Y.R. 530 B.C. 224 ANTIOCHUS (the son of Seleucus and grandson of Antiochus), king of the Syrians, the Babylonians, and other nations, was the sixth in succession from that Seleucus who succeeded Alexander in the government of the Asiatic countries around the Euphrates. He invaded Media and Parthia, and other countries that had revolted from his ancestors, and performed many exploits, from which he was named Antiochus the Great. Elated by his successes, and by the title which he had derived from them, he invaded Cœle-Syria and a portion of Cilicia and took them away from Ptolemy Philopator [Epiphanes],1 king of Egypt, who was still a boy. Y.R. 556 B.C. 198 As there was nothing small in his views he marched among the Hellespontines, the Æolians, and the Ionians as though they belonged to him as the ruler of Asia; and, indeed, they had been formerly subjects of the Asiatic kings. Then he crossed over to Europe, brought Thrace under his sway, and reduced by force those who would not obey him. Y.R. 558 B.C. 196He fortified Chersonesus and rebuilt Lysimacheia, which Lysimachus, who ruled Thrace in the time of Alexander, built as a stronghold against the Thracians themselves, but which they destroyed after his death. Antiochus repeopled it, calling back the citizens who had fled, redeeming those who had been sold as slaves, bringing in others, supplying them with cattle, sheep, and agricultural implements, and omitting nothing that might contribute to its speedy completion as a stronghold; for the place seemed to him to be admirably situated to hold all of Thrace in subjection, and a convenient base of supplies for other operations that he contemplated.

[2] Here the open disagreements between him and the Romans began, for as he passed among the Greek cities thereabout most of them joined him and received his garrisons, because they feared capture by him. But the inhabitants of Smyrna and Lampsacus, and some others who still resisted, sent ambassadors to Flamininus, the Roman general, who had lately overthrown Philip the Macedonian in a great battle in Thessaly; for the affairs of the Macedonians and of the Greeks were closely linked together at certain times and places, as I have shown in my Grecian history. Accordingly, certain embassies passed between Antiochus and Flamininus and tested each other to no purpose. The Romans and Antiochus had been suspicious of each other for a long time, the former surmising that he would not keep quiet because he was so much puffed up by the extent of his dominions and the acme of fortune that he had reached. Antiochus, on the other hand, believed that the Romans were the only people who could put a stop to his increase of power and prevent him from passing over to Europe. Still, there was no outward cause of enmity between them until ambassadors came to Rome from Ptolemy Philopator complaining that Antiochus had taken Syria and Cilicia away from him. The Romans gladly seized this occasion as one well suited to their purposes, and sent to Antiochus ostensibly to bring about a reconciliation between him and Ptolemy, but really to find out his designs and to check him as much as they could.

[3] Gnæus,2 the chief of the embassy, demanded that Antiochus should allow Ptolemy, who was a friend of the Roman people, to rule over all the countries that his father had left to him, and that the cities of Asia that had been part of the dominions of Philip should be independent, for it was not right that Antiochus should usurp powers of which the Romans had deprived Philip. “We are wholly at a loss to know,” he said, “why Antiochus should come from Media bringing such a fleet and such an army from the upper country to the Asiatic coast, make an incursion into Europe, build cities there, and subdue Thrace, unless these are the preparations for another war.” Antiochus replied that Thrace had belonged to his ancestors, that it had fallen away from them when they were occupied elsewhere, and that he had resumed possession because he had leisure to do so. He had built Lysimacheia as the future seat of government of his son Seleucus. He would leave the Greek cities of Asia independent if they would acknowledge the gratitude therefor as due to himself and not to the Romans. “I am a relative of Ptolemy,” he said, “and I shall be his father-in-law, although I am not so now, and I will see to it that he renders gratitude to you. I am at a loss to know by what right you meddle with the affairs of Asia when I never interfere with those of Italy.” And so they separated without coming to any understanding, and both sides broke into more open threats.

B.C. 195 Y.R. 559 [4] A rumor having spread abroad that Ptolemy Philopator was dead, Antiochus hastened to Egypt in order to seize the country while bereft of a ruler. While on this journey Hannibal the Carthaginian met him at Ephesus. He was now a fugitive from his own country on account of the accusations of his enemies, who reported to the Romans that he was hostile to them, that he wanted to bring on a war, and that he could never enjoy peace. This was a time when the Carthaginians were leagued with the Romans by treaty. Antiochus received Hannibal in a magnificent manner on account of his great military reputation, and kept him near himself. At Lycia he learned that Ptolemy was alive. So he gave up the idea of seizing Egypt and turned his attention to Cyprus, hoping to take it instead of Egypt, and sailed thither with all speed. Encountering a storm at the mouth of the river Sarus and losing many of his ships, some of them with his soldiers and friends, he sailed back to Seleucia in Syria to repair his damaged fleet. There he celebrated the nuptials of his children, Antiochus and Laodice, whom he had joined together in marriage.

B.C. 193 Y.R. 561 [5] Now, determining no longer to conceal his intended war with the Romans, he formed alliances by marriage with the neighboring kings. To Ptolemy in Egypt he sent his daughter Cleopatra, surnamed Syra, giving with her Cœle-Syria as a dowry, which he had taken away from Ptolemy himself, thus flattering the young king in order to keep him quiet during the war with the Romans. To Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, he sent his daughter Antiochis, and the remaining one to Eumenes, king of Pergamus. But the latter, seeing that Antiochus was about to engage in war with the Romans and that he wanted to form a marriage connection with him on this account, refused her. To his brothers, Attalus and Philetærus, who were surprised that he should decline marriage relationship with so great a king, who was also his neighbor and who made the first overtures, he showed that the coming war would be of doubtful issue at first, but that the Romans would prevail in the end by their courage and perseverance. “If the Romans conquer,” said he, “I shall be firmly seated in my kingdom. If Antiochus is the victor, I may expect to be stripped of all my possessions by my powerful neighbor, or, if I am allowed to reign, to be ruled over by him.” For these reasons he rejected the proffered marriage.

[6] Then Antiochus went down to the Hellespont and crossed over to Chersonesus and possessed himself of a large part of Thrace by conquest or surrender. He freed the Greeks who were under subjection to the Thracians, and conciliated the Byzantines in many ways, because their city was admirably situated at the outlet of the Euxine Sea. By gifts and by fear of his warlike preparations he brought the Galatians into his alliance, because he considered them formidable by reason of their bodily size. Then he went back to Ephesus and sent as ambassadors to Rome Lysias, Hegesianax, and Menippus. They were sent really to find out the intentions of the Senate, but for the sake of appearances Menippus said, “King Antiochus, while strongly desirous of the friendship of the Romans and willing to be their ally if they wish, is surprised that they urge him to give up the cities of Ionia and to remit tribute for certain states, and not to interfere with certain of the affairs of Asia and to leave Thrace alone, though it has always belonged to his ancestors. Yours are not the exhortations of friends, but resemble orders given by victors to the vanquished.” The Senate, perceiving that the embassy had come to make a test of their disposition, replied curtly, “If Antiochus will leave the Greeks in Asia free and independent, and keep away from Europe, he can be the friend of the Roman people if he desires.” Such was the answer of the Romans, and they gave no reason for their rejoinder.

[7] As Antiochus intended to invade Greece first and thence begin his war against the Romans, he communicated his design to Hannibal. The latter said that as Greece had been wasted for a long time, the task would be easy; but that wars which were waged at home were the hard ones to bear, by reason of the scarcity which they caused, and that those which took place in foreign territory were much easier to endure. Antiochus could never vanquish the Romans in Greece, where they would have plenty of home-grown corn and all needed material. Hannibal urged him to occupy some part of Italy and make his base of operations there, so that the Romans might be weakened both at home and abroad. “I have had experience of Italy,” he said, “and with 10,000 men I can occupy some convenient place and write to my friends in Carthage to stir up the people to revolt. As they are already discontented with their condition, and harbor ill-will toward the Romans, they will be filled with courage and hope if they hear that I am ravaging Italy again.” Antiochus listened eagerly to this advice, and as he considered a Carthaginian accession a great advantage (as it would have been) for his war, directed him to write to his friends at once.

[8] Hannibal did not write the letters, since he did not consider it yet safe to do so, as the Romans were searching out everything and the war was not yet openly declared, and he had many opponents in Carthage, and the city had no fixed or sound policy, – the very lack of which caused its destruction, not long afterward. But he sent Aristo, a Tyrian merchant, to his friends, on the pretext of trading, to tell them that when he should invade Italy they should rouse Carthage to avenge her wrongs. Aristo did this, but when Hannibal's enemies learned that he was in the city they raised a tumult as though a revolution was impending, and searched everywhere to find him. In order that Hannibal's friends might not be particularly accused, he posted letters in front of the senate-chamber secretly by night, saying that Hannibal exhorted the whole senate to rescue the country with the help of Antiochus. Having done this he sailed away. In the morning the friends of Hannibal were relieved of their fears by this afterthought of Aristo, which implied that he had been sent to the whole senate. The city was filled with all kinds of tumult, the people feeling bitterly toward the Romans, but despairing of accomplishing anything indirectly. Such was the situation of affairs in Carthage.

Y.R. 562 B.C. 192 [9] In the meantime Roman ambassadors, and among them Scipio, who had humbled the Carthaginian power, were sent, like those of Antiochus, to ascertain his designs and to form an estimate of his strength. Learning that the king had gone to Pisidia, they waited for him at Ephesus. There they entered into frequent conversations with Hannibal, Carthage being then at peace with them and war with Antiochus not yet declared. They reproached Hannibal for flying his country when the Romans had nothing to complain against him, or against the other Carthaginians, under the terms of the last treaty. They did this in order to cast suspicion on Hannibal in the mind of the king by the protracted conversations and intercourse. Hannibal, although a most profound military genius, did not perceive their design, but the king, when he learned what had been going on, did suspect him, and was more reluctant to give him his confidence thereafter. There was also some jealousy and envy added, lest Hannibal should carry off the glory of the exploits.

[10] It is said that at one of their meetings in the gymnasium Scipio and Hannibal had a conversation on the subject of generalship, in the presence of a number of bystanders, and that Scipio asked Hannibal whom he considered the greatest general, to which the latter replied, “Alexander of Macedon.” To this Scipio assented since he also yielded the first place to Alexander. Then he asked Hannibal whom he placed next, and he replied, “Pyrrhus of Epirus,” because he considered boldness the first qualification of a general; “for it would not be possible,” he said, “to find two kings more enterprising than these.” Scipio was rather nettled by this, but nevertheless he asked Hannibal to whom he would give the third place, expecting that at least the third would be assigned to him; but Hannibal replied, “To myself; for when I was a young man I conquered Spain and crossed the Alps with an army, the first after Hercules. I invaded Italy and struck terror into all of you, laid waste 400 of your towns, and often put your city in extreme peril, all this time receiving neither money nor reënforcements from Carthage.” As Scipio saw that he was likely to prolong his self-laudation he said, laughing, “Where would you place yourself, Hannibal, if you had not been defeated by me?” Hannibal, now perceiving his jealousy, replied, “In that case I should have put myself before Alexander.” Thus Hannibal continued his self-laudation, but flattered Scipio in a delicate manner by suggesting that he had conquered one who was the superior of Alexander.3

[11] At the end of this conversation Hannibal invited Scipio to be his guest, and Scipio replied that he would be so gladly if Hannibal were not living with Antiochus, who was held in suspicion by the Romans. Thus did they, in a manner worthy of great commanders, cast aside their enmity at the end of their wars. Not so Flamininus, for, at a later period when Hannibal had fled after the defeat of Antiochus and was wandering around Bithynia, Flamininus sent an embassy to King Prusias on other matters, and, although he had no grievance against Hannibal, and had no orders from the Senate, and Hannibal was no longer for-midable to them, Carthage having fallen, he caused Prusias to put him to death by poison. There was a story that an oracle had once said: ““Libyssan earth shall cover Hannibal's remains.”4”

So he believed that he should die in Libya. But there is a river Libyssus in Bithynia, and the adjoining country takes the name of Libyssa from the river.5 These things I have placed side by side as memorials of the magnanimity of Hannibal and Scipio and of the smallness of Flamininus.

[12] Antiochus, on his return from Pisidia to Ephesus, entered upon the business with the Roman ambassadors and promised to leave the Rhodians, the Byzantines, the Cyzicæans, and the other Greeks of Asia free and independent if the Romans would make a treaty with him, but he would not release the Ætolians and the Ionians, since they had long been accustomed to obey the barbarian kings of Asia. The Roman ambassadors came to no agreement with him – in fact, they had not come to make an agreement, but to find out his purposes. So they returned to Rome. There-upon an Ætolian embassy came to Antiochus, of which Thoas was the principal member, offering him the command of the Ætolian forces and urging him to embark for Greece at once, as everything was in readiness there. They would not allow him to wait for the army that was coming from upper Asia, but by exaggerating the strength of the Ætolians and promising the alliance of the Lacedæmonians and of Philip of Macedon in addition, who was angry with the Romans, they urged his crossing. He assembled his forces very hastily, nor did even the news of his son's death in Syria delay him at all. He sailed to Eubœa with 10,000 men, who were all that he had in hand at the time. He took possession of the whole island, which surrendered to him through fear. Michithio, one of his generals, fell upon the Romans at Delium (a place sacred to Apollo), killed some of them, and took the rest prisoners.

[13] Amynander, king of the Athamanes, leagued himself with Antiochus for the following reason. A certain Macedonian, named Alexander, who had been educated at Megalopolis and admitted to citizenship there, pretended that he was a descendant of Alexander the Great, and to make people believe his fables he named his two sons Philip and Alexander and his daughter Apama. The latter he betrothed to Amynander. Her brother Philip conducted her to the nuptial ceremony, and when he saw that Amynander was weak and inexperienced he remained there and took charge of the government by virtue of this connection. By holding out to this Philip the hope that he would restore his ancestral kingdom of Macedonia to him, Antiochus secured the alliance of the Athamanes. He secured that of the Thebans also by going to Thebes and making a speech to the people. He was emboldened to enter upon this great war relying most rashly on the Thebans, Amynander, and the Ætolians, and he made a reconnoissance of Thessaly to determine whether he should invade it at once or after the winter had passed. As Hannibal expressed no opinion on the subject, Antiochus, before coming to a decision, asked him his thought.

[14] Hannibal replied, “It is not difficult to reduce the Thessalians either now or at the end of winter, if you wish. Exhausted by much suffering they will change now to you, and again to the Romans, if any misfortune befalls you. We have come here without any army of our own, trusting to the Ætolians, who said that the Lacedæmonians and Philip would join us. Of these I hear that the Lacedæmonians are as hostile to us as the Achæans are, and as for Philip I do not see him here helping you, although he can turn the scale of this war for whichever side he favors. I hold the same opinion as before, that you should call in an army from Asia as quickly as possible and not put any reliance on Amynander or the Ætolians. When your army comes, carry the war into Italy so that they may be distracted by evils at home, and thus harm you as little as possible, and make no advance movement for fear of what may befall themselves. The plan I spoke of before is no longer available, but you ought to employ half of your fleet in ravaging the shores of Italy and keep the other half lying in wait for opportunities, while you station yourself with all your land forces at some point in Greece near to Italy, making a feint of invasion and invading it at any time if you can. Try by every means to make an alliance with Philip, because he can be of the greatest service to whichever side he espouses. If he will not consent, send your son Seleucus against him by way of Thrace so that Philip likewise may be distracted by troubles at home, and prevented from furnishing aid to the enemy.” Such were the counsels of Hannibal, and they were the best of all that were offered; but, moved by jealousy of his reputation and judgment, the other counsellors, and the king himself no less, cast them all aside lest Hannibal should seem to excel them in generalship, and lest the glory of the exploits should be his – except that Polyxenidas was sent to Asia to bring an army.

Y.R. 563 B.C. 191 [15] When the Romans heard of the irruption of Antiochus into Greece and the killing and capture of Romans at Delium, they declared war. In this way the war between them, which had been smouldering a long time, first actually broke out. So great was the dominion of Antiochus, ruler of many powerful nations of upper Asia, and of all but a few on the sea-coast, who had now invaded Europe; so formidable was his reputation and so complete his preparation, so many and so famous had been his exploits against other peoples, from which he had earned the title of Great, that the Romans anticipated that this war would be long and severe for them. They had their suspicions also of Philip of Macedon, whom they had lately conquered, and of the Carthaginians also, lest they should prove false to the treaty because Hannibal was cooperating with Antiochus. Other subject peoples were under suspicion lest revolution should break out among them in consequence of the fame of Antiochus. For these reasons they sent forces into all the provinces to watch them without provoking hostilities. With them were sent commanders called six-axe men (prætors), so called because the consuls

had twelve bundles of rods and axes (as the kings before them had), whereas the prætors had only half the dignity of the consuls and half the number of insignia of office. As in cases of great peril they showed their anxiety for Italy also, lest there should be some weakening or revolt against them there. They sent a large force of infantry to Tarentum to guard against an attack in that quarter, and also a fleet to patrol the coast. So great was the alarm caused by Antiochus at first. When everything appertaining to the government at home was arranged, they raised an army to serve against Antiochus, 20,000 from the city and double that number from the allies, to cross the Adriatic in the early spring. Thus they employed the whole winter in making preparations for war.

[16] Antiochus marched against the Thessalians and came to Cynoscephalæ, where the Macedonians had been defeated by the Romans, and finding the remains of the dead still unburied, gave them a magnificent funeral. Thus he curried favor with the Macedonians and accused Philip before them of leaving unburied those who had fallen in his service. Until now Philip had been wavering and in doubt which side he should espouse, but when he heard of this he joined the Romans at once. He invited Bæbius, their nearest general, to a rendezvous and gave pledges anew of faithful alliance against Antiochus. Bæbius praised him for this, and felt emboldened to send Appius Claudius straightway with 2000 foot through Macedonia into Thessaly. When Appius arrived at Tempe and from that point saw Antiochus besieging Larissa, he kindled a large number of fires to conceal the smallness of his force. Antiochus thought that Bæbius and Philip had arrived, and became panic-stricken, abandoned the siege on a pretext of bad weather, and retreated to Chalcis. There he fell in love with a pretty girl, and, although he was above fifty years of age and was supporting the burden of so great a war, he celebrated his nuptials with her, gave a public festival, and allowed his army to spend the whole winter in idleness and luxury. When spring came he made a descent upon Acarnania, where he perceived that idleness had unfitted his army for every kind of duty. Then he repented himself Of his marriage and his public festival. Nevertheless he reduced a part of Acarnania and was besieging the rest of its strongholds when he learned that the Romans were making a passage of the Adriatic. Then at once he returned to Chalcis.

[17] The Romans crossed hastily from Brundusium to Apollonia with the forces that were then ready, being 2000 horse, 20,000 foot, and a few elephants, under the command of Acinius Manius Glabrio. They marched to Thessaly and relieved the besieged cities. They expelled the enemy's garrisons from the towns of the Athamanes and made a prisoner of that Philip of Megalopolis who was still expecting the throne of Macedonia. They also captured about 3000 of the soldiers of Antiochus. While Manius was doing these things, Philip made a descent upon Athamania and brought the whole of it under subjection, King Amynander fleeing to Ambracia. When Antiochus learned these facts, he was terrified by the rush of events and by the suddenness of the change of fortune, and he now perceived the wisdom of Hannibal's advice. He sent messenger after messenger to Asia to hasten the coming of Polyxenidas. Then from all sides he drew in what forces he had. These amounted to 10,000 foot and 500 horse of his own, besides some allies, with which he occupied Thermopylæ in order to put this difficult pass between himself and the enemy while waiting for the arrival of his army from Asia. The passage at Thermopylæ is long and narrow, flanked on the one side by a rough and inhospitable sea and on the other by a deep and impassable morass. It is overhung by two mountain peaks, one called Tichius and the other Callidromus. The place also contains some hot springs, whence comes the name Thermopylæ (the Hot Gates).

[18] There Antiochus built a double wall on which he placed engines. He sent Ætolian troops to occupy the summits of the mountains to prevent anybody from coming around secretly by way of the hill called Atropos, as Xerxes had come upon the Spartans under Leonidas, the mountain paths at that time being unguarded. One thousand Ætolians occupied each mountain. The remainder encamped by themselves near the city of Heraclea. When Manius saw the enemy's preparations he gave the signal for battle on the morrow and ordered two of his tribunes, Marcus Cato and Lucius Valerius, to select such forces as they pleased and to go around the mountains by night and drive the Ætolians from the heights as best they could. Lucius was repulsed from Mount Tichius by the Ætolians, who at that place fought well, but Cato, who moved against Mount Callidromus, fell upon the enemy while they were still asleep, about the last watch. Nevertheless there was a stiff fight here, as he was obliged to climb over high rocks and precipices in the face of an opposing enemy. Meantime Manius was leading his army against Antiochus' front in straight lines, as this was the only way possible in the narrow pass. The king placed his light-armed troops and peltasts in front of the phalanx, and drew up the phalanx itself in front of the camp, with the archers and slingers on the right hand next to the foot-hills, and the elephants, with the guard that always accompanied them, on the left near the sea.6

[19] Battle being joined, the light-armed troops assailed Manius first, rushing in from all sides. He received their onset bravely, first yielding and then advancing and driving them back. The phalanx opened and let the light-armed men pass through. It then closed and pushed forward, the long pikes set densely together in order of battle, with which the Macedonians from the time of Alexander and Philip have struck terror into enemies who have not dared to encounter the thick array of long pikes presented to them. At this juncture the Ætolians were seen fleeing from Callidromus with loud cries, and leaping down into the camp of Antiochus. At first neither side knew what had happened, and there was confusion among both in their uncertainty but when Cato made his appearance pursuing the Ætolians with shouts of victory and was already close above the camp of Antiochus, the king's forces, who had been hearing for some time back fearful accounts of the Roman style of fighting, and who knew that they themselves had been enervated by idleness and luxury all winter, took fright. Not knowing how large Cato's force was, it was magnified to their minds by terror. Fearing for the safety of their camp they fled to it in disorder, with the intention of defending it against the enemy. But the Romans were close at their heels and entered the camp with them. Then there was another flight of the Antiocheans as disorderly as the first. Manius pursued them as far as Scarphia, killing and taking prisoners. Returning thence he plundered the king's camp, and by merely showing himself drove out the Ætolians who had broken into the Roman camp during his absence.

[20] The Romans lost about 200 in the battle and the pursuit; Antiochus about 10,000, including prisoners. The king himself, at the first sign of defeat, fled precipitately with 500 horse as far as Elateia, and from Elateia to Chalcis, and thence to Ephesus with his bride Eubœa, as he called her, with his ships; but not all of them, for the Roman admiral made an attack upon some that were bringing supplies, and sunk them. When the people of Rome heard of this victory, so swiftly and easily gained, they offered sacrifice, being satisfied with their first trial of the formidable reputation of Antiochus. To Philip, in return for his services as an ally, they sent his son Demetrius, who was still a hostage in their hands.

[21] While these things were going on in the city, Manius received the supplications of the Phoceans, the Chalcideans, and others who had coöperated with Antiochus, and he relieved their fears. He and Philip ravaged Ætolia and reduced its cities. He captured, in hiding, Democritus, the general of the Ætolians, who had threatened Flamininus that he would pitch his camp on the banks of the Tiber. Manius, with an army laden with baggage and spoils, made his way to Callipolis over Mount Corax, the highest, rockiest, and most difficult in that region. Many soldiers, by reason of the badness of the road, fell over precipices and were dashed in pieces with their arms and accoutrements. Although the Ætolians might have punished them severely, they were nowhere to be seen, having sent an embassy to Rome to treat for peace. In the meantime Antiochus ordered the satraps of upper Asia to send their army down to the coast in all haste, and he fitted out a fleet which he put under the command of Polyxenidas, an exile from Rhodes. He crossed over to Chersonesus and again fortified it. He also strengthened Sestos and Abydos, through which the Roman legions would be obliged to pass if they should invade Asia. He made Lysimacheia his principal magazine for the present war and accumulated large supplies of arms and provisions in it, believing that the Romans would presently attack him with large land and sea forces. The latter appointed Lucius Scipio as the successor of Manius in the command, as he was then consul, but as he was inexperienced in war they appointed as his lieutenant his brother, Publius Scipio, who had humbled the Carthaginian power and who first bore the title of Africanus.

[22] While the Scipios were still making their preparations, Livius, who had charge of the coast defence of Italy and who had been chosen the successor of Atilius, with his own coast-guard ships and some contributed by the Carthaginians and other allies, sailed for the Piræus. Receiving there the fleet from Atilius he set sail with eighty-one decked ships, Eumenes following with fifty of his own, one-half of which had decks. They put in at Phocæa, a place belonging to Antiochus, but which received them from fear, and on the following day they sailed out for a naval engagement. Polyxenidas, commanding the fleet of Antiochus, met them with 200 ships much lighter than those opposed to him, which was a great advantage to him, since the Romans were not yet experienced in nautical affairs. Seeing two Carthaginian ships sailing in front, he sent three of his own against them and took them, but found them empty, the crews having leaped overboard. Livius dashed angrily at the three with his flag-ship, much in advance of the rest of the fleet. The enemy being three to one grappled him contemptuously with iron hooks, and when the ships were fastened together the battle was fought as though it were on land. The Romans, being much superior in valor, sprang upon the enemy's ships, overpowered them, and returned, bringing back two ships captured simultaneously by one. This was the prelude to the naval engagement. When the fleets came together the Romans had the best of it by reason of their bodily strength and bravery, but on account of the unwieldy size of their ships they could not capture the enemy, who got away with their nimble craft, and, by rapid flight, took refuge in Ephesus. The Romans repaired to Chios, where twenty-seven Rhodian ships joined them as allies. When Antiochus received the news of this naval fight, he sent Hannibal to Syria to fit out another fleet from Phœnicia and Cilicia. When he was returning with it the Rhodians drove him into Pamphylia, captured some of his ships, and blockaded the rest.

Y.R. 564 B.C. 190 [23] In the meantime Publius Scipio arrived in Ætolia with the consul and received the command of the army from Manius. He scorned the siege of the Ætolian towns as small business, and allowed the imploring people to send a new embassy to Rome, while he hastened against Antiochus before his brother's consulship should expire. He moved by way of Macedonia and Thrace to the Hellespont, and it would have been a very hard march for him had not Philip of Macedon repaired the roads, entertained him, escorted him, bridged the streams some time before, and furnished him provisions. In return for this the Scipios immediately relieved him from the payment of the remaining money indemnity, having been authorized to do so by the Senate if they should find him zealous. They also wrote to Prusias, king of Bithynia, reminding him that the Romans were in the habit of augmenting the possessions of the kings in alliance with them. They said that, although they had conquered Philip of Macedon, they had allowed him to retain his kingdom, had released his son whom they had held as a hostage, and had remitted the money payment still due. Thereupon Prusias willingly entered into alliance with them against Antiochus. Livius, the commmander of the fleet, when he learned that the Scipios were on the march, left Pausimachus, the Rhodian, with the Rhodian ships and a part of his own, in Æolis, and himself sailed with the greater part to the Hellespont to assist the army. Sestos and Rhæteum, and the harbor of the Achæans,7 and several other places surrendered to him. Abydos refused and he laid siege to it.

[24] After the departure of Livius, Pausimachus trained his sailors by repeated exercises, and constructed machines of various kinds. He attached iron pans containing fire to long poles and suspended them over the sea, so as to clear his own ships and fall upon those of the enemy when they approached. While he was thus engaged Polyxenidas, the admiral of Antiochus, who was also a Rhodian, but had been banished for crime, laid a trap for him. He promised to deliver the fleet of Antiochus to him if he would agree to help him in securing readmittance to his own country. Pausimachus suspected the wily rascal and took special pains to guard against him. But after Polyxenidas had written him an autograph letter on the subject of the betrayal and in accord therewith had sailed away from Ephesus on the pretence of procuring corn for the army, Pausimachus, observing the movement and thinking that no one would put his own signature to a letter proposing a betrayal unless he was speaking the truth, felt entire confidence, relaxed his vigilance, and sent his own fleet away to procure corn. Polyxenidas, seeing that his stratagem was successful, reassembled his ships, and sent the pirate Nicander to Samos with a few men to create confusion by getting in the rear of Pausimachus on the land, and himself sailed at midnight, and about daybreak fell upon him while still asleep. Pausimachus, in this sudden and unexpected catastrophe, ordered his men to abandon their ships and defend themselves on land. When Nicander attacked him in the rear he thought that the land had been taken possession of by night not merely by those who were visible, but by a much larger number. So he made another confused rush for his ships. He was foremost in the encounter and the first to fall, fighting bravely. The rest were all captured or killed. Seven of the ships, which were provided with the fire-apparatus, escaped, as no one dared approach them for fear of conflagration. The remaining twenty Polyxenidas towed to Ephesus.

[25] Upon the news of this victory Phocæa again changed sides to Antiochus, as did also Samos and Cuma. Livius, fearing for his own ships, which he had left in Æolis, returned to them in haste. Eumenes hastened to join him, and the Rhodians sent the Romans twenty new ships. In a short time they were all in good spirits and they sailed toward Ephesus prepared for another engagement. As no enemy appeared they divided their naval force into two parts, one half for a long time showing itself on the high sea, while the other landed on the enemy's coast and ravaged it until Nicander attacked them from the interior, took away their plunder, and drove them back to their ships. Then they withdrew to Samos, and Livius' term of office as admiral expired.

[26] About this time Seleucus, the son of Antiochus, ravaged the territory of Eumenes and laid siege to Pergamus, shutting up the soldiers in it. On account of this Eumenes sailed with haste to Elæa, the naval station of his kingdom, and with him L. Æmilius Regillus, the successor of Livius as admiral. One thousand foot-soldiers and 100 picked horse had been sent by the Achæans as allies to Eumenes. When their commander, Diophanes, from the wall saw the soldiers of Seleucus sporting and drinking in a contemptuous way, he urged the Pergameans to join him in a sally against the enemy. As they would not agree to this he armed his 1000 foot and his 100 horse, led them out of the city under the wall, and stood there quietly. The enemy derided him for a long time on account of the smallness of his force and because he did not dare to fight, but he fell upon them while they were taking their dinner, threw them into confusion, and put their advance guard to flight. While some sprang for their arms, and others tried to bridle their horses or to catch those that ran away or to mount those that would not stand, Diophanes won a most glorious victory, the Pergameans cheering vociferously from the walls, but even then not venturing out. Having killed as many as he could in a brief demonstration and taken a certain number of prisoners with their horses, he quickly returned. The following day he again stationed the Achæans under the wall, the Pergameans again not going out with him. Seleucus approached him with a large body of horse and challenged him to battle, but Diophanes did not accept the challenge. He kept his station close under the wall and watched his opportunity. Seleucus remained till midday, when he turned and led his tired horsemen back. Then Diophanes fell upon his rear and threw it into confusion, and after doing all the damage he could, returned forthwith to his place under the wall. By continually stealing upon the enemy in this way whenever they were collecting forage or wood, and inflicting losses upon them, he compelled Seleucus to move away from Pergamus, and finally drove him out of Eumenes' territory altogether.

[27] Not long afterward Polyxenidas and the Romans had a naval engagement near Myonnesus, in which the former had ninety decked ships, and Regillus, the Roman admiral, eighty-three, of which twenty-five were from Rhodes. The latter were ranged by their commander, Eudorus, on the left wing. Seeing Polyxenidas on the other wing extending his line much beyond that of the Romans, and fearing lest it should be surrounded, he sailed rapidly around there with his swift ships and experienced oarsmen, and brought his fire-ships against Polyxenidas first, scattering flames everywhere. The ships of the latter did not dare to meet their assailants on account of the fire, but, sailing round and round, tried to keep out of the way, shipped much water, and were exposed to ramming behind the bows.8 Presently a Rhodian ship struck a Sidonian, and the blow being severe the anchor of the latter was dislodged and stuck in the former, fastening them together. The two ships being immovable the contest between the crews became like a land fight. As many others hastened to the aid of each, the competition on both sides became spirited, and the Roman ships broke through the Antiochean line of battle, which was exposed in this way, and surrounded the enemy before they knew it. When they discovered it there was a flight and a pursuit. Twenty-nine of the Antiochean ships were lost, thirteen of which were captured with their crews. The Romans lost only two vessels. Polyxenidas captured the Rhodian ship and brought it to Ephesus.

[28] Such was the result of the naval engagement at Myonnesus. Before Antiochus heard of it he was fortifying the Chersonesus and Lysimacheia with the greatest care, thinking, as was the fact, that this was very important as a defence against the Romans, who would have found it very difficult to pass, or to get through the rest of Thrace, if Philip had not conducted them. But Antiochus, who was generally fickle and light-minded, when he heard of his defeat at Myonnesus was completely panic-stricken, and thought that his evil genius had conspired against him. Everything had turned out contrary to his expectations. The Romans had beaten him on the sea, where he thought he was much superior. The Rhodians had shut Hannibal up in Pamphylia. Philip was helping the Romans over the impassable roads, whereas Antiochus supposed that he would have a lively remembrance of what he had suffered from them. Everything unnerved him, and the deity took away his reasoning powers (as is usually the case when misfortunes multiply), so that he abandoned the Chersonesus without cause, even before the enemy came in sight, neither carrying away nor burning the great stores which he had collected there of grain, arms, money, and engines, but leaving all these sinews of war in good condition for the enemy. He paid no attention to the Lysimacheans who, as though after a siege, with lamentations accompanied him in his flight, together with their wives and children. He was intent only upon preventing the enemy from crossing at Abydos, and rested his last hope of success wholly on that. Yet he was so beside himself that he did not even defend the crossing, but hastened to reach the interior in advance of the enemy, not even leaving a guard at the straits.

[29] When the Scipios learned of his flight they took Lysimacheia on their march, possessed themselves of the treasure and arms in the Chersonesus, crossed the unguarded Hellespont in haste in order to arrive at Sardis before Antiochus, who did not yet know that they had crossed. The panic-stricken king, charging his own faults to the score of fortune, sent Heraclides the Byzantine to the Scipios to treat for peace. He offered to give them Smyrna, Alexandria on the Granicus, and Lampsacus, on account of which cities the war had been begun, and to pay them half the cost of the war. He was authorized if necessary to surrender the Ionian and Æolian cities which had sided with the Romans in the fight and whatever else the Scipios might ask. These things Heraclides was to propose publicly. He was authorized to promise Publius Scipio privately a large sum of money and the surrender of his son, whom the king had taken prisoner in Greece as he was sailing from Chalcis to Demetrias. This son was the Scipio who afterwards took and destroyed Carthage, and was the second to bear the name of Scipio Africanus.9 He was the son of Paulus, who conquered Perseus, king of Macedon, and of Scipio's daughter, and had been adopted by Scipio. The Scipios in council gave this answer to Heraclides, “If Antiochus wishes peace he must surrender not only the cities of Ionia and Æolia, but all of Asia this side of Mount Taurus, and pay the whole cost of the war incurred on his account.” Privately Publius said to Heraclides, “If Antiochus had offered these conditions while he still held the Chersonesus and Lysimacheia they would have been gladly accepted; perhaps so if he were only still guarding the passage of the Hellespont. But now that we have crossed in safety and have not merely bridled the horse (as the saying is), but mounted him, we cannot consent to such light conditions. I thank the king for his proposal and shall thank him still more after receiving my son. I will repay him now with good advice, that he accept the terms offered instead of waiting for severer ones.”

[30] After this conference Publius was taken sick and withdrew to Elæa, leaving Gnæus Domitius as his brother's counsellor. Antiochus thinking, as Philip of Macedon did, that nothing worse than these terms could befall him if he were vanquished in war, drew his forces together near the plain of Thyatira not far from the enemy, and sent Scipio's son to him at Elæa. Scipio advised those who brought his son that Antiochus should not fight until he himself should return to the army. Antiochus, acting on this advice, transferred his camp to Mount Sipylus and fortified it with a strong wall. He also interposed the river Phrygius between himself and the enemy, so that he should not be compelled to fight against his will. Domitius, however, in a spirit of ambition, wanted to decide the war himself. So he boldly crossed the river and established a camp at a distance of twenty stades from Antiochus. Four days in succession they both drew up their forces in front of their own fortifications, but neither of them began a battle. On the fifth day Domitius did the same again and haughtily advanced. As Antiochus did not meet him he moved his camp nearer. After an interval of one day he announced by herald in the hearing of the enemy that he would fight Antiochus on the following day whether he was willing or not. The latter was perplexed and again changed his mind. Although he would have ventured heretofore only to make a stand under the wall or to repel the enemy from the wall, till Scipio should regain his health, he now thought that with superior numbers it would be disgraceful to decline an engagement. So he prepared for battle.

[31] Both marched out about the last watch, just before daylight. The ordering of the troops on either side was as follows. The Roman legionaries, to the number of 10,000, formed the left wing resting on the river. Behind these were 10,000 Italian allies, and both these divisions were in files in triple line of battle. Behind the Italians came the army of Eumenes and about 3000 Achæan peltasts. Thus stood the left, while on the right wing were the Roman and Italian cavalry and those of Eumenes, not more than 3000 in all. Mingled with all these were light-armed troops and bowmen, and around Domitius himself were four troops of horse. Altogether they were about 30,000 strong. Domitius took his station on the right wing and placed the consul in the centre. He gave the command of the left wing to Eumenes. Considering his African elephants of no use, being few in number and of small size, as those of Africa usually are (and the small ones are afraid of the larger), he placed them in the rear of all. Such was the Roman line of battle.

[32] The total force of Antiochus was 70,000 and the strongest of these was the Macedonian phalanx of 16,000 men, still arrayed after the fashion of Alexander and Philip. These were placed in the centre, divided into ten sections of 1600 men each, with fifty men in the front line of each section and thirty-two deep. On the flanks of each section were twenty-two elephants.10 The appearance of the phalanx was like that of a wall, of which the elephants were the towers. Such was the arrangement of the infantry of Antiochus. His horse were stationed on either wing, consisting of the mail-clad Galatians and the Macedonian corps called the Agema, so named because they were picked horsemen. An equal number of these were stationed on either side of the phalanx. Besides these the right wing had certain light-armed troops, and other horsemen with silver shields, and 200 mounted archers. On the left were the Galatian bands of the Tectosagi, the Trocmi, the Tolistoboii, and certain Cappadocians furnished by King Ariarthes, and a mingling of other tribes. There was another body of horse, mail-clad but light-armed, called the Companion cavalry. In this way Antiochus drew up his forces. He seems to have placed most reliance on his cavalry, whom he stationed in large numbers on his front. The serried phalanx, in which he should have placed most confidence, on account of its high state of discipline, was crowded together unskilfully in a narrow space. Besides the forces enumerated there was a great multitude of slingers, archers, javelin throwers, and peltasts from Phrygia, Lycia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, Crete, Tralles, and Cilicia, armed after the Cretan fashion. There were also other mounted archers from the Dahæ, Mysia, Elymaïs, and Arabia, riding on swift camels, who shot arrows with dexterity from their high position, and used very long thin knives when they came to close combat. Antiochus also placed scythe-bearing chariots in the space between the armies to begin the battle, with orders to retire after the first onset.

[33] The appearance of his formation was like that of two armies, one to begin the fight, the other held in reserve. Each was arranged in a way to strike terror into the enemy both by numbers and equipment. Antiochus commanded the horse on the right wing in person; his son Seleucus commanded the left. Philip, the master of the elephants, commanded the phalanx, and Mendis and Zeuxis the skirmishers. The day was dark and gloomy so that the sight of the display was obscured and the aim of the missiles of all kinds impaired by the misty and murky atmosphere. When Eumenes perceived this he disregarded the remainder of the enemy's force, and fearing only the onset of the scythe-bearing chariots, which were mostly ranged against him, he ordered the slingers, archers, and other light-armed under his command to circle around the chariots and aim at the horses, instead of the drivers, for when a horse becomes unmanageable in a chariot all the chariot becomes useless. He often breaks the ranks of his own friends, who are afraid of the scythes. So it turned out. The horses being wounded in great numbers charged with their chariots upon their own ranks. The camels were thrown into disorder first, as they were next in line to the chariots, and after them the mail-clad horse who could not easily dodge the scythes on account of the weight of their armor. Great was the tumult and various the disorder started chiefly by these runaways and spreading along the whole front, the apprehension being even worse than the fact. For, as by reason of distance and multitude, discordant cries and manifold fears, the truth was not clearly grasped even by those near the danger, so these transmitted the alarm constantly magnified to those beyond.

[34] Eumenes, having succeeded admirably in his first attempt and cleared the ground held by the camels and chariots, led his own horse and those of the Romans and Italians in his division against the Galatians, the Cappadocians, and the other collection of mercenaries opposed to him, cheering loudly and exhorting them to have no fear of these inexperienced men who had been deprived of their advance supports. They obeyed him and made so heavy a charge that they put to flight not only those, but the adjoining squadrons and the mail-clad horse, who were already thrown into disorder by the chariots. The greater part of these, unable to turn and fly quickly, on account of the weight of their armor, were captured or killed. While this was the state of affairs on the left of the Macedonian phalanx, Antiochus, on the right, broke through the Roman line of battle, dismembered it, and pursued a long distance.

[35] The Macedonian phalanx, which had been stationed between the two bodies of horse in a narrow space in the form of a square, when denuded of cavalry on either side, had opened to receive the light-armed troops, who had been skirmishing in front, and closed again. Thus crowded together, Domitius easily enclosed them with his numerous light cavalry. Having no opportunity to charge or even to deploy their dense mass, they began to suffer severely; and they were indignant that military experience availed them nothing, exposed as they were on all sides to the weapons of the enemy. Nevertheless, they presented their thick-set pikes on all four sides. They challenged the Romans to close combat and preserved at all times the appearance of being about to charge. Yet they did not advance, because they were foot-soldiers and heavily armed, and saw that the enemy were mounted. Most of all they feared to relax their close formation lest they might not readily bring it together again. The Romans did not come to close quarters nor approach them because they feared the discipline, the solidity, and the desperation of this veteran corps ; but circled around them and assailed them with javelins and arrows, none of which missed their mark in the dense mass, who could neither turn the missiles aside nor dodge them. After suffering severely in this way they yielded to necessity and fell back step by step, but with a bold front, in perfect order and still formidable to the Romans. The latter kept their distance and continued to circle around and wound them, until the elephants inside the Macedonian phalanx became excited and unmanageable. Then the phalanx broke into disorderly flight.

[36] After he had gained this success, Domitius hastened to the camp of Antiochus and overpowered the forces guarding it. In the meantime Antiochus, after pursuing for a long distance that part of the Roman legionaries opposed to him, came to the Roman camp, where he found no guard, either of cavalry or light-armed troops (for Domitius, thinking that the river afforded sufficient protection, had not provided any). But a military tribune, the prefect of the camp, hastened to meet him with a body of fresh troops and checked his advance, and the fugitives took new courage from their comrades and rallied. The king returned haughty as one who had gained a victory, knowing nothing of what had taken place elsewhere. When Attalus, the brother of Eumenes, with a large body of horse, threw himself in his way, Antiochus easily cut through them, but he disregarded the enemy, who took to flight before they had received much damage. When he discovered his defeat and saw the field of battle strewn with the bodies of his own men, horses, and elephants, and his camp already captured, he fled precipitately, arriving at Sardis about mid-night. From Sardis he went to the town Ceænæn, which they call Apamea, whither he had been informed that his son had fled. On the following day he retreated to Syria, leaving officers in Celænæ to collect the remains of his army. He also sent ambassadors to the consul to treat for peace. The latter was engaged in burying his own dead, stripping those of the enemy, and collecting prisoners. Of the Roman dead there were found twenty-four knights and 300 foot-soldiers from the city, being mostly those whom Antiochus had slain. Eumenes lost only fifteen of his horse. It is believed that the loss of Antiochus, including prisoners, was 50,000. It was not easy to number them on account of their multitude. Some of his elephants were killed and fifteen were captured.

[37] After this brilliant victory, to many people quite unexpected (for it did not seem at all likely that the smaller force, fighting in a strange land, would overcome a much larger one so completely, and especially the Macedonian phalanx which was then in a high state of discipline and valor, and had the reputation of being formidable and invincible), the friends of Antiochus began to blame him for his rashness in quarrelling with the Romans and for his want of skill and his bad judgment from the beginning. They blamed him for giving up the Chersonesus and Lysimacheia with their arms and apparatus without making any defence against the enemy, and for leaving the Hellespont unguarded, when even the Romans would not have expected to force a passage easily. They accused him of his latest blunder in rendering the strongest part of his army useless by its cramped position, and for putting his reliance on the promiscuous multitude of raw recruits rather than on men who had become skilled in military affairs by long training, and had been hardened by many wars to the highest state of valor and endurance. While these discussions were going on among the friends of Antiochus, the Romans were in high spirits and considered no tasks too hard for them now, under favor of the gods and their own courage, for it brought them great confidence in their own good fortune that such a small number, meeting the enemy on the march, in the first battle, in a foreign country, should have overcome a much greater number, composed of so many peoples, with all the royal preparations, including valiant mercenaries and the renowned Macedonian phalanx, and the king himself, ruler of this vast empire and surnamed the Great, – all in a single day. It became a common saying among them, “There was a king – Antiochus the Great!”

[38] While the Romans were thus congratulating them selves the consul gave audience to the ambassadors of Antiochus, his brother, Publius, having recovered his health and returned from Elæ. These wanted to know on what terms Antiochus could be a friend of the Roman people. To them Publius made the following reply: “The grasping nature of Antiochus has been the cause of his present and past misfortunes. While he was the possessor of a vast empire, which the Romans did not object to, he seized Cœle-Syria, which belonged to Ptolemy, his own relative and our friend. Then he invaded Europe, which did not concern him, subjugated Thrace, fortified the Chersonesus, and rebuilt Lysimacheia. He passed thence into Greece and took away the liberty of the people whom the Romans had lately freed, and kept on this course till he was defeated in battle at Thermopylæ, and put to flight. Even then he did not forego his grabbing propensity, for, although frequently beaten at sea, he did not seek peace until we had crossed the Hellespont. Then he scornfully rejected the conditions offered to him, and, again collecting a vast army and uncounted supplies, he continued the war against us, determined to come to an engagement with his betters, until he plunged into this great calamity. We might properly impose a severer punishment on him for his obstinacy in fighting us so persistently, but we are not accustomed to abuse our own prosperity or to aggravate the misfortunes of others. We will offer him the same conditions as before, adding a few which will be equally for our own and his future advantage. He must abandon Europe altogether and all of Asia this side of the Taurus, the boundaries to be fixed hereafter; he shall surrender all the elephants he has, and such number of ships as we may prescribe, and for the future keep no elephants and only so many ships as we allow; must give twenty hostages, whom the consul will select, and pay for the cost of the present war, incurred on his account, 500 Euboïc talents down and 2500 more when the Senate ratifies the treaty; and 12,000 more during twelve years, each yearly installment to be delivered in Rome. He shall also surrender to us all prisoners and deserters, and to Eumenes whatever remains of the possessions he acquired by his agreement with Attalus, the father of Eumenes. If Antiochus accepts these conditions without guile we will grant him peace and friendship subject to the Senate's ratification.”

Y.R. 565 B.C. 189 [39] All the terms offered by Scipio were accepted by the ambassadors. That part of the money which was to be paid down, and the twenty hostages, were furnished. Among the latter was Antiochus, the younger son of Antiochus. The Scipios and Antiochus both sent messengers to Rome. The Senate ratified their acts, and a treaty was written carrying out Scipio's views, a few things being added or made plain that had been left indefinite. The boundaries of the dominions of Antiochus were to be the two promontories of Calycadnus and Sarpedonium, beyond which he should not sail for purposes of war. He should have only twelve war-ships for the purpose of keeping his subjects under control, but he might have more if he were attacked. He should not recruit mercenaries from Roman territory nor entertain fugitives from the same, and the hostages should be changed every third year, except the son of Antiochus. This treaty was engraved on brazen tablets and deposited in the Capitol (where it was customary to deposit such treaties), and a copy of it was sent to Manlius Vulso, Scipio's successor in the command. He administered the oath to the ambassadors of Antiochus at Apamea in Phrygia, and Antiochus did the same to the tribune, Thermus, who was sent for this purpose. This was the end of the war between Antiochus the Great and the Romans, and some thought that it was by reason of the favor extended by Antiochus to Scipio's son that it went no farther.

Y.R. 567 B.C. 187 [40] When Scipio returned, some persons accused him of this, and two tribunes of the people brought a charge of corruption and betrayal of the public interest against him. He made light of it and scorned the accusation, and as his trial was set for the day which happened to be the anniversary of his victory over Carthage, he sent victims for sacrifice to the Capitol in advance of his coming, and then made his appearance in court clad in festive garments instead of the mournful and humble garb customary to those under accusation, whereby he made a profound impression on all and predisposed them favorably as to a high-minded citizen conscious of his own rectitude. When he began to speak he made no mention of the accusation against him, but detailed the events of his life, what he had done, the wars he had waged for his country, how he had carried on each, and how often he had been victorious. It delighted the listeners to hear this grand discourse. When he came to the overthrow of Carthage he was roused to the highest pitch of eloquence and filled the multitude, as well as himself, with noble rage, saying, “On this very day, O citizens, I won the victory and laid at you feet Carthage, that had lately been such an object of terror to you. Now I am going up to the Capitol to offer the sacrifice appointed for the day. As many of you as love your country join me in the sacrifice, which is offered for your own good.” Having finished his speech he went to the Capitol, having made no allusion to the charge against him. The crowd followed him, including most of the judges, with joyful acclamations, which were continued while he was performing the sacrifice. The accusers were nonplussed and did not dare to call him to trial again, as that was to no purpose, or to charge him with demagogism, because they knew that his whole life had been above the reach of suspicion or calumny.

Y.R. 385 B.C. 369 [41] In this way Scipio disdained to notice an accusation unworthy of his career, being wiser, as I think, than Aristides when charged with theft, or Socrates when accused as he was. Each of these under a like calumny made no reply, unless Socrates said what Plato makes him say. Scipio was more lofty-minded than Epaminondas, too, when he held the office of Bœotarch with Pelopidas and one other. The Thebans gave each of them an army and sent them to assist the Arcadians and Messenians, in war against the Lacedæmlonians, but recalled them on account of certain calumnies, before they had accomplished what they intended to do. Yet they did not turn over the command to their successors for six months, nor until they had driven out the Lacedæmonian garrisons and substituted Arcadians in their places. Epaminondas had compelled his colleagues to take this course and had undertaken that they should be held guiltless. When they returned home the prosecuting officers put them on trial for their lives, separately (for the law made it a capital offence to withhold by force a command which had been assigned to another), but the other two escaped punishment by exciting pity and by long speeches, putting the blame on Epaminondas, who had authorized them to say this and who so testified while they were speaking. He was tried last. “I acknowledge,” he said, “that I retained the command beyond my time, contrary to law, and that I coerced those whom you have just acquitted. Nor do I deprecate the death penalty, since I have broken the law. I only ask, for my past services, that you inscribe on my tomb, 'Here lies the victor of Leuctra. Although his country had not dared to face this enemy, or even a stranger that wore the Doric cap, he led his fellow-citizens to the very doors of Sparta. His country put him to death for violating the laws for her own good.'” After saying this he stepped down from the rostrum and offered to surrender his person to those who wished to drag him to punishment. The judges, moved to shame by the speech, and to admiration of the defence, and to reverence for the man who had spoken, did not wait to take the vote, but ran out of the court-room. The reader may compare these cases together as he likes.

Y.R. 565 B.C. 189 [42] Manlius, who succeeded Scipio as consul, went to the countries taken from Antiochus and regulated them. The Tolistoboii, one of the Galatian tribes in alliance with Antiochus, had taken refuge on Mount Olympus in Mysia. With great difficulty Manlius ascended the mountain and pursued them as they fled until he had killed and hurled over the rocks so large a number that it was impossible to count them. He took 40,000 of them prisoners and burned their arms, and as it was impossible to take about with him so many captives while the war was continuing, he gave them to the neighboring barbarians. Among the Tectosagi and the Trocmi he fell into danger by ambush and barely escaped. He came back against them, however, and found them packed together in a great crowd in camp. He enclosed them with his light-armed troops and rode around ordering his men to shoot them at a distance, but not to come in contact with them. The crowd was so dense that no dart missed its mark. He killed 8000 of them and pursued the remainder beyond the river Halys. Ariarthes, king of Cappadocia, who had sent military aid to Antiochus, became alarmed and sent entreaties, and 200 talents in money besides, by which means he kept Manlius out of his country. The latter returned to the Hellespont with vast treasures, uncounted money, and an army laden with spoils.

Y.R. 566 B.C. 188 [43] Manlius had done well so far, but he managed very badly afterward. He scorned to go home by water in the summer time. He made no account of the burden he was carrying. He neglected to keep the army in good discipline while on the march, because it was not going to war, but returning home with its spoils. He marched by a long, narrow, and difficult road through Thrace in a stifling heat. Nor did he send word to Philip of Macedonia to meet and escort him. He did not divide his army into parts, so that it might move more lightly and have what was needed more handy. Nor did he keep his baggage in good order for easy defence. He led his army higgledy-piggledy, all strung out, with the baggage in the centre of the line, so that neither the vanguard nor the rear-guard could render assistance quickly by reason of the length and narrowness of the road. So, when the Thracians attacked him in flank from all directions, he lost a large part of the spoils, and of the public money, and of the army itself. He escaped into Macedonia with the remainder – by which means it became very plain how great a service Philip had rendered by escorting the Scipios, and how Antiochus had blundered in abandoning the Chersonesus. Manlius passed from Macedonia into Thessaly, and thence into Epirus, crossed to Brundusium, dismissed what was left of his army to their homes, and returned to Rome.

[44] The Rhodians and Eumenes, king of Pergamus, were very proud of their share in the alliance against Antiochus. Eumenes set out for Rome in person and the Rhodians sent envoys. The Senate gave to the Rhodians Lycia and Caria, which they took away from them soon afterward, because in the war with Perseus, king of Macedonia, they showed themselves rather favorable to him. They bestowed upon Eumenes all the rest of the territory taken from Antiochus, except the Greek cities in Asia. Of the latter, those that were formerly tributary to Attalus, the father of Eumenes, were ordered to pay tribute to Eumenes, while those which formerly paid to Antiochus were released from tribute altogether and made independent. In this way the Romans disposed of the lands they had gained in the war.

Y.R. 567 B.C. 187 [45] Afterward, on the death of Antiochus the Great, his son Seleucus succeeded him. He gave his son Demetrius as a hostage in place of his brother Antiochus. When the latter arrived at Athens on his way home, Seleucus was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy of a certain Heliodorus, one of the court officers. When Heliodorus sought to possess himself of the government he was driven out by Eumenes and Attalus, who installed Antiochus therein in order to secure his good-will; for, by reason of certain bickerings, they had already grown suspicious of the Romans. Thus Antiochus, the son of Antiochus the Great, ascended the throne of Syria. He was called Epiphanes (the Illustrious) by the Syrians, because when the government was seized by usurpers he showed himself to be their true sovereign. Y.R. 579 B.C. 175 By cementing the friendship and alliance of Eumenes he governed Syria and the neighboring nations with a firm hand. He appointed Timarchus as satrap of Babylon and Heraclides as treasurer, two brothers, both of whom had been his favorites. He made an expedition against Artaxias, king of Armenia, and took him prisoner.

Y.R. 590 B.C. 164 [46] Epiphanes died, leaving a son, Antiochus, nine years of age, to whom the Syrians gave the name of Eupator, in commemoration of his father's bravery. The boy was educated by Lysias. The Senate was glad that this Antiochus, who had early shown himself high spirited, died young. When Demetrius, the son of Seleucus and nephew of Antiochus Epiphanes (grandson of Antiochus the Great and first cousin of this boy), at this time a hostage at Rome, and twenty-three years old, asked that he should be installed in the kingdom as belonging to him rather than to the boy, the Senate would not allow it. They thought that it would be more for their advantage that Syria should be governed by an immature boy than by a full-grown man. Learning that there were many elephants in Syria and more ships than had been allowed to Antiochus in the treaty, they sent ambassadors thither, who killed the elephants and burned the ships. It was a pitiful sight, the killing of these rare and tame beasts and the burning of the ships. A certain Leptines of Laodicea was so exasperated by the sight that he stabbed Gnæus Octavius, the chief of this embassy, while he was anointing himself in the gymnasium at that place, and Lysias buried him.

Y.R. 592 B.C. 162 [47] Demetrius came before the Senate again and asked at all events to be released as a hostage, since he had been given as a substitute for Antiochus, who was now dead. When his request was not granted he escaped secretly by boat. As the Syrians received him gladly, he ascended the throne after having put Lysias to death and the boy with him. He removed Heraclides from office and killed Timarchus, who rebelled and who had administered the government of Babylon badly in other respects. For this he received the surname of Soter (the Protector), which was first bestowed upon him by the Babylonians. When he was firmly established in the kingdom he sent a crown valued at 10,000 pieces of gold to the Romans as the gift of their former hostage, and also delivered up Leptines, the murderer of Octavius. They accepted the crown, but not Leptines, because they intended to hold the Syrians responsible for that crime. Demetrius took the government of Cappadocia away from Ariarthes and gave it to Olophernes, who was supposed to be the brother of Ariarthes, receiving 1000 talents therefor. The Romans, however, decided that as brothers both Ariarthes and Olophernes should reign together.

Y.R. 595 B.C. 159 [48] These princes were deprived of the kingdom – and their successor, Ariobarzanes, also, a little later – by Mithridates, king of Pontus. The Mithridatic war grew out of this event, among others, – a very great war, full of vicissitudes to many nations and lasting nearly forty years. During this time Syria had many kings, succeeding each other at brief intervals, but all of the royal lineage, and there were many changes and revolts from the dynasty. The Parthians, who had previously revolted from the rule of the Seleucidæ, seized Mesopotamia, which had been subject to that house. Tigranes, the son of Tigranes, king of Armenia, who had annexed many neighboring principalities, and from these exploits had acquired the title of King of Kings, attacked the Seleucidæ because they would not acknowledge his supremacy. Antiochus Pius was not able to withstand him. Tigranes conquered all of the Syrian peoples this side of the Euphrates as far as Egypt. He took Cilicia at the same time (for this was also subject to the Seleucidæ) and put his general, Magadates, in command of all these conquests for fourteen years.

Y.R. 685 B.C. 69 [49] When the Roman general, Lucullus, was pursuing Mithridates, who had taken refuge in the territory of Tigranes, Magadates went with his army to Tigranes' assistance. Thereupon Antiochus, the son of Antiochus Pius, entered Syria clandestinely and assumed the government with the consent of the people. Nor did Lucullus, who first made war on Tigranes and wrested his newly acquired territory from him, object to Antiochus exercising his ancestral authority. But Pompey, the successor of Lucullus, when he had overthrown Mithridates, allowed Tigranes to reign in Armenia and expelled Antiochus from the government of Syria, although he had done the Romans no wrong. The real reason for this was that it was easy for Pompey, with an army under his command, to rob an unarmed king, but the pretence was that it was unseemly for the Seleucidæ, whom Tigranes had dethroned, to govern Syria, rather than the Romans who had conquered Tigranes.

Y.R. 688 B.C. 66 [50] In this way the Romans, without fighting, came into possession of Cilicia and both inland Syria and Cœle-Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, and all the other countries bearing the Syrian name from the Euphrates to Egypt and the sea. The Jewish nation still resisted, and Pompey conquered them, sent their king, Aristobulus, to Rome, and destroyed their greatest, and to them holiest, city, Jerusalem, as Ptolemy, the first king of Egypt, had formerly done. It was afterward rebuilt and Vespasian destroyed it again, and Hadrian did the same in our time. On account of these rebellions the tribute imposed upon all Jews is heavier per capita than upon the generality of taxpayers. The annual tax on the Syrians and Cilicians is one per cent. of the valuation of the property of each. Pompey put the various nations that had belonged to the Seleucidæ under kings or chiefs of their own. In like manner he confirmed the four chiefs of the Galatians in Asia, who had coöperated with him in the Mithridatic war, in their tetrarchies. Not long afterward they all came gradually under the Roman rule, mostly in the time of Augustus. Y.R. 691 B.C. 63

[51] Pompey now put Scaurus, who had been his quæstor in the war, in charge of Syria, and the Senate afterward appointed Marcius Philippus as his successor and Lentulus Marcellinus as the successor of Philippus, both being of prætorian rank. Much of the biennial term of each was consumed in warding off the attacks of the neighboring Arabs. It was on account of these events in Syria that Rome began to appoint for Syria proconsuls, so-called, with power to levy troops and engage in war like consuls. The first of these sent out with an army was Gabinius. As he was in readiness to begin the war, Mithridates, king of the Parthians, who had been driven out of his kingdom by his brother, Orodes, persuaded Gabinius to turn his forces from the Arabs against the Parthians. At the same time Ptolemy XI., king of Egypt, who likewise had lost his throne, prevailed upon him by a large sum of money to turn his arms from the Parthians against Alexandria. Gabinius overcame 700 the Alexandrians and restored Ptolemy to power, but was himself banished by the Senate for invading Egypt without their authority, and undertaking a war considered ill-omened by the Romans; for it was forbidden by the Sibylline books. I think that Crassus succeeded Gabinius in the government of Syria – the same who met with a great disaster when waging war against the Parthians. While Lucius Bibulus was in command of Syria after Crassus, the Parthians made an incursion into that country. While the government was in charge of Saxa, the successor of Bibulus, they overran the country as far as Ionia, the Romans being then occupied by the civil wars. I shall deal with these events more particularly in my Parthian history.

Y.R.431 B.C. 323 [52] In this book of Syrian history I have told how the Romans came into possession of Syria, and how they brought it to its present condition. It will not be amiss to tell how the Macedonians, who ruled Syria before the Romans, acquired the same country. After the Persians, Alexander became the sovereign of Syria as well as of all other peoples whom he found. He died leaving one son very small and another yet unborn. The Macedonians, who were loyal to the race of Philip, chose Ardiæus, the brother of Alexander, as king during the minority of Alexander's sons, although he was considered to be hardly of sound mind, and they changed his name from Ardiæus to Philip. They also kept careful guard over the wife, who was enceinte. Meanwhile Alexander's friends continued in charge of the conquered nations, divided into satrapies, which Perdiccas parcelled among them by the authority of King Philip. Not long afterward, when the true kings died, these satraps became kings. The first satrap of Syria was Laomednon of Mitylene, who derived his authority from Perdiccas and from Antipater, who succeeded the latter as prime minister. To this Laomedon, Ptolemy, the satrap of Egypt, came with a fleet and offered him a large sum of money if he would hand over Syria to him, because it was well situated for defending Egypt and for attacking Cyprus. When Laomedon refused Ptolemy seized him. Laomedon bribed his guards and escaped to Alcetas in Caria. Thus Ptolemy ruled Syria for a while, left a garrison there, and returned to Egypt.

Y.R.433 B.C. 321 [53] Antigonus was satrap of Phrygia, Lycia, and Pamphylia. Having been left as overseer of all Asia when Antipater went to Europe, he besieged Eumenes, the satrap of Cappadocia, who had been publicly declared an enemy of the Macedonians. The latter fled and brought Media under his power, but Antigonus afterward captured and killed him. When he returned he was received magnificently by Seleucus, the satrap of Babylon. One day Seleucus punished one of the governors without consulting Antigonus, who was present, and the latter became angry and demanded an accounting of his money and possessions. As Seleucus was inferior to Antigonus in power he fled to Ptolemy in Egypt. Thereupon Antigonus removed Blitor, the governor of Mesopotamia, from office, because he allowed Seleucus to escape, and took upon himself the government of Babylon, Mesopotamia, and all the countries from Media to the Hellespont, Antipater having died in the meantime. The other satraps at once became envious of his possession of so large a share of the territory; for which reason chiefly, and at the instance of Seleucus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, the satrap of Thrace, and Cassander, the son of Antipater and leader of the Macedonians after his father's death, entered into a league with each other. They sent a joint embassy to Antigonus and demanded that he should share with them and with the other Macedonians who had lost their satrapies, his newly acquired lands and money. Antigonus treated their demand with scorn, and they jointly made war against him. Antigonus prepared to meet them. He drove out all of Ptolemy's garrisons in Syria and stripped him of all the possessions that he still retained in Phoenicia and Cœle-Syria.

Y.R. 442 B.C. 312 [54] Then he marched beyond the Cilician gates, leaving his son Demetrius, who was about twenty-two years of age, at Gaza with an army to meet Ptolemy, who was coming from Egypt, but the latter defeated the young man badly in a battle near Gaza and compelled him to fly to his father. Ptolemy immediately sent Seleucus to Babylon to resume the government and gave him 1000 foot-soldiers and 300 horse for the purpose. With this small force Seleucus took Babylon, the inhabitants receiving him with enthusiasm, and within a short time he augmented his power greatly. Nevertheless Antigonus warded off the attack of Ptolemy and gained a splendid naval victory over him near Cyprus, in which his son Demetrius was the commander. On account of this very notable exploit the army began to call both Antigonus and Demetrius kings, as their own kings (Ardiæus, the son of Philip and Olympias, and the two sons of Alexander) were now dead. Ptolemy's army also saluted him as king lest by inferiority of rank he should be deemed less lofty than the victors in the late battle. Thus for these men similar consequences followed contrary events. All the others followed suit, and all the satraps became kings.

Y.R. 453 B.C. 301 [55] In this way Seleucus became king of Babylonia. He also acquired the kingdom of Media, slaying with his own hand in battle Nicator whom Antigonus had left as satrap of that country. He afterward waged many wars with Macedonians and barbarians. The two principal ones were with Macedonians, the second with Lysimachus, king of Thrace, the first with Antigonus at Ipsus in Phrygia, where Antigonus commanded in person and fought in person although he was above eighty years of age. Antigonus was killed in battle, and then all the kings who had been in league with Seleucus against him divided his territory among themselves. At this division all Syria from the Euphrates to the sea, also inland Phrygia, fell to the lot of Seleucus. Always lying in wait for the neighboring nations, strong in arms and persuasive in council, he acquired Mesopotamia, Armenia, the so-called Seleucid Cappadocia, the Persians, Parthians, Bactrians, Arabs, Tapyri, Sogdiani, Arachotes, Hyrcanians, and other adjacent peoples that had been subdued by Alexander, as far as the river Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in Asia after that of Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to the Indus was subject to Seleucus. He crossed the Indus and waged war with Androcottus, king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship. Some of these exploits were performed before the death of Antigonus and some afterward.

[56] It is said that while he was still serving under Alexander and following him in the war against the Persians he consulted the Didymæan oracle to inquire about his return to Macedonia and that he received for answer: –

“Do not hurry back to Europe; Asia will be much better for you.”

Y.R. 431 B.C. 323 It was said also that in Macedonia a great fire burst forth on his ancestral hearth without anybody lighting it; also that his mother saw in a dream that whatever ring she found she should give him to carry, and that he should be king at the place where he should lose the ring. She did find an iron ring with an anchor engraved on it, and he lost it near the Euphrates. It is said that at a later period, when he was returning to recover Babylon, he stumbled against a stone and that when he caused this stone to be dug up an anchor was found under it. When the soothsayers were alarmed at this prodigy, thinking that it portended delay, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, who accompanied the expedition, said that an anchor was a sign of safety, not of delay. For this reason Seleucus, when he became king, used an engraved anchor for his signet-ring. Some say that while Alexander was still alive and looking on, another omen of the future power of Seleucus was made manifest in this wise. After Alexander had returned from India to Babylon and while he was sailing around the Babylonian lagoons with a view to the irrigation of the Assyrian fields from the Euphrates, a wind struck him and carried away his diadem and hung it on a bunch of reeds growing on the tomb of an ancient king. This of itself signified the early death of Alexander. They say that a sailor swam after it, put it on his own head, and, without wetting it, brought it to Alexander, who gave him at once a silver talent as a reward for his kind service. The soothsayers advised putting the man to death. Some say that Alexander followed their advice. Others say the contrary. Other narrators skip that part of the story and say that it was no sailor at all, but Seleucus who swam after the king's diadem, and that he put it on his own head to avoid wetting it. The signs turned out true as to both of them in the end, for Alexander departed from life in Babylon and Seleucus became the ruler of a larger part of his dominions than any other of Alexander's successors.

Y.R. 442-474 B.C. 312-280 [57] Such are the prophecies I have heard of concerning Seleucus. Directly after the death of Alexander he became the leader of the Companion cavalry, which Hephæstion, and afterwards Perdiccas, commanded during the life of Alexander. After commanding the horse he became satrap of Babylon, and after satrap, king. As he was very successful in war he acquired the surname of Nicator. At least that seems more probable than that he received it from the killing of Nicator. He was of such a large and 28 powerful frame that once when a wild bull was brought for sacrifice to Alexander and broke loose from his ropes, Seleucus held him alone, with nothing but his hands, for which reason his statues are ornamented with horns. He built cities throughout the entire length of his dominions and named sixteen of them Antioch after his father, five Laodicea after his mother, nine after himself, and four after his wives, that is, three Apamea and one Stratonicea. Of these the two most renowned at the present time are the two Seleucias, one on the sea and the other on the river Tigris, Laodicea in Phœnicia, Antioch under Mount Lebanon, and Apamea in Syria. To others he gave names from Greece or Macedonia, or from his own exploits, or in honor of Alexander; whence it comes to pass that in Syria and among the barbarous regions of upper Asia many of the towns bear Greek and Macedonian names, such as Berrhœa, Edessa, Perinthus, Maronea, Callipolis, Achaia, Pella, Orophus, Amphipolis, Arethusa, Astacus, Tegea, Chalcis, Larissa, Heræa, and Apollonia; in Parthia also Sotera, Calliope, Charis, Hecatompylos, Achaia; in India Alexandropolis; in Scythia Alexandreschata. From the victories of Seleucus come the names of Nicephorium in Mesopotamia and of Nicopolis in Armenia very near Cappadocia.

Y.R. 442-474 B.C. 312-280 [58] They say that when he was about to build the two Seleucias a portent of thunder preceded the foundation of the one by the sea, for which reason he consecrated thunder as a divinity of the place. Accordingly the inhabitants worship thunder and sing its praises to this day. They say, also, that when the Magi were ordered to indicate the propitious day and hour for beginning the foundations of Seleucia-on-the-Tigris they falsified as to the hour because they did not want to have such a stronghold built against themselves. While the king was waiting in his tent for the appointed hour, and the army, in readiness to begin the work, stood quietly till Seleucus should give the signal, suddenly, at the true hour of destiny, they seemed to hear a voice ordering them on. So they sprang to their work with such alacrity that the heralds who tried to stop them were not able to do so. When the work was brought to an end Seleucus, being troubled in his mind, again made inquiry of the Magi concerning his city, and they, having first secured a promise of impunity, replied, “That which is fated, O King, whether it be for better or worse, neither man nor city can change, for there is a fate for cities as well as for men. It pleases the gods that this city shall endure for ages, because it was begun on the hour on which it was begun. We feared lest it should be a stronghold against ourselves, and falsified the appointed time. Destiny is stronger than crafty Magi or an unsuspecting king. For that reason the deity announced the more propitious hour to the army. It is permitted you to know these things so surely that you need not suspect us of deception still, for you were presiding over the army yourself, as king, and you had yourself ordered them to wait; but the army, ever obedient to you in facing danger and toil, could not now be restrained, even when you gave them the order to stop, but sprang to their work, not a part of them merely, but all together, and their officers with them, thinking that the order had been given. In fact it had been given. That was the reason why not even you could hold them back. What can be stronger in human affairs than a king, unless it be a god, who overcame your intention and supplanted us in giving you directions about the city; for the god is in hostility to us and to all the people round about? What can our resources avail hereafter with a more powerful race settled along side of us? This city of yours has had a fortunate beginning, it will be great and enduring. We beg that you will confirm your pardon of our fault which we committed from fear of the loss of our own prosperity.” The king was pleased with what the Magi said and pardoned them. This is what I have heard about Seleucia.

Y.R. 461 B.C. 293 [59] Seleucus, while still living, appointed his son, Antiochus, king of upper Asia in place of himself. If this seems noble and kingly on his part, even nobler and wiser was his behavior in reference to his son's falling in love, and his self-restraint in suffering; for Antiochus was in love with Stratonice, the wife of Seleucus, his own stepmother, who had already borne a child to Seleucus. Recognizing the wickedness of this passion, Antiochus did nothing wrong, nor did he show his feelings, but he fell sick, took to his bed, and longed for death. Nor could the celebrated physician, Erasistratus, who was serving Seleucus at a very high salary, form any diagnosis of his malady. At length, observing that his body was free from all the symptoms of disease, he conjectured that this was some condition of the mind, through which the body is often strengthened or weakened by sympathy. Grief, anger, and other passions disclose themselves; love only is concealed by the modest. As Antiochus would confess nothing when the physician asked him in confidence, he took a seat by his side and watched the changes of his body to see how he was affected by each person who entered his room. He found that when others came the patient was all the time weakening and wasting away at a uniform pace, but when Stratonice came to visit him his mind was greatly agitated by the struggles of modesty and conscience, and he remained silent. But his body in spite of himself became more vigorous and lively, and when she went away he became weaker again. So the physician told Seleucus that his son had an incurable disease. The king was overwhelmed with grief and cried aloud. Then the physician added, “His disease is love, love for a woman, but a hopeless love.”

[60] Seleucus was astonished that there could be any woman whom he, king of Asia, could not prevail upon to marry such a son as his, by entreaties, by gold, by gifts, by the whole of this great kingdom, the eventual inheritance of the sick prince, which the father would give to him even now, if he wished it, in order to save him. Desiring to learn only one thing more, he asked, “Who is this woman?” Erasistratus replied, “He is in love with my wife.” “Well then, my good fellow,” rejoined Seleucus, “since you are so bound to us by friendship and favors, and are a model of goodness and wisdom in matters of small moment, will you not save this princely young man for me, the son of your friend and king, unfortunate in love but virtuous, who has concealed his sinful passion and prefers to die rather than confess it? Do you so despise Antiochus? Do you despise his father also?” Then Erasistratus changed his tactics, and, as though he were giving him a knock-down argument, said, “You would not give Antiochus your wife if he were in love with her, although you are his father.” Seleucus swore by all the gods of his royal house that he would willingly and cheerfully give her, and make himself an illustrious example of a kind and good father to a chaste son who controlled his passion and did not deserve such suffering. Much more he added of the same sort, and, finally, began to lament that he could not himself be the physician to his unhappy boy, but must needs depend on Erasistratus in this matter also.

[61] When Erasistratus saw that the king was in earnest and not hypocritical, he told the whole truth. He related how he had discovered the nature of the malady, and how he had detected the secret passion. Seleucus was overjoyed, but it was a difficult matter to persuade his son and not less so to persuade his wife; but he succeeded finally. Then he assembled his army, which was perhaps expecting something of the kind, and told them of his exploits and of the extent of his empire, showing that it surpassed that of any of the other successors of Alexander, and saying that as he was now growing old it was hard for him to govern it on account of its size. “I wish,” he said, “to divide it, and so at the same time to provide for your safety in the future and give a part of it now to those who are dearest to me. It is fitting that all of you, who had advanced to such greatness of dominion and power under me since the time of Alexander, should coöperate with me in everything. The dearest to me, and well worthy to reign, are my grownup son and my wife. As they are young, I pray they may soon have children to be an ample guarantee to you of the permanency of the dynasty. I will join them in marriage in your presence and will send them to be sovereigns of the upper provinces now. And I charge you that none of the customs of the Persians and other nations is more worthy of observance than this one law, which is common to all of them, 'That what the king ordains is always right.'” When he had thus spoken the army shouted that he was the greatest king of all the successors of Alexander and the best father. Seleucus laid the same injunctions on Stratonice and his son, then joined them in marriage, and sent them to their kingdom, showing himself even stronger in this famous act than in his deeds of arms.

Y.R. 473 B.C. 281 [62] Seleucus had seventy-two satraps under him, so extensive was the territory over which he ruled. The greater part he had transferred to his son, but he continued to reign over the country which lies between the Euphrates and the sea. The last war that he waged was with Lysimachus, for the possession of Phrygia on the Hellespont. Lysimachus was defeated and slain in battle. Then Seleucus crossed the Hellespont in order to possess himself of Lysimacheia, but he was killed by Ptolemy Ceraunus who accompanied him. This Ceraunus was the son of Ptolemy Soter and Euridice, the daughter of Antipater. He had left Egypt from fear, because his father had decided to leave the kingdom to his youngest son. Seleucus had received him as the unfortunate son of his friend, and thus he supported, and took around with himself everywhere, his own murderer.

[63] Thus Seleucus died at the age of seventy-three, having reigned forty-two years. It seems to me that the oracle hit the mark in his case when it said to him, “Do not hurry back to Europe; Asia will be much better for you,” for Lysimacheia is in Europe, and he then crossed over to Europe for the first time after leaving it with the army of Alexander. It is said also that once when he consulted an oracle in reference to his own death he received this answer:–

“If you keep away from Argos you will reach your allotted year, but if you approach that place you will die before your time.”

There is an Argos in Peloponnesus, another in Amphilochia, another in Orestea (whence come the Macedonian Argeadæ), and the one on the Ionian sea, said to have been built by Diomedes during his wanderings, – all these, and every place named Argos in every other country, Seleucus inquired about and avoided. While he was advancing from the Hellespont to Lysimacheia a splendid great altar presented itself to his view, which he was told had been built either by the Argonauts on their way to Colchis, or by the Achæans who besieged Troy, for which reason the people in the neighborhood still called it Argos, either by a corruption of the name of the ship Argo, or from the native place of the sons of Atreus. While he was learning these things he was killed by Ptolemy, who stabbed him in the back. Philetzerus, the prince of Pergamus, bought the body of Seleucus from Ceraunus for a large sum of money, burned it, and sent the ashes to his son Antiochus. The latter deposited them at Seleucia-by-the-Sea, where he erected a temple to his father on consecrated ground, to which ground he gave the name of Nicatoreum.

[64] I have heard that Lysimachus, who was one of the armor-bearers of Alexander, was once running by his side for a long distance, and, being fatigued, took hold of the tail of the king's horse and continued to run; that he was struck in the forehead by the point of the king's spear, which opened one of his veins from which the blood flowed profusely; that Alexander, for want of a bandage, bound up the wound with his own diadem which was thus saturated with blood; and that Aristandrus, Alexander's soothsayer, when he saw Lysimachus carried away wounded in this manner, said, “That man will be a king, but he will reign with toil and trouble.” He reigned nearly forty years, counting those in which he was satrap, and he did reign with toil and trouble. He fell in battle, while still commanding his army, at the age of seventy. Seleucus did not long survive him. Lysimachus' dog watched his body lying on the ground for a long time, and kept it unharmed by birds or beasts until Thorax of Pharsalia found and buried it. Some say that he was buried by his own son, Alexander, who fled to Seleucus from fear when Lysimachus put to death his other son, Agathocles; that he searched for the body a long time and found it at last by means of the dog, and that it was already partly decomposed. The Lysimacheians deposited the bones in their temple and named the temple itself the Lysimacheum. Thus did these two kings, the bravest and most renowned for bodily size, come to their end at nearly the same time, one of them at the age of seventy, the other three years older, and both fighting with their own hands until the day of their death.

[65] After the death of Seleucus, the kingdom of Syria passed in regular succession from father to son as follows: the first was the same Antiochus who fell in love with his stepmother, to whom was given the surname of Soter (the Protector) for driving out the Gauls who had made an incursion into Asia from Europe. The second was another Antiochus, born of this marriage, who received the surname of Theos(the Divine) from the Milesians in the first instance, because he slew their tyrant, Timarchus. This Theos was poisoned by his wife. He had two wives, Laodice and Berenice, the former a love-match, the latter a daughter pledged to him by Ptolemy Philadelphus. Laodice assassinated him and afterward Berenice and her child. Ptolemy, the son of Philadelphus, avenged these crimes by killing Laodice. He invaded Syria and advanced as far as Babylon. The Parthians now began their revolt, taking advantage of the confusion in the house of the Seleucidæ.

[66] Seleucus, the son of Theos and Laodice, surnamed Callinicus (the Triumphant), succeeded Theos as king of Syria. After Seleucus his two sons, Seleucus and Antiochus, succeeded in the order of their age. As Seleucus was sickly and poor and unable to command the obedience of the army, he was poisoned by a court conspiracy in the second year of his reign. His brother was Antiochus the Great, who went to war with the Romans, of whom I have written above. He reigned thirty-seven years. I have already spoken of his two sons, Seleucus and Antiochus, both of whom ascended the throne. The former reigned twelve years, but feebly and without success by reason of his father's misfortune. Antiochus (Epiphanes) reigned not quite twelve years, in the course of which he captured Artaxias the Armenian and made an expedition into Egypt against Ptolemy VI., who had been left an orphan with one brother. While he was encamped near Alexandria, Popilius came to him as Roman ambassador, bringing an order in writing that he should not attack the Ptolemies. When he had read it he replied that he would think about it. Popilius drew a circle around him with a stick and said, “Think about it here.” He was terrified and withdrew from the country, and robbed the temple of Venus Elymais; then died of a wasting disease, leaving a son nine years of age, the Antiochus Eupator already mentioned.

[67] I have also spoken of Demetrius, his successor, who had been a hostage in Rome and who escaped and became king. He was also called Soter by the Syrians, the next who bore that title after the son of Seleucus Nicator. Against him a certain Alexander took up arms, falsely pretending to be of the family of the Seleucidæ, to whom Ptolemy, king of Egypt, gave aid because he hated Demetrius. The latter was deprived of his kingdom by this means and died. His son, Demetrius, drove out Alexander. For his victory over this bastard of the family he was surnamed Nicator by the Syrians, the next who bore that title after Seleucus. Following the example of Seleucus he made an expedition against the Parthians. He was taken prisoner by them and lived in the palace of King Phraates, who gave him his sister, Rhodoguna, in marriage.

[68] While the country was without a government Diodotus, a slave of the royal house, placed on the throne a young boy named Alexander, a son of Alexander the Bastard and of Ptolemy's daughter. Afterward he put the boy to death and undertook the government himself and assumed the name of Trypho. But Antiochus, the brother of the captive Demetrius, learning in Rhodes of his captivity, came home and, with great difficulty, put Trypho to death. Then he marched with an army against Phraates and demanded his brother. Phraates was afraid of him and sent Demetrius back. Antiochus nevertheless fought with the Parthians, was beaten, and committed suicide. When Demetrius returned to his kingdom he was killed by the craft of his wife, Cleopatra, who was jealous on account of his marriage with Rhodoguna, for which reason also she had previously married his brother Antiochus. She had borne two sons to Demetrius, named Seleucus and Antiochus Grypus (the Hook Nosed); and to Antiochus one son, named Antiochus Cyzicenus. She had sent Grypus to Athens and Cyzicenus to Cyzicus to be educated.

[69] As soon as Seleucus assumed the diadem after his brother's death his mother shot him dead with an arrow, either fearing lest he should avenge his father or moved by an insane hatred for everybody. After Seleucus, Grypus became king, and he compelled his mother to drink poison that she had mixed for himself. So justice overtook her at last. Grypus was worthy of such a mother. He laid a plot against Cyzicenus, his half-brother, but the latter found it out, made war on him, drove him out of the kingdom, and became king of Syria in his stead. Then Seleucus, the son of Grypus, made war on his uncle and took the government away from him. The new sovereign was violent and tyrannical and was burned to death in the gymnasium at the city of Mopsus in Cilicia. Antiochus, the son of Cyzicenus, succeeded him. The Syrians thought that he escaped a plot of his cousin Seleucus on account of his piety, for which reason they gave him the name of Antiochus Pius. He was really saved by a handsome prostitute with whom he was in love. I think that the Syrians must have given him this title by way of joke, for this Pius married Selene, who had been the wife of his father, Cyzicenus, and of his uncle, Grypus. For this reason the divine vengeance pursued him and he was expelled the kingdom by Tigranes.

[70] The son of Pius and Selene, who was brought up in Asia and was for that reason called Asiaticus, was deprived of the government of Syria by Pompey, as I have already mentioned. He was the seventeenth king of Syria, reckoning from Seleucus (for I leave out Alexander and his son as being illegitimate, and also their slave, Diodotus), and he reigned only one year, while Pompey was busy elsewhere. The dynasty of the Seleucidæ lasted 230 years. To compute the time from Alexander the Great to the beginning of the Roman domination there must be added fourteen years of the rule of Tigranes. So much, in the way of foreign history, concerning the Macedonian kings of Syria.

1 See note to p. 245.

2 The name of this ambassador, according to Polybius (xvii. 31), was Lucius Cornelius. In other respects the account of the conference by Polybius agrees with that of our author. The conference took place at Lysimacheia.

3 This tale is considered by most modern critics a fiction. It is, however, found in Plutarch and Livy. The latter (xxxv. 14), gives the authority for it, viz: “Claudius, following the Greek history of Acilins, says that Africanus was in that embassy,” etc. But in his own account of the embassy Livy does not include Africanus as a member of it.

4 Λίβυσσα κρύψει βῶλος ᾿Αννίβου δέμας.

5 Hannibal's burial-place at Libyssa was still visible in the time of Pliny, A.D. 23-79 (Natural History, v. 43).

6 The words right and left are transposed in the text. As Antiochus was looking toward Thessaly, his right hand was on the sea-shore and his left against the mountains.

7 δ Αχαιῶν λιμὴν. This was the harbor at the mouth of the river Xanthus where the Greeks are supposed to have landed when they came to besiege Troy. It is mentioned by our author in Mithr. 77, and in the Civil Wars, v. 138.

8 θαλάσσης ἐπίμπλαντο καὶ ἐς τὰς ἐπωτίδας ἐτύπτοντο. Schweighäuser thought that this sentence ought to be transposed, the shipping of water being the usual consequence of ramming.

9 This is an inexcusable blunder. Scipio Africanus the Younger was the son of Ælmilius Paulus and the adopted son of the son of Scipio Africanus the Elder, and was not born till five years after the events here mentioned.

10 ἐς δὲ τὰ πλευρὰ ἐκάστου μέρους ἐλέφαντες δύο καὶ ἐίκοσιν. This arrangement requires 220 elephants, an incredible number, whereas Livy says that there were two for each of the ten divisions. Evidently the words καὶ ἐίκοσιν should be rejected.