty years after Tigranes had taken poffeffion of Syria f; but herein that writer was certainly mistaken. Selene, the wife of Eufebes, retained Ptolemais with part of Phoenice and Cœlefyria, and reigned there many years without moleftation; fo that she was enabled to give her two fons an education fuitable to their birth. Thefe were Antiochus, furnamed Afiaticus, because brought up in Afia, and Seleucus Cybiofactes 8. While Selene reigned at Ptolemais, fome difturbances happening in Egypt, on account of the averfion which the people had conceived against Alexander their king, that princefs urged her Cybiofactes. claim to the crown, as fifter to Lathurus; and fent her Her two Jons, Antio- ticus and two fons to Rome to folicit the fenate in her behalf. The Romans detained them two years, giving hopes of fuc tle, near Addida. But foon after this victory, a peace, concluded between the contending parties, put a stop to all farther hoftilities . Selene retains part of Phoenice and Cale Lyria. C Jofeph. Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 23. & de Bell. Judaic. lib. i. cap. 1. cefs eefs in their negotiation; but with no other view than to oblige Alexander to buy at a dear rate the favour and protection of the fenators. Accordingly, when he had spent all the treasures he was mafter of in bribing the fenate, he was at laft confirmed in the kingdom, and the young princes were ordered to return home. He h Selene finding, on the return of her two fons from Rome, that her folicitations for the kingdom of Egypt had proved unfuccefsful, attempted to enlarge her dominions in Syria, and prevailed upon many cities to revolt from Tigranes, and efpoufe her caufe. This conduct brought the king of Armenia upon her with all his forces. entered Syria at the head of five hundred thousand men, obliged Selene to fhut herself up in Ptolemais, laid fiege to that place, reduced it, and having got the princefs into his power, caufed her to be put to death at Seleucia in Mefopotamia, whither he had carried her on his return. into Armenia 1 (O). Upon the death of Selene, Tigranes governed Syria without any difturbance, till he was obliged to recall Megdates with all the troops he had in that country, to affift him against Lucullus, who had given him a dreadful overthrow before Tigranocerta. Syria being by the retreat of Megdates left defencelefs, Antiochus Afiaticus, to whom, as the next heir of the Seleucian family, that kingdom belonged, took poffeffion of fome provinces, and there quietly reigned four years, without the leaft moleftation either from Lucullus or Tigranes. (P), till Pompey obliged the latter to return into Armenia, and confine his ambition to the inheritance of his forefathers. As Syria was then without a governor, and no perfon had more right to rule there than Antiochus Afiaticus, h Jofeph. Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 24. Plut. in Lucullo. Strabo. lib. xvi. p. 743. (0) She was the daughter of Ptolemy Phyfcon, king of Egypt, and had been at firft married to Ptolemy Lathurus, her brother, but taken from him by her mother, and given to Antiochus Grypus; upon whofe death the married Eufebes, the son of Antiochus Cyzicenus, and had by him her two fons, Antiochus Afiaticus, and Seleucus Cybiofactes. VOL. VIII. (P) But these four years are comprehended in the eighteen affigned to Tigranes; for that prince retained fome part of Syria while Antiochus reigned in the other, till the whole was reduced to a Roman province. And hence it is that fome authors have not ranked Antiochus Afiaticus among the kings of Syria. S that Yr. of Fl. 2278. Ante Chr. 70. Selene ta ken and put to death by Tigranes. Antiochus Afiaticus robbed of his crown by the Ro mans. that prince appeared before Pompey, reprefented to him the misfortunes of his family, urged the justice of his claim, and intreated the Roman not to exclude him from a crown which his ancestors had long wore with great 'glory. But as the Romans, in the age we are writing of, had only the appearance of virtue, and did not fcruple committing the most flagrant acts of injustice to promote the intereft of their republic, Pompey gave Antiochus this haughty and difobliging answer: "Do not imagine you fhall be put in poffeffion of a kingdom which you have abandoned. The Syrians despise you, and will not suffer you to reign over them. Why did you not wreft the fceptre out of the hands of Tigranes? You have lived eighteen years in dread of the enemy whom I have conquered. What pretence then have you to deprive us of the right we have acquired by our victory? The kingdom of Syria belonged to Tigranes, and now that he is conquered, all his rights devolve upon us. The Syrian empire therefore now appertains to Rome, and our republic can defend it better than you from the incurfions of the Jews and Arabians ." Thus Pompey made ufe of his victories to opprefs an unfortunate prince, rob him of his inheritance, and, by the most notorious injustice, reduce Syria to a Roman province. Antiochus, thus ftripped of his dominions, fpent the rest of his life in obfcurity. Some writers tell us, that Pompey gave him Commagena; but these confound Antiochus Afiaticus with Antiochus Commagenus. As for Seleucus Cybiofactes, or, as others write it, Cybiotates, he outlived his brother; for Dion Caffius, Strabo, and Porphyrius tell us, that the Alexandrians, having placed on the throne of Egypt Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, fent an embassy into Syria, inviting Antiochus Afiaticus, who by his mother Selene was the next male heir to that crown, to come into Egypt, and marrying Berenice to reign in conjunc tion with her. But the ambaffadors finding he was dead, and returning home, the Alexandrians fent another embaffy to Seleucus his brother, with the fame propofal; which he readily accepting, reigned in Egypt, till Berenice, growing weary of him, caufed him to be put to End of the death (Q). In him ended the whole race of Seleucus, race of the Seleucida. m no i Appian. in Syriac. & Mithridat. Dion. Caff. lib. xxxv. Juft. lib. xl. cap 2. Porphyr. in Græc. Eufeb. Scalig. k Dion. Caff, jib. xxxix. 1 Strab. lib. xvii. p. 796. m Porphyr, ibid. (Q) Porphyry, as quoted lip the fon of Grypus was inby Eufebius, tells us, that Phi- vited by this fecond embassy · no one of that family being left to furvive the lofs of the empire, which they had held, according to Appian, two hundred and feventy years; according to Eufebius, from the hundred and feventeenth Olympiad, the third after the death of Alexander, to the third year of the hundred and twenty-fourth, that is, two hundred and fifty-one years. CHA P. XXV. The Hiftory of Egypt, from the Foundation of that Monarchy by Ptolemy Soter, to its becoming a Roman Province. B EFORE we proceed to the hiftory of Egypt under the Macedonians, it will be neceffary to exhibit a feries of their kings, with the years of their respective reigns, according to various fyftems, there being a great into Egypt. But as no mention has been made of him in history fince his feizing on Damafcus, which happened fix and twenty years before the time we are now writing of, he was probably dead when the Egyptian ambaffadors arrived in Syria. Befides, if he had been alive, he would have been too far advanced in years for the propofed marriage, it being now forty years fince he fucceeded his father in the kingdom of Syria, The perfon, therefore, whom this fecond embaffy called out of Syria into Egypt after the death of Afiaticus, must have been his younger brother; for he was invited thither as the next heir to the crown, and this the brother of Afiaticus alone could be. Frequent mention is made by the writers of thofe times of this younger brother of Afiaticus; but none of them acquaint us with his name. However, what Strabo relates of Seleucus Cybrofactes or Cybiofactes evidently fhews that he was the perfon. For that writer tells us (1), that Seleucus Cybiofactes was invited into Egypt to marry Berenice, and that he was of the Seleucian family; both which circumftances put it beyond doubt, that this Seleucus was the younger brother of Afiaticus, fince, upon the death of the latter, his younger brother was the only furviving perfon of the Seleucian family; and therefore in him ended, as we have related, the illuftrious race of Seleucus Nicator. difagreement among authors in their chronological accounts of these princes. Ptolemy's Canon of the Macedonian Kings who reigned in Egypt. Years. Years. 20 38 Ptolemy Lagus, 25 17 24 Ptolemy Philometor, Ptolemy Soter, A Table of the Macedonian Kings who reigned in Egypt, with the Years of their Reigns according to Eufebius. 17 24 35 29 Phyfcon, Ptolemy Lathurus, wanting fome months of 17 Ptolemy Alexander I. 10 ed, 8 30 Cleopatra alone, 6 months. 40 38 Acc. to Clem. Acc. to Epiph. Acc. to Niceph. 25 17 24 35 29 36 Ptolemy Phyfcon, 29 22 There is a confiderable difagreement among the ecclefiaftic writers with refpect to the years of these princes reigns, as appears from the following table. 40 38 A Table of the Ptolemies of Egypt, with the Years of their Reigns, according to Clemens of Alexandria°, Epiphanius ?, and Nicephorus. 24 21 35 29 36 22 34 29 29 22 35 31 32 • Clemens Alexandrin. Stromat. lib. i. Menfur. & Ponder. 25 17 26 4 22 30 22 35 17 and fix mo, 18 P Epiphan. de We |
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