His liberality was profusion without bounds, and often ridiculous. He sometimes presented great sums of money to cities; and often he would give gold to any person whom he chanced to meet, though an entire stranger, and to another he would make a present of a few dates or some such trifle. He outdid all his predecessors in the splendour of the games which he celebrated at Daphne in honour of Jupiter Olympus; but his conduct was so ridiculous, that the foreigners who were present thought him insane. Yet he was so strict as to exclude all females from the exhibition. (Dan. xi. 37.) He paid little regard to the other gods, but for Jupiter Olympus he built a magnificent temple, made offerings to him at an unparalleled expense, and attempted to compel all his subjects, and the Jews among the rest, to worship him. But without referring to this persecution of the Jewish religion, the other parts of his conduct are amply sufficient to justify the appellation (vile, contemptible,) which Daniel gives him.*

XCIII. ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES,
175-171 B. C.

The Jews having been so long under the do

minion of Grecian monarchs, had now become familiar with the customs, the literature, and the sciences of Greece. They had acquired a taste for them; many preferred the Greek manners to their own, and even the idolatrous Greek

religion, to the rational worship of one true God. Of this class was Jesus, a brother of the high priest Onias III. He assumed the Greek name Jason, and had solicited the high priesthood of Antiochus Epiphanes, at the commencement of his reign. He promised the king three hundred and sixty talents in addition to the tribute paid by his brother, (making three thousand six hundred talents in all,) eighty talents more from another revenue; and he offered the sum of one hundred and fifty talents for the right of establishing a Greek gymnasium at Jerusalem, and for full power of conferring on the Jews the citizenship of Antioch, which was much sought after, on account of the privileges connected with it. Antiochus, without hesitation, granted a request which was so agreeable to his own feelings. His treasury was exhausted by the tribute which the Romans had exacted of his father, and his own prodigality rendered him necessitous. Thus Jason squandered immense sums for the purpose of depriving his countrymen of the privilege of living according to their own laws, a privilege for which they had made the greatest sacrifices, and which they had but just obtained of Seleucus Philopator by the aid of Eupolemus.†

Jason soon came to Jerusalem in the capacity

Dan. xi. 21. Jerome, Comment. in Dan. xi. +1 Macc. i. 11-14; 2 Macc. iv. 7-10. Josephus, concerning the Maccabees, iv. Compare Zech. x. 2; xi. 3.

The only apparent purpose of these athletic exercises was the strengthening of the body, but the real design went to the gradual changing of Judaism for heathenism, as was clearly indicated by the pains which many took to efface the mark of circumcision. The games, besides, were closely connected with idolatry, for they were generally celebrated in honour of some pagan god. The innovations of Jason were, therefore, extremely odious to the more pious part of the nation, and even his own adherents did not enter

fully into all his views. In the following year, 174 B. C., games were celebrated in the presence of Antiochus Epiphanes, at Tyre, in honour of Hercules, and Jason sent thither some Jews of his own party, on whom he had conferred the citizenship of Antioch, with three hundred Manuscript, three thousand three hundred,) as talents, (or rather, according to the Arundelian still too much sense of religion remaining to obey an offering to the god. But the deputies had their instructions, and they devoted the money to the building of ships of war. (2 Macc. iv. 18-20.)

In the following year, 173 B. C., Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, died. She was the sister of Antiochus Epiphanes, and guardian of the young king, Ptolemy Philometor; and the government of Egypt now devolved on Eulæus, the eunuch, the prince. They immediately demanded of and Lennæus, the prime minister, the tutors of Antiochus the possession of Cœlosyria and Palestine, because these provinces had been secured to Ptolemy Lagus by the treaty of 301 B. C., and they had again been given by Antiochus the Great, in dowry, to his daughter Cleopatra, when she became queen of Egypt. Antiochus Epiphanes refused to listen to their demands. Both parties then sent ambassadors to Rome to urge their respective claims to these provinces before the Roman senate.†

his fourteenth year he was solemnly invested As soon as Ptolemy Philometor had reached with the government, and ambassadors came

1 Macc. i. 15; 2 Macc. iv. 11-17. Josephus, concerning the Maccabees, iv., and Antiquities, xii. 5. 1. ↑ Polybius, Legat. ss. 78, 82. Jerome, Comment. in Dan. xi. 21.

from all the surrounding nations to congratulate him on his accession to the throne. On this occasion Antiochus sent to Egypt, Apollonius, the son of Mnestheus, apparently to congratulate the king on his coronation, but with the real purpose of sounding the dispositions of the Egyptian court. When Apollonius, on his return, informed Antiochus that he was viewed as an enemy by the Egyptians, he immediately sailed to Joppa to survey his frontiers towards Egypt, and to put them in a state of defence. At this time he visited Jerusalem, when the city was illuminated, and he was received by Jason and the assembled people with every possible demonstration of honour. He then returned to Antioch by the way of Phenicia.*

Jason had now laboured for three years to destroy the Jewish constitution and religion; and in 172 B. c. he commissioned his younger brother Onias, (who had adopted the Greek name Menelaus,) to carry the tribute to Antioch and transact other business with the king. But Menelaus, instead of attending to the business of Jason, embraced this opportunity to promote his own interests: and by promising the king three hundred talents more of tribute, he obtained a nomination to the high priesthood. When he came to Jerusalem with this appointment, several joined his party, and, among the rest, the powerful sons of Tobias; but being unable to expel Jason, he was obliged to return to Antioch. Then he and his adherents solemnly abjured the Jewish religion before the king, and bound themselves expressly to bring the whole nation to take the same step, and to introduce the Greek religion. Antiochus then provided him with a competent force, which Jason was unable to resist, and he fled to the Ammonites.†

Menelaus had promised a larger tribute than his brother, but as yet he had paid nothing. After he had been frequently and in vain reminded of his neglect by Sostratus, the commander of the castle at Jerusalem, who had the charge of collecting the tribute, they were both summoned to appear at Antioch. At their arrival Antiochus was in Cilicia to quell some disturbances that had arisen there; and Menelaus gained time to order Lysimachus, whom he had left at Jerusalem as his deputy, to take some costly vessels out of the temple and expose them for sale at Tyre. By this means he obtained money enough to discharge his debt, and to make large presents to Andronicus, to whom Antiochus had intrusted the administration of affairs during his absence. But Lysimachus, Andronicus, and Onias III. all lost their lives in consequence of this profanation of the temple. For the sacrilege and extortions of Lysimachus excited an insurrection at Jerusalem, and though he had three thousand armed men under his command, he was slain by the people in the treasury of the temple. Onias III., who dwelt at Antioch as an exile, and was universally beloved on account of his virtues, severely reproved his degenerate brother Menelaus, for the crime of robbing the temple, and then made his escape to

Polybius, Legat. s. 72. 2 Macc. iv. 21, 22.

+ 2 Macc. xxiii.--xxv. Josephus, Antiquities, xii. 5. 1. Compare Zech. x. 2; xi. 3.

the sanctuary at Daphne. At the instigation of Menelaus, Andronicus allured Onias from his place of refuge and treacherously murdered him. Antiochus, on his return, was so enraged at the crime that he ordered Andronicus to be executed. (2 Macc. iv. 27-42.)

NOTE. According to the Alexandrian Chronicle, Onias III. was high priest twenty-four years, reckoning to the time of his death. This confirms the statement which we made from Eusebius, (Sect. 83 of this work,) respecting the time of Simon the Just, for the death of Onias III. cannot be placed lower without contradicting the testimony of the Books of Maccabees and of Josephus.*

XCIV. CAMPAIGNS OF ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES IN EGYPT, 171-167 B. C.

Meanwhile Antiochus made preparations for a war with Egypt. Ptolemy Philometor and his two ministers he viewed with contempt; but to the Romans, the allies or protectors of the young king, he sent an embassy to justify the hostilities he was about to commence. In the year 170 B.C., and 141, or according to the first book of Maccabees, 142 of the era of the Seleucidæ, he led his army, along the coast through Palestine and Arabia Petrea, and defeated the Egyptians bethen left garrisons on the frontiers, and went tween mount Casius and the city Pelusium. He into winter quarters at Tyre.†

Here three deputies came to the king from the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and made complaints against Menelaus on account of the sacrilege and the other crimes he had committed by the agency of Lysimachus. After a full investigation of the cause, there was no doubt remaining of the guilt of Menelaus; but yet he was acquitted, and the three innocent accusers were put to death. This turn in his own favour Menelaus effected by the aid of Ptolemy Macro, who possessed unbounded influence with Antiochus on account of his having treacherously delivered up to him the island of Cyprus, when he held it as governor under the king of Egypt. But the execution of the innocent deputies was so odious in the eyes of the Tyrians, that they gave their dead bodies an honourable burial at their own expense. (2 Macc. iv. 43-50.) During the winter the prodigies are said to have occurred which are related in 2 Macc. v. 2, 3.

In the spring of 169 B. c., 142 or 143 of the dition against the Egyptians, and attacked them Greek era, Antiochus undertook a second expeHe defeated the Egyptian by sea and land. army on the frontiers, and took Pelusium. Diodorus Siculus and Josephus say that Antiochus,

on this occasion, availed himself of a mean arti

fice, without specifying what it was. Possibly they may refer to the pretence that he came as the friend of Ptolemy, (Dan. xi. 23,) of which we shall say more hereafter. Antiochus, after this victory, might have cut the Egyptian army in pieces, but he rode round among his soldiers

See Prideaux, Connexions, vol. ii. p. 146.

+ Diodor. Sic. Fragm. xxvi. 79. Livy, xlii. 29. Polybius, Legat. s. 71. Justin, xxxiv. 2. Jerome, Comment. in Dan. xi. 22.

tilius, ambassadors whom the Roman senate had sent to him at the earnest request of Ptolemy Physcon. They were instructed to assure Antiochus, that he must leave the kingdom of Egypt and the island of Cyprus in peace, or expect a war with the Romans. Antiochus, during his thirteen years' residence at Rome, had become ac quainted with Popilius, and as soon as he saw him, offered him his hand with all the familiarity of intimate friendship. But the ambassador would not recognise the friend of Popilius, and he handed to the king the written demands of the Roman senate. When Antiochus replied that he would lay the affair before his council, Popilius, the head of the legation, with his staff drew a circle about the king in the sand on which they stood, and exclaimed: "Before you leave this circle, you must give me an answer which I can report to the senate." Antiochus was confounded, but on a little reflection he said he would do whatever the senate required. Then Popilius recognised his friend and reached him his hand. The arrogance of the ambassadors and the submissiveness of Antiochus, were not without cause. The Romans had just made themselves formidable by their victory over Perseus, the king of Macedonia, in consequence of which that country was reduced to a Roman province; and these ambassadors had remained on the island of Delos, to learn the issue of the Macedonian war before they sailed to Egypt.*

XCV. REVOLT OF THE JEWS, 167-166 B. C.

Antiochus Epiphanes, being thus disappointed in his designs against Egypt, and returning from that country in disgrace, sent Apollonius, his chief collector of tribute, with a division of twenty-two thousand men from his army, to vent his rage on the city of Jerusalem. Apollonius arrived at Jerusalem, in June, 167 B. C., just two years after the conquest and cruel treatment of the city by Antiochus himself. On the first sabbath after his arrival, he sent out his soldiers with orders to cut down all the men whom they met, and to make slaves of the women and children. Now all the streets of Jerusalem flowed with blood, the houses were plundered and the city walls thrown down. Apollonius demolished the houses that stood near mount Zion, and with the materials thus obtained, strengthened the fortifications of the castle, which he furnished with a garrison and held under his own command. This castle was so situated that it gave Apollonius complete control over the temple, and the Jews could no longer visit their sanctuary to perform the public services of religion. Accordingly in the month of June, 167 B. C., the daily sacrifice ceased, and Jerusalem was deserted, for the inhabitants were obliged to flee to save their lives. Josephus, whose history of this whole period is extremely careless and unsatisfactory, says that Antiochus himself was present at this

time; but the books of Maccabees, which are the only sources of information that he possessed, say nothing of the presence of the king; and their authority is far preferable to his.*

An edict was now issued at Antioch and published in all the provinces of Syria, commanding the inhabitants of the whole empire to worship the gods of the king, and to acknowledge no religion but his. The pagans, in accordance with their religious opinions, would feel no difficulty in complying with this order; but in the sequel we shall see the effects it produced among the Madejesnans, or disciples of Zoroaster, in Armenia and Persia. The traditions of these worshippers of fire, that their books were destroyed by Alexander the Great, probably owes its origin to this edict of Antiochus Epiphanes, with whom their sacred books would be likely to find no more favour than the sacred books of the Jews. But as his authority did not extend to Media and Bactria, the books might have been preserved in these provinces. The Samaritans, who claimed a Jewish origin in the time of Alexander, now wrote to Antiochus, informing him that they were Zidonians, and offering to dedicate their temple on mount Gerizim to the Grecian Jupiter. Many Jews submitted to the edict for fear of punishment; and a still greater number, who had long been attached to the Grecian customs, gladly embraced this opportunity to declare themselves fully and pass over to the Syrians. But the better part of the people fled, and kept themselves concealed.+

An old man, by the name of Athenæus, was sent to Jerusalem to instruct the Jews in the Greek religion, and compel them to an observance of its rites. He dedicated the temple to Jupiter Olympius, and on the altar of Jehovah he placed a smaller altar to be used in sacrificing to the heathen god. This new altar, built by order of the desolator Antiochus, is what Daniel alludes to when he speaks of "the abomination that maketh desolate." (Down mpwn. Tò ßdéλvyμa τns konμwoεws. "The abomination of a waster.") This interpretation agrees much better with the literal meaning of the words than that which has been adopted by those who apply this expression to the erecting of an image to Jupiter Olympius; a mode of explanation which is at variance with the authority of Josephus, and the first Book of Maccabees. (Θυσιάζοντες ἐπὶ τὸν βωμὸν ὃς ἦν ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου.) Undoubtedly there was an image erected to Jupiter Olympius, for the pagan religion required it; but this is not the circumstance referred to by the prophet in the words we have quoted. This altar was set up on the fifteenth day of the month Kislev, (5, December,) and the heathen sacrifices were commenced on the twenty-fifth of the same month. The Samaritan temple on mount Gerizim was dedicated by Athenæus to Jupiter Xenios, or the protector of strangers; because the Samaritans

Josephus, Antiq. xii. 5. 4. 1 Macc. i. 29-40. 2 Macc. v. 24-26, comp. Zech. xiii. 8; xiv. 1-12, and Dan. xi. 30, 31.

† Josephus, Antiq. xii. 5. 4, 5. Jewish war, i. 1. 2. Tacitus, Hist. v. 8. Jerome, Comment. in Dan. viii. ix. 1 Macc. i. 41-53. 2 Macc. v. 27; vi. 2.