Cleopatra, encouraged by the advice of her friends, and the appearance of the soldiers who had deserted from Tryphon, as well as urged by the fears she had lest the people of Seleucia should deliver up the place to the usurper, dispatched a messenger to Antiochus, offering him the crown of Syria if he would but come and join his interest with her's against Tryphon. This offer Antiochus readily accepted, and soon after arriving in Syria, the people flocked to him in such prodigious numbers that he soon found himself at the head of a very considerable army. With these forces he marched against Tryphon, conquered him in battle, drove him from Syria to Phonicia, and at length pent him up in the strong fortress of Adora. Antiochus carried on the siege for some time, till at length Tryphon made his escape, and after flying from one place to another, endeavored to shelter himself in Apamea, his place of nativity, but an universal disgust prevailing against him among the inhabitants, they seized him and put him to death. This put an end to his usurpation, and Antiochus became fully possessed of his brother's throne.*

Antiochus, previous to his going into Syria on the late expedition, in order to get Simon over to his interest, had written a letter to him, in which he made him many grants, and promised the most distinguished privileges to the Jews should he succeed in his enterprize. But no sooner was he settled on the throne than he forgot all the promises he had made, and sent ambassadors to Simon, demanding him to deliver up Joppa and Gazara, with several other places, or otherwise immediately to remit him a thousand talents of silver.

Simon, thinking these conditions too unreasonable, positively refused to comply with either; upon which Antiochus sent an army, under the command of his general Cendebeus, to enforce them, giving him orders, if Simon persisted in his disobedience, to ravage the country of Judea, and bring him prisoner to Antioch.

*After Antiochus obtained the crown of Syria, he received the additional name of Sidetes, from his being remarkably fond of the diversion of hunting, the word Sidetes, in the Syrian language, signifying, the Hunter.

The thoughts of this base perfidy in Antiochus so irritated Simon, that, though now far advanced in years, he, with a juvenile courage, made the necessary preparations for giving Cendebeus a warm reception. Having gathered together his forces he dispatched two divisions of them before under the command of two of his sons Judas and John (the latter of whom was afterwards called Hyrcanus) while himself took a circle with the main body of the army, planting ambuscades in different parts of the country. As soon as Judas and his brother, with their respective forces appeared, Cendebeus's army fled, which being seen by Simon and the ambuscaders, they all pursued them together, and the enemy not chusing to face about, or make any attempt to defend themselves, the greatest part of them were put to the sword.

After this victory Simon renewed his alliance with the Romans, and continued in peace till the eighth year of his government, when he was barbarously murdered by the treachery of his son-in-law Ptolemy, whom he had ap. pointed governor of the plains of Jericho. This execrable villain, who was rich and ambitious, had laid a design for usurping the government of Judea to himself; but this could not well be done without the destruction of Simon and his family. As Simon, therefore, with two of his sons (Judas and Mattathias) were making a progress through the cities of Judea, when they came to Jericho, Ptolemy invited them to an entertainment which he had prepared for them in a castle of his own building: but while they were drinking and making merry, he caused not only them, but likewise all their attendants, to be assassinated. Having thus far succeeded in his design, the treacherous and base Ptolemy dispatched a party to Gazara, where at that time John Hyrcanus (Simon's third son) resided, with orders to put him to death. It luckily happened that Hyrcanus had heard of the fate of his father and brethren, and had received intelligence of Ptolemy's farther design of cutting him off. He was therefore prepared to receive his intended murderers, and on their arrival at Gazara, had them immediately dispatched, after which he retired for safety to the city of Jerusalem.

When the fate of Simon was known at Jerusalem, Hyrcanus was declared high-priest and prince of the Jews in the place of his father, whose death was universally lamented, and a general mourning throughout the whole country was observed on the melancholy occasion.* With respect to the base and perfidious Ptolemy we have no farther account of him in any history, except that written by the celebrated Josephus, who gives us the following relation. That after the murder of his father-inlaw Simon, he seized his wife and two of her children, and with them betook himself to the castle of Dagon in the neighborhood of Jericho. As soon as Hyrcanus understood the place to which he had retreated, he immediately marched thither and laid siege to it. In the prosecution of this enterprize the greatest difficulty Hyrcanus had to surmount was, a natural tenderness towards his mother and brethren, whom Ptolemy caused to be whipped, and otherwise publicly tormented, on the battlements, threatening to throw them down unless he immediately raised the siege. This terrible menace abated the resolution of Hyrcanus, who thought that if he prosecuted his design, the consequence would be an aggravation of

The author of the first book of Maccabees, in the encomiums he bestows on Simon, tells us, that he sought the good of the nation in every thing, so that his authority always pleased them well: that, during his administration, whilst Syria, and other neighboring kingdoms, were almost destroyed by wars, the Jews lived quietly, every man under his own vine and fig-tree, enjoying without fear the fruits of their labors, and beholding with pleasure the flourishing state of their country. Their trade was increased by the reduction of Joppa and other maritime places; their territories enlarged; their armies well disciplined; their towns and fortresses well garrisoned; their religion and liberties secured; their land freed from heathen enemies and Jewish apostates; and their friendship courted by all the nations. about them, even by the Romans and Lacedemonians. He observes farther, that this Simon was no less zealous for the service of God, in extirpating apostacy, superstition, idolatry, and every thing else that was contrary to the laws of God: that he was a great protector of the true Israelites, and a friend to the poor; and that he restored the service of the temple to its ancient splendor. It is not therefore to be wondered at that the Jewish Sanhedrim should think no dignity or honor while he lived, nor no grief or lamentations when he was dead, too great for a man of such distinguished merit.

VOL. iii. F

cruelty to his relations. His mother, observing his embarrassment, called aloud, urging him not to consider the sufferings of herself and sons, but to avenge the injury his family had received, and expressed a willingness to expire under the most excruciating torments, on condition that the barbarous and unnatural tyrant Ptolemy should meet with a punishment proportioned to the enormity of his guilt. This instance of generosity and fortitude animated Hyrcanus to make a vigorous assault; but observing that in proportion to the force he exerted for reducing the fort, additional cruelty was exercised upon his mother, and his desire of revenge yielding to filial tenderness, the siege was protracted till the coming on of the sabbatical year, wherein the Jews were obliged to rest; so that Ptolemy, by these means, being delivered from the war and the siege (after having slain the mother and brothers of Hyrcanus) withdrew to the tyrant Zeno, surnamed Cotyla, who, at that time, had usurped to himself the government of Philadelphia.

As soon as Antiochus heard of the deaths of Simon and his sons, he resolved to make one bold attempt, which was, to reduce the whole body of the Jews, and make them subject to the government of the Syrian empire. To effect this he marched, at the head of a considerable army, into Judea, and having committed great devastation in various parts of the country, at length obliged Hyrcanus to shut himself up in Jerusalem. Antiochus immediately laid siege to the place, which he encompassed by dividing his forces into seven bodies. The siege was carried on with great resolution, and the defence of the place gallantly supported, for some time, till at length Hyrcanus, being distressed for want of provisions for so great a number of people as was then in the city, sent a messenger to Antiochus to sue for peace. Antiochus returned for answer that he would readily comply with his request, provided he agreed to the following conditions; namely, that the besieged should deliver up their arms; that Jerusalem should be dismantled; that tribute should be paid to the king for Joppa, and the other towns which were held by the Jews out of Judea, and lastly, that a garrison of Syrians should be constantly kept in Jerusalem.

Hyrcanus agreed to all these articles, except to the last, to which he objected on account of the great inconvenience that must take place from the mixing of strangers; but to compound for this matter, he offered to pay Antiochus five hundred talents, three hundred down, and to give hostages for the payment of the other two in a reasonable time. Antiochus, accepting of this offer, and the treaty being concluded, Hyrcanus invited him and his army into the city, when he gave them a splendid and most magnificent reception, and, before his departure, formed an alliance with him, engaging to give him such assistance as laid in his power whenever it should be demanded.

It was not long after this before Hyrcanus was called upon to fulfil his engagement. Antiochus had formed the resolution of rescuing his brother Demetrius from the hands of Phraortes, king of Parthia, who had long detained him a prisoner; but thinking his own forces too weak for such an enterprize, he sent to Hyrcanus, requesting him to come immediately, with a body of troops, to his assistance.

In consequence of this request, Hyrcanus, who was a man of the strictest honor, immediately left Jerusalem, and marched, at the head of a considerable army, to Antioch. On his arrival there, the two armies, having formed a conjunction, proceeded on the intended enterprize, each under the command of their respective leaders; and such was their success that they defeated the Parthians in three pitched battles, and recovered Babylonia, Medea, and several other provinces, that had formerly belonged to the Syrian empire.

After these successes, Antiochus, thinking himself sufficiently strong, and that he should have no farther occasion for the assistance of Hyrcanus, dismissed him, who accordingly returned with his forces to Jerusalem. Antiochus, however, resolved to continue with his army in the enemy's country during the winter, that he might be ready to complete his conquests the ensuing spring. But this resolution proved fatal both to him and his people; for the inhabitants of the country having entered into a general conspiracy, they unexpectedly rose in one