A Manual of Ancient History Part 23

31. The ensuing history of the Seleucidae is a picture of civil wars, family feuds, and deeds of horror, such as are scarcely to be paralleled. The utmost verge of the empire was now the Euphrates; all Upper Asia acknowledging the dominion of the Parthians. The Jews, moreover, having completely vindicated their independence, the kingdom was consequently confined to Syria and Phoenicia. So thoroughly decayed was the state, that even the Romans--whether because there was no longer anything to plunder, or because they conceived it more prudent to suffer the Seleucidae to wear themselves out in mutual quarrels--do not seem to have taken any account of it, until, at the conclusion of the last war with Mithridates, they thought proper formally to annex it to their empire as a province.

War between Alexander Zebinas and the ambitious relict of Demetrius, Cleopatra, who with her own hand murders her eldest son Seleucus, B.C. 125, for pretending to the crown, which she now gives to her younger son, Antiochus Gryphus; the new king, however, soon saw himself compelled to secure his own life by the murder of his mother, 122; Alexander Zebinas having been the year before, 123, defeated and put to death. After a peaceful rule of eight years, 122-114, Antiochus Gryphus is involved in war with his half-brother Antiochus Cyzicenus, son of Cleopatra by Antiochus Sidetes: it ends, 111, in a part.i.tion of territory. But the war between the brothers soon burst out anew, and just as this hapless kingdom seemed about to crumble into pieces, Gryphus was murdered, 97.--Seleucus, the eldest of his five sons, having beaten and slain Cyzicenus, 96; the eldest son of the latter, Antiochus Eusebes, prosecuted the war against the sons of Gryphus; Eusebes being at last defeated, 90, the surviving sons of Gryphus fell to war among themselves, and the struggle continued until the Syrians, weary of bloodshed, did what they ought to have done long before, viz. made over the sovereign power to Tigranes the king of Armenia, 85. Yet Eusebes's widow, Selene, retained Ptolemais till 70; and her elder son Antiochus Asiaticus, at the time that Tigranes was beaten by Lucullus, in the Mithridatic war, took possession of some provinces in Syria, 68; these were wrested from him after the total defeat of Mithridates by Pompey, when Tigranes was obliged to give up his claim, and Syria became a province of the Roman empire, 64. Antiochus Asiaticus died 58; his brother Seleucus Cybiosactes, having married Berenice, was raised to the Egyptian throne, but murdered at her command, 57; and thus the family of the Seleucidae was completely swept away.

II. _History of the Egyptian kingdom under the Ptolemies, 323-30._

The sources of this history are for the most part the same as in the foregoing section; see above, p. 232; but unfortunately still more scanty; for in the first place, less information can here be derived from the Jewish writers; secondly, as on the coins struck under the Ptolemies no continuous series of time is marked, but only the year of the king's reign, they are by no means such safeguards to the chronology as those of the Seleucidae. With respect to some few events, important ill.u.s.trations are supplied by inscriptions.

By modern writers, the history of the Ptolemies has been composed under a form almost entirely chronological, and by no means treated of in the spirit which it deserves.

VAILLANT, _Historia Ptolemaeorum_, fol. Amstelodam. 1701.

Ill.u.s.tration by the aid of coins.

CHAMPOLION FIGEAC, _Annales des Lagides, ou Chronologie des Rois d'Egypte, successeurs d'Alexandre le Grand_. Paris, 1819, 2 vols.

This treatise, which was honoured with a prize by the Academie des Inscriptions, has by no means exhausted the whole of the subject.

See

J. SAINT-MARTIN, _Examen Critique de l'ouvrage de_ M. CH. F.

_int.i.tule Annales des Lagides_. Paris, 1820.

LETRONNE, _Recherches pour servir a l'histoire de l'Egypte pendant la domination des Grecs et des Romains, tirees des inscriptions Grecques et Latines, relatives a la chronologie, a l'etat des arts aux usages civils et religieux de ce pays_. Paris, 1828. It cannot be denied that the author has thrown a much clearer light on the subjects mentioned in his t.i.tle.

1. Egypt, under the Ptolemies, fulfilled, and perhaps more than fulfilled, the designs projected by Alexander; it became not only a mighty kingdom, but likewise the centre of trade, and of science. The history of Egypt, however, confines itself, almost solely, to that of the new capital, Alexandria; the foundation of that city produced, imperceptibly, a change in the national character, which never could have been wrought by main force. In the enjoyment of civil welfare and religious freedom, the nation sunk into a state of political drowsiness, such as could scarce have been expected in a people who so often rose up against the Persians.

Alexandria, originally, was no doubt a military colony; it was not long, however, before it became a general place of resort for all nations, such as was scarcely to be met with in any other town of that day. The inhabitants were divided into three cla.s.ses; _Alexandrines_, (that is to say, foreigners of all nations, who had settled in the place; next to the Greeks, the Jews were, it appears, the most numerous,) _Egyptians_, and _Mercenaries_ in the king's service. The Greeks and Macedonians divided into wards ([Greek: phylas]), const.i.tuted the citizens; they were under munic.i.p.al government; the others, such as the Jews, formed bodies corporate according to their respective nations. The more important, in so many respects, that Alexandria is for history, the more it is to be regretted that the accounts respecting it, which have reached us, are so far from satisfactory!--Concerning the topography of ancient Alexandria:

BONAMY, _Description de la ville d'Alexandrie_ in the _Mem. de l'Academie des Inscript._ vol. ix. Compare:

# J. L. F. MANSO, _Letters upon ancient Alexandria_, in his _Vermischte Schriften_, vol. i.

2. Ptolemy I. surnamed Soter, the son of Lagus, received Egypt for his share, at the first division after the death of Alexander. Aware of the value of his lot, he was the only one of Alexander's successors that had the moderation not to aim at grasping all. No doubt he was, by the ambition of the other princes, entangled in their quarrels, but his conduct was so cautious, that Egypt itself was never endangered. Twice attacked in that country, first by Perdiccas, afterwards by Antigonus and Demetrius, he availed himself successfully of his advantageous position, and moreover, in this period, added to his dominion several countries without Africa, such as Phoenicia, Judaea, Coele-Syria, and Cyprus.

The possession of Phoenicia and Coele-Syria, by reason of their forests, was of indispensable necessity to Egypt as a naval power.

They frequently changed masters. The first occupation of those provinces by the Egyptian government, occurred in 320, soon after the rout of Perdiccas by Ptolemy's general Nicanor, who took the Syrian satrap Laomedon prisoner, established his footing in the whole of Syria, and placed garrisons in the Phoenician cities. In 314 it was again lost to Antigonus, after his return out of Upper Asia, and the siege of Tyre. Ptolemy having defeated Demetrius at Gaza, 312, repossessed himself of those countries, but soon after evacuated them on the appearance of Antigonus, to whom they were ceded by the peace of 311. At the conclusion of the last grand league against Antigonus, 303, Ptolemy once more occupied them: but alarmed at a false report, that Antigonus had gained a victory, he retreated into Egypt, leaving nevertheless troops in the cities.

After the battle of Ipsus, 301, those countries were made over to him, and continued in the hands of the Ptolemies until they were lost at the second invasion of Antiochus the Great, 203.

Cyprus, (see p. 154) like most other islands, acknowledged submission to those who possessed the sovereignty of the sea, and therefore could not escape the dominion of the Ptolemies. It was taken possession of by Ptolemy as early as 313. Still the separate cities of the islands preserved their kings, among whom Nicocles of Paphos, having entered into a secret league with Antigonus, was put to death, 310. After the great seafight, 307, Cyprus fell into the hands of Antigonus and Demetrius. Subsequently to the battle of Ipsus, 301, it remained indeed at first in the power of Demetrius; but that prince being gone over to Macedonia, Ptolemy, 294, seized an opportunity of recovering it, and the island from that time remained under the dominion of Egypt. Availing themselves of their naval strength, the Egyptian kings frequently exerted sovereign power over the coasts of Asia Minor, especially Cilicia, Caria, and Pamphylia, which appear to have absolutely formed a part of their territory under the second Ptolemy. It is, however, hardly possible to define with accuracy what were their real possessions in those quarters.

3. Ptolemy likewise extends his territory within Africa, by the capture of Cyrene; in consequence of which Libya, or the neighbouring countries betwixt Cyrene and Egypt, fell under his dominion. It is probable, also, that even in his reign the frontier of the Egyptian empire was advanced into aethiopia; but for this a.s.sertion we have no positive authority.

The fall of Cyrene was brought about by domestic broils: at the time the place was besieged by Thimbron, a portion of the exiled n.o.bles fled to Ptolemy; the Egyptian prince commanded that they should be reinstated by his general Oph.e.l.las, who took possession of the town itself, 321. An insurrection in 312 was quelled by Agis, Ptolemy's general: nevertheless it would appear that Oph.e.l.las had almost established his independence, when, by the treachery of Agathocles, with whom he had entered into a league against Carthage, he perished, about 308. Cyrene was now seized by Ptolemy, and given to his son Magas, who ruled over it fifty years.

4. With respect to the internal government of Egypt, our information is far from complete. The division into districts or nomes was continued; subject perhaps, in some cases, to alterations. The power of the king appears to have been unlimited; the extreme provinces were administered by governors, appointed by the sovereign; similar officers were probably placed at the head of the various districts of Egypt itself; but hardly any doc.u.ment relative to the home department of that country has reached our time. High public situations, at least in the capital, appear exclusively reserved to Macedonians or Greeks; no Egyptian is ever mentioned as holding office.

There were four magistrates at Alexandria: the Exegetes, whose office was to provide for the wants of the city; the Chief Judge; the Hypomnematographus--(Registrar of the archives?)--and the [Greek: Strategos nykterinos], no doubt, the supervisor of the police, whose duty it was to watch over the peace of the city at night. We have the express testimony of Strabo, that these offices, which continued under the Romans, had already existed under the kings; whether their establishment can be dated as far back as the time of Ptolemy I. is a question that does not admit of a solution.--The number of the districts or nomes appears to have been augmented; probably with a political view, in order that no governor or monarch should be invested with too great a share of power.

5. Be that as it may, it is an undoubted fact, that the ancient national const.i.tution and administration were not entirely obliterated. The caste of priests, together with the national religion, continued to exist; and though the influence of the former was considerably diminished, it did not entirely cease. A certain sort of worship was, by appointed priests, paid to the kings, both in their lifetime and after their death.

Memphis, though not the usual residence of the court, remained the capital of the kingdom; there the ceremony of coronation was performed; and its temple of Phtha was still the head sanctuary. What influence had not the religion of the Egyptians upon that of the Greeks! It were difficult to say which nation borrowed most from the other.

6. The regeneration of Egypt from the state of general ruin into which she had been plunged, and the permanent tranquillity she enjoyed during nearly thirty years, the duration of the reign of Ptolemy I.--at a time when the rest of the world was hara.s.sed by continual wars,--must have heightened her prosperity under so mild and beneficent a ruler. But Ptolemy was certainly the only prince who could have taken advantage of these favourable circ.u.mstances. Though a soldier by profession he was highly accomplished, was himself a writer, and had a genius for all the arts of peace, which he fostered with the open-handed liberality of a king: while amidst all the brilliant splendour of his court, he led himself the life of a private individual.

Increase of Alexandria by the importation of vast numbers of colonists; especially Jews.--Erection of several superb buildings, more particularly the Serapeum.--Measures taken for the extension of trade and navigation.--The twofold harbour on the sea, and on the lake Mareotis.--The Pharus built.

7. But what more than any thing else distinguished Ptolemy from his contemporaries was his regard for the interests of science. The idea of founding the Museum sprung out of the necessities of the age, and was suited to the monarchical form of government now prevalent. Where in those days of destruction and revolution could the sciences have found a shelter, if not under the protection of a prince? But under Ptolemy they found more than a shelter, they found a rallying point. Here accordingly the exact sciences were perfected: and although the critic's art which now grew up could not form a Homer or a Sophocles, should _we_, had it not been for the Alexandrines, be at present able to read either Homer or Sophocles?

Foundation of the Museum, (Society of the learned,) and of the first library in Bruchium, (afterwards removed to the Serapeum;) probably under the direction of Demetrius Phalereus. A proper estimation of the services rendered by the Museum is yet wanting: what academy in modern Europe, however, has done so much?

HEYNE, _De genio Saeculi Ptolemaeorum_. _In Opuscul._ t. i.

MATTER, _Essai historique sur l'ecole d'Alexandrie_, 1820.

8. Ptolemy II. surnamed Philadelphus, son of Berenice, the second wife of his father, had ascended the throne in 286 as joint king. His reign, which lasted thirty-eight years, was more peaceful even than that of his predecessor, whose spirit seemed to inspire him in every thing, save that he was not a warrior: but, by that very reason, the arts of peace, trade, and science were promoted with the greater energy. In his reign Egypt was the first power by sea, and one of the first by land, in the world; and even though the account given by Theocritus of its thirty-three thousand cities may be regarded as the exaggeration of a poet, it is very certain that Egypt was in those days the most flourishing country in existence.

The commerce of Alexandria was divided into three main branches: 1. The land-trade over Asia and Africa. 2. The sea-trade on the Mediterranean. 3. The sea-trade on the Arabian gulf, and Indian ocean.--With regard to the land-trade of Asia, especially that of India carried on by caravans, Alexandria was obliged to share it with various cities and countries: since one of its chief routes traversed the Oxus, and Caspian, to the Black sea; while the caravans, travelling through Syria and Mesopotamia, spread for the most part among the seaports of Phoenicia and Asia Minor.--The trade over Africa extended far west, and still farther south.

Westward it was secured by the close connection between Cyrene and Alexandria; and no doubt followed the same roads as in earlier times: of far greater importance was that carried on with the southern countries, or aethiopia, into the interior of which they now penetrated, princ.i.p.ally for the purpose of procuring elephants. The navigation on the Arabian and Indian seas had likewise for its immediate object the aethiopian trade, rather than the Indian.--The measures taken by Ptolemy with this view, consisted partly in the building of harbours (Berenice, Myos Hormos) on the Arabian gulf; partly in establishing a caravan from Berenice to Coptos on the Nile, down which latter the goods were further transmitted to their destination; for the ca.n.a.l connecting the Red sea with the Nile, although, perhaps, completed at this time, was nevertheless but little used. The grand deposit for these wares was the lesser harbour of Alexandria, united by a ca.n.a.l with the lake Mareotis, which in its turn communicated by another ca.n.a.l with the Nile; so that the account we receive of the lesser harbour being more thronged and full of bustle than the larger one, need not excite our surprise. With regard to the trade on the Mediterranean, it was shared between Alexandria, Rhodes, Corinth, and Carthage. The chief manufactories appear to have been those of cotton stuffs, established in or near the temples.

The best inquiry into the trade of Alexandria will be found in J.

C. D. DE SCHMIDT, _Opuscula, res maxime Aegyptiorum ill.u.s.trantia_, 1765, 8vo.

9. It would be important to know what, in a state like Egypt, was the system of imposts, which under Philadelphus produced 14,800 silver talents, (four millions sterling,) without taking into account the toll paid in grain. In the extreme provinces, such as Palestine, the taxes were annually farmed to the highest bidder, a mode of levy attended with great oppression to the people. The case appears to have been very different with regard to Egypt itself; the customs, however, const.i.tuted the main branch of the revenue.

10. The wars waged by Ptolemy II. were limited to those against Antiochus II. of Syria, and Magas of Cyrene, half-brother to the Egyptian king; the former sprung out of the latter. Luckily for Egypt, Ptolemy II. was of a weak const.i.tution, and by his state of health was incapacitated from commanding his armies in person.--Under his reign the first foundation was laid, by means of reciprocal emba.s.sies, of that connection with Rome which afterwards decided the fate of Egypt.

Magas had, after the defeat of Oph.e.l.las, received Cyrene, 308. He had married Apame, daughter of Antiochus I., and in 266 had raised the standard of rebellion with the intention of invading Egypt itself, when an insurrection in Marmarica compelled him to retreat; he contrived, notwithstanding, to prevail upon his father-in-law to undertake an expedition against Egypt, which, however, was frustrated by Philadelphus, 264. To terminate this contest, Magas was about to unite his daughter Berenice with the eldest son of Philadelphus; Apame, wishing to thwart the negotiation, fled over to her brother, Antiochus II. whom, after her husband's death, 258, she excited to a war against Egypt, which closed in 252.--The emba.s.sy to Rome originated in the victory won by the Romans over Pyrrhus, 273; it was answered by another from the Romans, 272.

11. The son inherited from his father all but the simplicity of domestic life: under the reign of Philadelphus, the court was first thrown open to that effeminate luxury, which soon wrought the destruction of the Ptolemies as it had previously done that of the Seleucidae; at the same time was introduced the pernicious practice of intermarriages in the same family, by which the royal blood was more foully contaminated here even than in Syria. Philadelphus set the first example, by repudiating Arsinoe the daughter of Lysimachus, and then marrying his own sister, likewise named Arsinoe; this princess preserved her influence over the king as long as she lived, although she did not bring him an heir, but adopted the children of her predecessor.

12. Ptolemy III. surnamed Evergetes. Under him, Egypt, from being merely mercantile, a.s.sumed the character of a conquering state; notwithstanding his warlike spirit, he was not uninspired with that genius for the arts of peace peculiar to his family. His conquests were directed partly against Asia in the war with Seleucus II. and extended as far as the borders of Bactria; and partly, it is probable, against the interior of Ethiopia, and the western coast of Arabia. Countries so wealthy, and with which commerce had made men so well acquainted, could hardly escape the arms of such a formidable power as Egypt; yet she seems to have made scarcely any other use of this extension of territory, than to insure the safety of her commercial routes.

The main source of the history of Ptolemy Evergetes, is the inscription on the monument erected by that prince at Adule in Ethiopia: it contains a chronological list of his conquests, a copy of which has been preserved to us by Cosmas Indicopleustes; modern researches, however, have shown the probability of its having consisted of two inscriptions, one referring to Evergetes, the other to a later king of Abyssinia.--According to this monument, Ptolemy inherited from his father, besides Egypt itself, Libya, that is to say, western Africa as far as Cyrene, Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, Lycia, Caria, Cyprus, and the Cyclades.--War with Seleucus Callinicus caused by the murder of Berenice (see above, p. 237.); lasted until the ten years' truce, 246-240. During this war, he conquered the whole of Syria as far as the Euphrates, and most of the maritime countries in Asia Minor, from Cilicia to the h.e.l.lespont: an easy prey to a naval power. Whether the conquest of the countries beyond the Euphrates, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Persis, Susiana, and Media as far as Bactria, was effected in these four years, or not till between 240 and 230, is a question which cannot be determined with certainty.

If we may judge by the booty brought back, this campaign was rather a foray than a regular expedition for conquest, though Ptolemy, indeed, appointed governors in Cilicia and Babylonia; yet the peculiar situation of affairs in Asia at the time, Seleucus being at war with his brother Antiochus Hierax, and the Parthian and Bactrian kingdoms being also in a state of infant feebleness, afforded unusual opportunities for an expedition of this sort.

The southern conquests, so far as they may be referred to Evergetes, were effected during the last period of his reign, in a separate war. They comprised: 1st. The greatest part of modern Abyssinia,--for as the catalogue of nations commences with that of Abyssinia, it necessarily follows that Nubia had already been subjected to Egypt.--The mountain range along the Arabian gulf, the plain of Sennaar as far as modern Darfur, the lofty chain of mountains to the south, beyond the fountains of the Nile. All these conquests were made by the king in person; and from those distant lands to Egypt, commercial roads were opened. 2nd. The western coast of Arabia, from Leuke Kome to the southern point of Arabia Felix, was conquered by his generals and admirals: here, likewise, the security of the commercial roads was established.

_Monumentum Adulitanum_, published in FABRICIUS, _B. Graec._ t. ii.

MONTFAUCON, _Coll. Patr._ t. i. and in CHISHULL, _Antiquit.

Asiaticae_.

The a.s.sertion that the monument bears two different inscriptions is made by SALT, in the narrative of his travels contained in the _Travels of Lord Valentia_.

13. Egypt was singularly blessed in having three great kings, whose reigns filled one whole century. A change now ensued; but that change was brought about by the natural course of events; in fact, it could scarcely be expected that the court should remain untainted by such luxury as must have prevailed in a city, which was the main seat of trade, and the deposit of the treasures of the richest countries.

14. Ptolemy IV. surnamed Philopator. A debauchee and a tyrant, who, during the greater portion of his reign, remained under the tutelage of the crafty Sosibius, and, after the decease of that individual, fell into the yet more infamous hands of Agathocles and his sister Agathoclea. Philopator being contemporary with Antiochus the Great, the dangers that threatened Egypt under such a reign seemed to be doubled; they were, however, averted by the ill-deserved victory of Raphia (see above, p. 238).

15. Agathocles and his sister would fain have taken into their own hands the guardianship of his son Ptolemy V. surnamed Epiphanes, a child only five years old; but the people having risen up and made a terrible example of them, the office of guardian was confided to the younger Sosibius and to Tlepolemus. The reckless prodigality of the former soon gave rise to a feud between him and his colleague, who was at least cunning enough to keep up appearances. Meanwhile the critical posture in which the kingdom was placed, by the attack of the enleagued kings of Syria and Macedonia, compelled the nation to defer the regency to Rome and the senate, who had hitherto carefully cherished an amicable connection with Egypt.

The regency confided to M. Lepidus, 201, who hands over the administration to Aristomenes of Acarnania. The sequel will show how decidedly important this step was for the ulterior destinies of Egypt. By the war of the Romans against Philip, and their differences with Antiochus, Egypt was, no doubt, for the present extricated from her embarra.s.sment; but nevertheless in 198 she lost her Syrian possessions, notwithstanding Antiochus III. had promised to give them as a dowry to Cleopatra, the affianced bride, and subsequently the consort of the young king of Egypt.