There were many kings of this name in Syria, much celebrated
in the Greek, Roman, and Jewish histories, after the time of Seleucus
Nicanor, the father of Antiochus Soter, and reckoned the first king of
Syria, after Alexander the Great.
1. ANTIOCHUS SOTER was the son of Seleucus Nicanor, and obtained the
surname of Soter, or Saviour, from having hindered the invasion of Asia
by the Gauls. Some think that it was on the following occasion: The
Galatians having marched to attack the Jews in Babylon, whose army
consisted only of eight thousand men, reinforced with four thousand
Macedonians, the Jews defended themselves with so much bravery, that
they killed one hundred and twenty thousand men, 2 Mac. viii, 20. It was
perhaps, too, on this occasion, that Antiochus Soter made the Jews of
Asia free of the cities belonging to the Gentiles, and permitted them to
live according to their own laws.
2. ANTIOCHUS THEOS, or, the God, was the son and successor of Antiochus
Soter. He married Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of
Egypt. Laodice, his first wife, seeing herself despised, poisoned
Antiochus, Berenice, and their son, who was intended to succeed in the
kingdom. After this, Laodice procured Seleucus Callinicus, her son by
Antiochus, to be acknowledged king of Syria. These events were foretold
by Daniel: “And in the end of years,” the king of Egypt, or of the
south, and the king of Syria, or of the north, “shall join themselves
together; for the king’s daughter of the south shall come to the king of
the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of
the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up,
and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that
strengthened her in these times,” Dan. xi, 6.
3. ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT was the son of Seleucus Callinicus, and brother
to Seleucus Ceraunus, whom he succeeded in the year of the world 3781,
and before Jesus Christ 223. He made war against Ptolemy Philopator,
king of Egypt, but was defeated near Raphia, 3 Mac. i. Thirteen years
after, Ptolemy Philopator being dead, Antiochus resolved to become
master of Egypt. He immediately seized Cœlo-Syria, Phenicia, and
Judea; but Scopas, general of the Egyptian army, entered Judea while
Antiochus was occupied by the war against Attalus, and retook those
places. However, he soon lost them again to Antiochus. On this occasion
happened what Josephus relates of this prince’s journey to Jerusalem.
After a victory which he had obtained over Scopas, near the springs of
Jordan, he became master of the strong places in Cœlo-Syria and
Samaria; and the Jews submitted freely to him, received him into their
city and furnished his army plentifully with provisions. In reward for
their affection, Antiochus granted them, according to Josephus, twenty
thousand pieces of silver, to purchase beasts for sacrifice, one
thousand four hundred and sixty measures of meal, and three hundred and
seventy-five measures of salt to be offered with the sacrifices, and
timber to rebuild the porches of the Lord’s house. He exempted the
senators, scribes, and singing men of the temple, from the capitation
tax; and he permitted the Jews to live according to their own laws in
every part of his dominions. He also remitted the third part of their
tribute, to indemnify them for their losses in the war; he forbade the
Heathens to enter the temple without being purified, and to bring into
the city the flesh of mules, asses, and horses to sell, under a severe
penalty.
In the year of the world 3815, Antiochus was overcome by the Romans, and
obliged to cede all his possessions beyond Mount Taurus, to give twenty
hostages, among whom was his own son Antiochus, afterward surnamed
Epiphanes, and to pay a tribute of twelve thousand Euboic talents, each
fourteen Roman pounds in weight. To defray these charges, he resolved to
seize the treasures of the temple of Belus, at Elymais; but the people
of that country, informed of his design, surprised and destroyed him,
with all his army, in the year of the world 3817, and before Jesus
Christ 187. He left two sons, Seleucus Philopator, and Antiochus
Epiphanes, who succeeded him.
4. ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES, the son of Antiochus the Great, having continued
a hostage at Rome fourteen years, his brother Seleucus resolved to
procure his return to Syria, and sent his own son Demetrius to Rome in
the place of Antiochus. Whilst Antiochus was on his journey to Syria,
Seleucus died, in the year of the world 3829. When, therefore, Antiochus
landed, the people received him as some propitious deity come to assume
the government, and to oppose the enterprises of Ptolemy, king of Egypt,
who threatened to invade Syria. For this reason Antiochus obtained the
surname of Epiphanes, the illustrious, or of one appearing like a god.
Antiochus quickly turned his attention to the possession of Egypt, which
was then enjoyed by Ptolemy Philometor, his nephew, son to his sister
Cleopatra, whom Antiochus the Great had married to Ptolemy Epiphanes,
king of Egypt. He sent Apollonius, one of his officers, into Egypt,
apparently to honour Ptolemy’s coronation, but in reality to obtain
intelligence whether the great men of the kingdom were inclined to place
the government of Egypt in his hands during the minority of the king his
nephew, 2 Mac. iv, 21, &c. Apollonius, however, found them not disposed
to favour his master; and this obliged Antiochus to make war against
Philometor. He came to Jerusalem in 3831, and was received there by
Jason, to whom he had sold the high priesthood. He designed to attack
Egypt, but returned without effecting any thing. The ambition of those
Jews who sought the high priesthood, and bought it of Antiochus, was the
beginning of those calamities which overwhelmed their nation under this
prince. Jason procured himself to be constituted in this dignity in the
stead of Onias III; but Menelaus offering a greater price, Jason was
deprived, and Menelaus appointed in his place. These usurpers of the
high priesthood, to gratify the Syrians, assumed the manners of the
Greeks, their games and exercises, and neglected the worship of the
Lord, and the temple service.
War broke out between Antiochus Epiphanes and Ptolemy Philometor.
Antiochus entered Egypt in the year of the world 3833, and reduced
almost the whole of it to his obedience, 2 Mac. v, 3–5. The next year he
returned; and whilst he was engaged in the siege of Alexandria, a false
report was spread of his death. The inhabitants of Jerusalem testifying
their joy at this news, Antiochus, when returning from Egypt, entered
this city by force, treated the Jews as rebels, and commanded his troops
to slay all they met. Eighty thousand were killed, made captives, or
sold on this occasion. Antiochus, conducted by the corrupt high priest
Menelaus, entered into the holy of holies, whence he took and carried
off the most precious vessels of that holy place, to the value of one
thousand eight hundred talents. In the year 3835, Antiochus made a third
expedition against Egypt, which he entirely subdued. The year following,
he sent Apollonius into Judea, with an army of twenty-two thousand men,
and commanded him to kill all the Jews who were of full age, and to sell
the women and young men, 2 Mac. v, 24, 25. These orders were too
punctually executed. It was on this occasion that Judas Maccabæus
retired into the wilderness with his father and his brethren, 2 Mac. v,
29. These misfortunes were only preludes of what they were to suffer;
for Antiochus, apprehending that the Jews would never be constant in
their obedience to him, unless he obliged them to change their religion,
and to embrace that of the Greeks, issued an edict, enjoining them to
conform to the laws of other nations, and forbidding their usual
sacrifices in the temple, their festivals, and their Sabbath. The statue
of Jupiter Olympus was placed upon the altar of the temple, and thus the
abomination of desolation was seen in the temple of God. Many corrupt
Jews complied with these orders; but others resisted them. Mattathias
and his sons retired to the mountains. Old Eleazar, and the seven
brethren, suffered death with great courage at Antioch, 2 Mac. vii.
Mattathias being dead, Judas Maccabæus headed those Jews who continued
faithful, and opposed with success the generals whom king Antiochus sent
into Judea. The king, informed of the valour and resistance of Judas,
sent new forces; and, finding his treasures exhausted, he resolved to go
into Persia to levy tributes, and to collect large sums which he had
agreed to pay to the Romans, 1 Mac. iii, 5–31; 2 Mac. ix, 1, &c; 1 Mac.
vi, 1, &c. Knowing that very great riches were lodged in the temple of
Elymaïs, he determined to carry it off; but the inhabitants of the
country made so vigorous a resistance, that he was forced to retreat
toward Babylonia. When he was come to Ecbatana, he was informed of the
defeat of Nicanor and Timotheus, and that Judas Maccabæus had retaken
the temple of Jerusalem, and restored the worship of the Lord, and the
usual sacrifices. On receiving this intelligence, the king was
transported with indignation; and, threatening to make Jerusalem a grave
for the Jews, commanded the driver of his chariot to urge the horses
forward, and to hasten his journey. However, divine vengeance soon
overtook him: he fell from his chariot, and bruised all his limbs. He
was also tormented with such pains in his bowels, as allowed him no
rest; and his disease was aggravated by grief and vexation. In this
condition he wrote to the Jews very humbly, promised them many things,
and engaged even to turn Jew, if God would restore him to health. He
earnestly recommended to them his son Antiochus, who was to succeed him,
and entreated them to favour the young prince, and to continue faithful
to him. He died, overwhelmed with pain and grief, in the mountains of
Paratacene, in the little town of Tabes, in the year of the world 3840,
and before Jesus Christ 164.
5. ANTIOCHUS EUPATOR, son of Antiochus Epiphanes, was only nine years
old when his father died and left him the kingdom of Syria. Lysias, who
governed the kingdom in the name of the young prince, led against Judea
an army of one hundred thousand foot, twenty thousand horse, and thirty
elephants, 1 Mac. vi; 2 Mac. xiii. He besieged and took the fortress of
Bethsura, and thence marched against Jerusalem. The city was ready to
fall into his hands when Lysias received the news that Philip, whom
Antiochus Epiphanes had entrusted with the regency of the kingdom, had
come to Antioch to take the government, according to the disposition of
the late king. He therefore proposed an accommodation with the Jews,
that he might return speedily to Antioch and oppose Philip. After
concluding a peace, he immediately returned into Syria, with the young
king and his army.
In the meantime, Demetrius Soter, son of Seleucus Philopator, and nephew
to Antiochus Epiphanes, to whom by right the kingdom belonged, having
escaped from Rome, came into Syria. Finding the people disposed for
revolt, Demetrius headed an army, and marched directly to Antioch,
against Antiochus and Lysias. However, the inhabitants did not wait till
he besieged the city; but opened the gates, and delivered to him Lysias
and the young king Antiochus Eupator, whom Demetrius caused to be put to
death, without suffering them to appear in his presence. Antiochus
Eupator reigned only two years, and died in the year of the world 3842,
and before Jesus Christ 162.
6. ANTIOCHUS THEOS, or the _Divine_, the son of Alexander Balas, king of
Syria, was brought up by the Arabian prince Elmachuel, or, as he is
called in the Greek, Simalcue, 1 Mac. xi, 39, 40, &c. Demetrius Nicanor,
king of Syria, having rendered himself odious to his troops, one
Diodotus, otherwise called Tryphon, came to Zabdiel, a king in Arabia,
and desired him to entrust him with young Antiochus, whom he promised to
place on the throne of Syria, which was then possessed by Demetrius
Nicanor. After some hesitation, Zabdiel complied with the request; and
Tryphon carried Antiochus into Syria, and put the crown on his head. The
troops dismissed by Demetrius, came and joined Tryphon, who, having
formed a powerful army, defeated Demetrius, and forced him to retreat to
Seleucia. Tryphon seized his elephants, and rendered himself master of
Antioch, in the year of the world 3859, and before Jesus Christ 145.
Antiochus Theos, to strengthen himself in his new acquisition, sent
letters to Jonathan Maccabæus, high priest and prince of the Jews,
confirming him in the high priesthood, and granting him four toparchies,
or four considerable places, in Judea. He also received Jonathan into
the number of his friends, sent him vessels of gold, permitted him to
use a gold cup, to wear purple, and a golden buckle; and he gave his
brother, Simon Maccabæus, the command of all his troops on the coast of
the Mediterranean, from Tyre to Egypt. Jonathan, engaged by so many
favours, declared resolutely for Antiochus, or rather for Tryphon, who
reigned under the name of this young prince; and on several occasions,
he attacked the generals of Demetrius, who still possessed many places
beyond Jordan and in Galilee, 1 Macc. xi, 63, &c; xii, 24, 34. Tryphon,
seeing young Antiochus in peaceable possession of the kingdom of Syria,
resolved to usurp his crown. He thought it necessary, in the first
place, to secure Jonathan Maccabæus who was one of the most powerful
supporters of Antiochus’s throne. He came, therefore, with troops into
Judea, invited Jonathan to Ptolemais, and there, on frivolous pretences,
made him prisoner. However, Simon, Jonathan’s brother, headed the troops
of Judea, and opposed Tryphon, who intended to take Jerusalem. Tryphon,
being disappointed, put Jonathan to death at Bassa or Bascama, and
returned into Syria, where, without delay, he executed his design of
killing Antiochus. He corrupted the royal physicians, who, having
published that Antiochus was tormented with the stone, murdered him, by
cutting him without any necessity. Thus Tryphon was left master of
Syria, in the year of the world 3861, and before Jesus Christ 143.
7. ANTIOCHUS SIDETES, or _Soter_ the Saviour, or _Eusebes_ the pious,
was the son of Demetrius Soter, and brother to Demetrius Nicanor.
Tryphon, the usurper of the kingdom of Syria, having rendered himself
odious to his troops, they deserted him, and offered their services to
Cleopatra, the wife of Demetrius Nicanor. She lived in the city of
Seleucia, shut up with her children, while her husband Demetrius was a
prisoner in Persia, where he had married Rodeguna, the daughter of
Arsaces king of Persia. Cleopatra, therefore sent to Antiochus Sidetes,
her brother-in-law, and offered him the crown of Syria, if he would
marry her; to which Antiochus consented. This prince was then at Cnidus,
where his father, Demetrius Soter had placed him with one of his
friends. He came into Syria, and wrote to Simon Maccabæus, to engage him
against Tryphon, 1 Macc. xv, 1, 2, 3, &c. He confirmed the privileges
which the kings of Syria had granted to Simon, permitted him to coin
money with his own stamp, declared Jerusalem and the temple exempt from
royal jurisdiction, and promised other favours as soon as he should
obtain peaceable possession of the kingdom which had belonged to his
ancestors. Antiochus Sidetes having married his sister-in-law,
Cleopatra, in the year of the world 3865, the troops of Tryphon resorted
to him in crowds. Tryphon, thus abandoned, retired to Dora, in
Phœnicia, whither Antiochus pursued him with an army of 120,000 foot,
800 horse, and a powerful fleet. Simon Maccabæus sent Antiochus two
thousand chosen men, but the latter refused them and revoked all his
promises. He also sent Athenobius to Jerusalem to oblige Simon to
restore to him Gazara and Joppa, with the citadel of Jerusalem; and to
demand of him five hundred talents more, as reparation for injuries the
king had suffered, and as tribute for his own cities. At the same time
he threatened to make war upon him, if he did not comply. Simon showed
Athenobius all the lustre of his wealth and power, told him he had in
his possession no place which belonged to Antiochus, and said that the
cities of Gazara and Joppa had greatly injured his people, and he would
give the king for the property of them one hundred talents. Athenobius
returned with great indignation to Antiochus, who was extremely offended
at Simon’s answer. In the meantime, Tryphon having escaped privately
from Dora, embarked in a vessel and fled. Antiochus pursued him, and
sent Cendebeus with troops into the maritime parts of Palestine, and
commanded him to rebuild Cedron, and fight the Jews. John Hircanus, son
of Simon Maccabæus, was then at Gaza, and gave notice to his father of
the coming of Cendebeus. Simon furnished his sons, John Hircanus and
Judas with troops, and sent them against Cendebeus, whom they routed in
the plain and pursued to Azotus.
Antiochus followed Tryphon, till he forced him to kill himself in the
year of the world 3869. After this, Antiochus thought only of reducing
to his obedience those cities which, in the beginning of his father’s
reign, had shaken off their subjection. Simon Maccabæus, prince and high
priest of the Jews, being treacherously murdered by Ptolemy, his
son-in-law, in the castle of Docus, near Jericho, the murderer
immediately sent to Antiochus Sidetes to demand troops, that he might
recover for him the country and cities of the Jews. Antiochus came in
person with an army, and besieged Jerusalem, which was bravely defended
by John Hircanus. The siege was long protracted; and the king divided
his army into seven parts, and guarded all the avenues of the city. It
being the time for celebrating the feast of tabernacles, the Jews
desired of Antiochus a truce for seven days. The king not only granted
this request, but sent them bulls with gilded horns, and vessels of gold
and silver filled with incense, to be offered in the temple. He also
ordered such provisions as they wanted, to be given to the Jewish
soldiers. This courtesy of the king so won the hearts of the Jews, that
they sent ambassadors to treat of peace, and to desire that they might
live according to their own laws. Antiochus required that they should
surrender their arms, demolish the city walls, pay tribute for Joppa and
the other cities they possessed out of Judea, and receive a garrison
into Jerusalem. To these conditions, except the last, the Jews
consented; for they could not be induced to see an army of strangers in
their capital, and chose rather to give hostages and five hundred
talents of silver. The king entered the city, beat down the breast work
above the walls, and returned to Syria, in the year of the world 3870,
and before Jesus Christ 134. Three years after, Antiochus marched
against the Persians, or Parthians, and demanded the liberty of his
brother Demetrius Nicanor, who had been made prisoner long before by
Arsaces, and was detained for the purpose of being employed in exciting
a war against Antiochus. This war, therefore, Antiochus thought proper
to prevent. With an army of eighty thousand, or, as Orosius says, of one
hundred thousand men, he marched toward Persia, and no sooner appeared
on the frontiers of that country, than several eastern princes,
detesting the pride and avarice of the Persians, came and surrendered.
Antiochus defeated his enemies in three engagements, and took Babylon.
He was accompanied in these expeditions by John Hircanus, high priest of
the Jews, who, it is supposed, obtained the surname of Hircanus from
some gallant action which he performed.
As the army of Antiochus was too numerous to continue assembled in any
one place, he was obliged to divide it, to put it into winter quarters.
These troops behaved with so much insolence, that they alienated the
minds of all men. The cities in which they were, privately surrendered
to the Persians; and all resolved to attack, in one day, the garrisons
they contained, that the troops being separated might not assist each
other. Antiochus at Babylon obtained intelligence of this design, and,
with the few soldiers about him, endeavoured to succour his people. He
was attacked in the way by Phraates, king of Persia, whom he fought with
great bravery; but being at length deserted by his own forces, according
to the generality of historians, he was overpowered and killed by the
Persians or Parthians. Appian, however, says that he killed himself, and
Ælian, that he threw himself headlong from a precipice. This event took
place in the year of the world 3874, and before Jesus Christ 130. After
the death of Sidetes, Demetrius Nicanor, or Nicetor, reascended the
throne of Syria.
ANTIPÆDOBAPTISTS, a denomination given to those who object to the
baptism of infants. The word is derived from ἀντὶ, _against_, ϖᾶις,
ϖαιδὸς, _a child_, βαπτίζω, _I baptize_. See BAPTISM.
in the Greek, Roman, and Jewish histories, after the time of Seleucus
Nicanor, the father of Antiochus Soter, and reckoned the first king of
Syria, after Alexander the Great.
1. ANTIOCHUS SOTER was the son of Seleucus Nicanor, and obtained the
surname of Soter, or Saviour, from having hindered the invasion of Asia
by the Gauls. Some think that it was on the following occasion: The
Galatians having marched to attack the Jews in Babylon, whose army
consisted only of eight thousand men, reinforced with four thousand
Macedonians, the Jews defended themselves with so much bravery, that
they killed one hundred and twenty thousand men, 2 Mac. viii, 20. It was
perhaps, too, on this occasion, that Antiochus Soter made the Jews of
Asia free of the cities belonging to the Gentiles, and permitted them to
live according to their own laws.
2. ANTIOCHUS THEOS, or, the God, was the son and successor of Antiochus
Soter. He married Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of
Egypt. Laodice, his first wife, seeing herself despised, poisoned
Antiochus, Berenice, and their son, who was intended to succeed in the
kingdom. After this, Laodice procured Seleucus Callinicus, her son by
Antiochus, to be acknowledged king of Syria. These events were foretold
by Daniel: “And in the end of years,” the king of Egypt, or of the
south, and the king of Syria, or of the north, “shall join themselves
together; for the king’s daughter of the south shall come to the king of
the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of
the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up,
and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that
strengthened her in these times,” Dan. xi, 6.
3. ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT was the son of Seleucus Callinicus, and brother
to Seleucus Ceraunus, whom he succeeded in the year of the world 3781,
and before Jesus Christ 223. He made war against Ptolemy Philopator,
king of Egypt, but was defeated near Raphia, 3 Mac. i. Thirteen years
after, Ptolemy Philopator being dead, Antiochus resolved to become
master of Egypt. He immediately seized Cœlo-Syria, Phenicia, and
Judea; but Scopas, general of the Egyptian army, entered Judea while
Antiochus was occupied by the war against Attalus, and retook those
places. However, he soon lost them again to Antiochus. On this occasion
happened what Josephus relates of this prince’s journey to Jerusalem.
After a victory which he had obtained over Scopas, near the springs of
Jordan, he became master of the strong places in Cœlo-Syria and
Samaria; and the Jews submitted freely to him, received him into their
city and furnished his army plentifully with provisions. In reward for
their affection, Antiochus granted them, according to Josephus, twenty
thousand pieces of silver, to purchase beasts for sacrifice, one
thousand four hundred and sixty measures of meal, and three hundred and
seventy-five measures of salt to be offered with the sacrifices, and
timber to rebuild the porches of the Lord’s house. He exempted the
senators, scribes, and singing men of the temple, from the capitation
tax; and he permitted the Jews to live according to their own laws in
every part of his dominions. He also remitted the third part of their
tribute, to indemnify them for their losses in the war; he forbade the
Heathens to enter the temple without being purified, and to bring into
the city the flesh of mules, asses, and horses to sell, under a severe
penalty.
In the year of the world 3815, Antiochus was overcome by the Romans, and
obliged to cede all his possessions beyond Mount Taurus, to give twenty
hostages, among whom was his own son Antiochus, afterward surnamed
Epiphanes, and to pay a tribute of twelve thousand Euboic talents, each
fourteen Roman pounds in weight. To defray these charges, he resolved to
seize the treasures of the temple of Belus, at Elymais; but the people
of that country, informed of his design, surprised and destroyed him,
with all his army, in the year of the world 3817, and before Jesus
Christ 187. He left two sons, Seleucus Philopator, and Antiochus
Epiphanes, who succeeded him.
4. ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES, the son of Antiochus the Great, having continued
a hostage at Rome fourteen years, his brother Seleucus resolved to
procure his return to Syria, and sent his own son Demetrius to Rome in
the place of Antiochus. Whilst Antiochus was on his journey to Syria,
Seleucus died, in the year of the world 3829. When, therefore, Antiochus
landed, the people received him as some propitious deity come to assume
the government, and to oppose the enterprises of Ptolemy, king of Egypt,
who threatened to invade Syria. For this reason Antiochus obtained the
surname of Epiphanes, the illustrious, or of one appearing like a god.
Antiochus quickly turned his attention to the possession of Egypt, which
was then enjoyed by Ptolemy Philometor, his nephew, son to his sister
Cleopatra, whom Antiochus the Great had married to Ptolemy Epiphanes,
king of Egypt. He sent Apollonius, one of his officers, into Egypt,
apparently to honour Ptolemy’s coronation, but in reality to obtain
intelligence whether the great men of the kingdom were inclined to place
the government of Egypt in his hands during the minority of the king his
nephew, 2 Mac. iv, 21, &c. Apollonius, however, found them not disposed
to favour his master; and this obliged Antiochus to make war against
Philometor. He came to Jerusalem in 3831, and was received there by
Jason, to whom he had sold the high priesthood. He designed to attack
Egypt, but returned without effecting any thing. The ambition of those
Jews who sought the high priesthood, and bought it of Antiochus, was the
beginning of those calamities which overwhelmed their nation under this
prince. Jason procured himself to be constituted in this dignity in the
stead of Onias III; but Menelaus offering a greater price, Jason was
deprived, and Menelaus appointed in his place. These usurpers of the
high priesthood, to gratify the Syrians, assumed the manners of the
Greeks, their games and exercises, and neglected the worship of the
Lord, and the temple service.
War broke out between Antiochus Epiphanes and Ptolemy Philometor.
Antiochus entered Egypt in the year of the world 3833, and reduced
almost the whole of it to his obedience, 2 Mac. v, 3–5. The next year he
returned; and whilst he was engaged in the siege of Alexandria, a false
report was spread of his death. The inhabitants of Jerusalem testifying
their joy at this news, Antiochus, when returning from Egypt, entered
this city by force, treated the Jews as rebels, and commanded his troops
to slay all they met. Eighty thousand were killed, made captives, or
sold on this occasion. Antiochus, conducted by the corrupt high priest
Menelaus, entered into the holy of holies, whence he took and carried
off the most precious vessels of that holy place, to the value of one
thousand eight hundred talents. In the year 3835, Antiochus made a third
expedition against Egypt, which he entirely subdued. The year following,
he sent Apollonius into Judea, with an army of twenty-two thousand men,
and commanded him to kill all the Jews who were of full age, and to sell
the women and young men, 2 Mac. v, 24, 25. These orders were too
punctually executed. It was on this occasion that Judas Maccabæus
retired into the wilderness with his father and his brethren, 2 Mac. v,
29. These misfortunes were only preludes of what they were to suffer;
for Antiochus, apprehending that the Jews would never be constant in
their obedience to him, unless he obliged them to change their religion,
and to embrace that of the Greeks, issued an edict, enjoining them to
conform to the laws of other nations, and forbidding their usual
sacrifices in the temple, their festivals, and their Sabbath. The statue
of Jupiter Olympus was placed upon the altar of the temple, and thus the
abomination of desolation was seen in the temple of God. Many corrupt
Jews complied with these orders; but others resisted them. Mattathias
and his sons retired to the mountains. Old Eleazar, and the seven
brethren, suffered death with great courage at Antioch, 2 Mac. vii.
Mattathias being dead, Judas Maccabæus headed those Jews who continued
faithful, and opposed with success the generals whom king Antiochus sent
into Judea. The king, informed of the valour and resistance of Judas,
sent new forces; and, finding his treasures exhausted, he resolved to go
into Persia to levy tributes, and to collect large sums which he had
agreed to pay to the Romans, 1 Mac. iii, 5–31; 2 Mac. ix, 1, &c; 1 Mac.
vi, 1, &c. Knowing that very great riches were lodged in the temple of
Elymaïs, he determined to carry it off; but the inhabitants of the
country made so vigorous a resistance, that he was forced to retreat
toward Babylonia. When he was come to Ecbatana, he was informed of the
defeat of Nicanor and Timotheus, and that Judas Maccabæus had retaken
the temple of Jerusalem, and restored the worship of the Lord, and the
usual sacrifices. On receiving this intelligence, the king was
transported with indignation; and, threatening to make Jerusalem a grave
for the Jews, commanded the driver of his chariot to urge the horses
forward, and to hasten his journey. However, divine vengeance soon
overtook him: he fell from his chariot, and bruised all his limbs. He
was also tormented with such pains in his bowels, as allowed him no
rest; and his disease was aggravated by grief and vexation. In this
condition he wrote to the Jews very humbly, promised them many things,
and engaged even to turn Jew, if God would restore him to health. He
earnestly recommended to them his son Antiochus, who was to succeed him,
and entreated them to favour the young prince, and to continue faithful
to him. He died, overwhelmed with pain and grief, in the mountains of
Paratacene, in the little town of Tabes, in the year of the world 3840,
and before Jesus Christ 164.
5. ANTIOCHUS EUPATOR, son of Antiochus Epiphanes, was only nine years
old when his father died and left him the kingdom of Syria. Lysias, who
governed the kingdom in the name of the young prince, led against Judea
an army of one hundred thousand foot, twenty thousand horse, and thirty
elephants, 1 Mac. vi; 2 Mac. xiii. He besieged and took the fortress of
Bethsura, and thence marched against Jerusalem. The city was ready to
fall into his hands when Lysias received the news that Philip, whom
Antiochus Epiphanes had entrusted with the regency of the kingdom, had
come to Antioch to take the government, according to the disposition of
the late king. He therefore proposed an accommodation with the Jews,
that he might return speedily to Antioch and oppose Philip. After
concluding a peace, he immediately returned into Syria, with the young
king and his army.
In the meantime, Demetrius Soter, son of Seleucus Philopator, and nephew
to Antiochus Epiphanes, to whom by right the kingdom belonged, having
escaped from Rome, came into Syria. Finding the people disposed for
revolt, Demetrius headed an army, and marched directly to Antioch,
against Antiochus and Lysias. However, the inhabitants did not wait till
he besieged the city; but opened the gates, and delivered to him Lysias
and the young king Antiochus Eupator, whom Demetrius caused to be put to
death, without suffering them to appear in his presence. Antiochus
Eupator reigned only two years, and died in the year of the world 3842,
and before Jesus Christ 162.
6. ANTIOCHUS THEOS, or the _Divine_, the son of Alexander Balas, king of
Syria, was brought up by the Arabian prince Elmachuel, or, as he is
called in the Greek, Simalcue, 1 Mac. xi, 39, 40, &c. Demetrius Nicanor,
king of Syria, having rendered himself odious to his troops, one
Diodotus, otherwise called Tryphon, came to Zabdiel, a king in Arabia,
and desired him to entrust him with young Antiochus, whom he promised to
place on the throne of Syria, which was then possessed by Demetrius
Nicanor. After some hesitation, Zabdiel complied with the request; and
Tryphon carried Antiochus into Syria, and put the crown on his head. The
troops dismissed by Demetrius, came and joined Tryphon, who, having
formed a powerful army, defeated Demetrius, and forced him to retreat to
Seleucia. Tryphon seized his elephants, and rendered himself master of
Antioch, in the year of the world 3859, and before Jesus Christ 145.
Antiochus Theos, to strengthen himself in his new acquisition, sent
letters to Jonathan Maccabæus, high priest and prince of the Jews,
confirming him in the high priesthood, and granting him four toparchies,
or four considerable places, in Judea. He also received Jonathan into
the number of his friends, sent him vessels of gold, permitted him to
use a gold cup, to wear purple, and a golden buckle; and he gave his
brother, Simon Maccabæus, the command of all his troops on the coast of
the Mediterranean, from Tyre to Egypt. Jonathan, engaged by so many
favours, declared resolutely for Antiochus, or rather for Tryphon, who
reigned under the name of this young prince; and on several occasions,
he attacked the generals of Demetrius, who still possessed many places
beyond Jordan and in Galilee, 1 Macc. xi, 63, &c; xii, 24, 34. Tryphon,
seeing young Antiochus in peaceable possession of the kingdom of Syria,
resolved to usurp his crown. He thought it necessary, in the first
place, to secure Jonathan Maccabæus who was one of the most powerful
supporters of Antiochus’s throne. He came, therefore, with troops into
Judea, invited Jonathan to Ptolemais, and there, on frivolous pretences,
made him prisoner. However, Simon, Jonathan’s brother, headed the troops
of Judea, and opposed Tryphon, who intended to take Jerusalem. Tryphon,
being disappointed, put Jonathan to death at Bassa or Bascama, and
returned into Syria, where, without delay, he executed his design of
killing Antiochus. He corrupted the royal physicians, who, having
published that Antiochus was tormented with the stone, murdered him, by
cutting him without any necessity. Thus Tryphon was left master of
Syria, in the year of the world 3861, and before Jesus Christ 143.
7. ANTIOCHUS SIDETES, or _Soter_ the Saviour, or _Eusebes_ the pious,
was the son of Demetrius Soter, and brother to Demetrius Nicanor.
Tryphon, the usurper of the kingdom of Syria, having rendered himself
odious to his troops, they deserted him, and offered their services to
Cleopatra, the wife of Demetrius Nicanor. She lived in the city of
Seleucia, shut up with her children, while her husband Demetrius was a
prisoner in Persia, where he had married Rodeguna, the daughter of
Arsaces king of Persia. Cleopatra, therefore sent to Antiochus Sidetes,
her brother-in-law, and offered him the crown of Syria, if he would
marry her; to which Antiochus consented. This prince was then at Cnidus,
where his father, Demetrius Soter had placed him with one of his
friends. He came into Syria, and wrote to Simon Maccabæus, to engage him
against Tryphon, 1 Macc. xv, 1, 2, 3, &c. He confirmed the privileges
which the kings of Syria had granted to Simon, permitted him to coin
money with his own stamp, declared Jerusalem and the temple exempt from
royal jurisdiction, and promised other favours as soon as he should
obtain peaceable possession of the kingdom which had belonged to his
ancestors. Antiochus Sidetes having married his sister-in-law,
Cleopatra, in the year of the world 3865, the troops of Tryphon resorted
to him in crowds. Tryphon, thus abandoned, retired to Dora, in
Phœnicia, whither Antiochus pursued him with an army of 120,000 foot,
800 horse, and a powerful fleet. Simon Maccabæus sent Antiochus two
thousand chosen men, but the latter refused them and revoked all his
promises. He also sent Athenobius to Jerusalem to oblige Simon to
restore to him Gazara and Joppa, with the citadel of Jerusalem; and to
demand of him five hundred talents more, as reparation for injuries the
king had suffered, and as tribute for his own cities. At the same time
he threatened to make war upon him, if he did not comply. Simon showed
Athenobius all the lustre of his wealth and power, told him he had in
his possession no place which belonged to Antiochus, and said that the
cities of Gazara and Joppa had greatly injured his people, and he would
give the king for the property of them one hundred talents. Athenobius
returned with great indignation to Antiochus, who was extremely offended
at Simon’s answer. In the meantime, Tryphon having escaped privately
from Dora, embarked in a vessel and fled. Antiochus pursued him, and
sent Cendebeus with troops into the maritime parts of Palestine, and
commanded him to rebuild Cedron, and fight the Jews. John Hircanus, son
of Simon Maccabæus, was then at Gaza, and gave notice to his father of
the coming of Cendebeus. Simon furnished his sons, John Hircanus and
Judas with troops, and sent them against Cendebeus, whom they routed in
the plain and pursued to Azotus.
Antiochus followed Tryphon, till he forced him to kill himself in the
year of the world 3869. After this, Antiochus thought only of reducing
to his obedience those cities which, in the beginning of his father’s
reign, had shaken off their subjection. Simon Maccabæus, prince and high
priest of the Jews, being treacherously murdered by Ptolemy, his
son-in-law, in the castle of Docus, near Jericho, the murderer
immediately sent to Antiochus Sidetes to demand troops, that he might
recover for him the country and cities of the Jews. Antiochus came in
person with an army, and besieged Jerusalem, which was bravely defended
by John Hircanus. The siege was long protracted; and the king divided
his army into seven parts, and guarded all the avenues of the city. It
being the time for celebrating the feast of tabernacles, the Jews
desired of Antiochus a truce for seven days. The king not only granted
this request, but sent them bulls with gilded horns, and vessels of gold
and silver filled with incense, to be offered in the temple. He also
ordered such provisions as they wanted, to be given to the Jewish
soldiers. This courtesy of the king so won the hearts of the Jews, that
they sent ambassadors to treat of peace, and to desire that they might
live according to their own laws. Antiochus required that they should
surrender their arms, demolish the city walls, pay tribute for Joppa and
the other cities they possessed out of Judea, and receive a garrison
into Jerusalem. To these conditions, except the last, the Jews
consented; for they could not be induced to see an army of strangers in
their capital, and chose rather to give hostages and five hundred
talents of silver. The king entered the city, beat down the breast work
above the walls, and returned to Syria, in the year of the world 3870,
and before Jesus Christ 134. Three years after, Antiochus marched
against the Persians, or Parthians, and demanded the liberty of his
brother Demetrius Nicanor, who had been made prisoner long before by
Arsaces, and was detained for the purpose of being employed in exciting
a war against Antiochus. This war, therefore, Antiochus thought proper
to prevent. With an army of eighty thousand, or, as Orosius says, of one
hundred thousand men, he marched toward Persia, and no sooner appeared
on the frontiers of that country, than several eastern princes,
detesting the pride and avarice of the Persians, came and surrendered.
Antiochus defeated his enemies in three engagements, and took Babylon.
He was accompanied in these expeditions by John Hircanus, high priest of
the Jews, who, it is supposed, obtained the surname of Hircanus from
some gallant action which he performed.
As the army of Antiochus was too numerous to continue assembled in any
one place, he was obliged to divide it, to put it into winter quarters.
These troops behaved with so much insolence, that they alienated the
minds of all men. The cities in which they were, privately surrendered
to the Persians; and all resolved to attack, in one day, the garrisons
they contained, that the troops being separated might not assist each
other. Antiochus at Babylon obtained intelligence of this design, and,
with the few soldiers about him, endeavoured to succour his people. He
was attacked in the way by Phraates, king of Persia, whom he fought with
great bravery; but being at length deserted by his own forces, according
to the generality of historians, he was overpowered and killed by the
Persians or Parthians. Appian, however, says that he killed himself, and
Ælian, that he threw himself headlong from a precipice. This event took
place in the year of the world 3874, and before Jesus Christ 130. After
the death of Sidetes, Demetrius Nicanor, or Nicetor, reascended the
throne of Syria.
ANTIPÆDOBAPTISTS, a denomination given to those who object to the
baptism of infants. The word is derived from ἀντὶ, _against_, ϖᾶις,
ϖαιδὸς, _a child_, βαπτίζω, _I baptize_. See BAPTISM.