SELEUCUS III., sirnamed CERAUNUS, eldest son of Seleucus II., succeeded him on the throne of Syria. He was a weak and incapable prince; and after a reign of three years he was poisoned by two of his chief officers, while engaged in an expedition against Attalus.

ACHEUS, the son of Andromachus, whose sister was the wife of Seleucus Ceraunus, was offered the crown of Syria as successor to Seleucus, but declined in favour of Antiochus, the brother of the deceased king, who was afterwards sirnamed the Great. All the provinces of Asia Minor was committed to the charge of Achæus. In this station he wrested from Attalus, king of Pergamus, all the countries in Asia which that prince had seized, and annexed them to the crown of Syria. When designs were formed against him, he seized the crown which he had before refused, and was crowned at Laodicea, in Phrygia, assuming ever afterwards the regal title in all letters to the cities of Asia, and obliging them to give it him in all their addresses. Antiochus having succeeded in several enterprises, directed his attention towards carrying on the war in Asia Minor against Achæus, who being shut up in the castle of Sardis, was delivered to Antiochus, after he had taken the city. This prince was moved with compassion towards a person to whom he had once owed his crown; but motives of state prevailing over his natural tenderness, he ordered him to be put to death.

ANTIOCHUS III., sirnamed the GREAT, brother to Seleucus Ceraunus, was king of Syria and Asia, and reigned thirty-six years. He was defeated by Ptolemy Philopater at Raphia; after which he made war against Persia, and took Sardes. After the death of Philopater, he endeavoured to crush his infant son Epiplanes; but the guardians solicited the aid of the Romans, and Antiochus was compelled to resign his pretensions. He conquered the greater part of Greece, of which some cities implored the aid of Rome; and Hannibal, who had taken refuge at his court, encouraged him to make war against Italy. He was glad to find himself supported by the abilities of such a general; but his measures were dilatory, and not agreeable to the advice of Hannibal, and he was conquered, and obliged to retire beyond Mount Taurus, and pay a yearly fine of two hundred talents to the Romans. His revenues being unable to pay the fine, he attempted to plunder the temple of Belus in Susiana, which so incensed the inhabitants, that they killed him with his followers, B. C. 187. In his character of king, Antiochus was humane and liberal, the patron of learning, and the friend of merit; and he published an edict, ordering his subjects never to obey unless his commands were consistent with the laws of the country. He had three sons, Seleucus Philopater, Antiochus Epiphanes, and

Demetrius. The first succeeded him, and the two others were kept as hostages by the Romans. He had a daughter named Antiochia.

SELEUCUS, sirnamed PHILOPATER, succeeded his father Antiochus the Great, on the throne of Syria, in the year B. C. 187. He was favourable to the Jews during the greatest part of his reign, but near the close of it he employed Heliodorus to carry off the treasures of the temple at Jerusalem, as is mentioned in the second book of Maccabees. He was afterwards poisoned by Heliodorus, who usurped his throne. This event occurred in the year B. C. 176. There were several other kings of the name of Seleucus, but they did nothing worthy of

notice.

ARIARATHES V., king of Cappadocia, a prince who married Antiochia, the daughter of king Antiochus, whom he assisted against the Romans. Antiochus, being defeated, Ariarathes saved his kingdom from invasion by paying the Romans a large sum of money remitted at the instance of the king of Pergamus.

ARIARATHES VI., son of the preceding, called PHILOPATER, from his piety, succeeded his father B. C. 166. An alliance with the Romans shielded him against the false claims that were laid to his crown by one of the favourites of Demetrius king of Syria. He was maintained on his throne by Attalus, and assisted his friends of Rome against Aristonicus, the usurper of Pergamus; but he was killed in the war, B. C. 130, leaving six children, five of whom were murdered by his surviving wife Laodice.

MITHRIDATES IV., king of Pontus, succeeded his father Ariobazanus, who was the son of Mithridates III.

ARTAXIAS I., king of Armenia, of which country he was joint governor with Hadriades, under Antiochus the Great, but setting up for themselves, they established the two kingdoms of Greater and Lesser Armenia, the first of which was obtained by Artaxias. He was made prisoner by Antiochus Epiphanes, but afterwards obtained his liberty and his throne.

MITHRIDATES V., king of Pontus, succeeded his father Mithridates IV., and strengthened himself on his throne by an alliance with Antiochus the Great, whose daughter Laodice he married. He was succeeded by his son Pharnaces.

ANTIOCHUS IV., sirnamed EPIPHANES, or ILLUSTRIOUS, was king of Syria, after the death of his brother Seleucus, and reigned eleven years. He destroyed Jerusalem, and was so cruel to the Jews, that they called him Epimanes, or Furius, and not Epiphanes. He attempted to plunder Persepolis without effect. He was of a voracious appetite, and fond of childish diversions; he used for his pleasure to empty bags of money in the streets, to see the people's eagerness to gather it;

he bathed in the public baths with the populace, and was fond of perfuming himself to excess. He invited all the Greeks he could at Antioch, and waited upon them as a servant, and danced with such indecency among the stage players, that even the most dissipated and shameless blushed at the sight.

PHILIP, foster brother of Antiochus Epiphanes, (1 Macc. vi. 14 and 55, 2 Macc. ix. 29,) was a Phrygian by birth, and very much in Antiochus's favour. This prince made him governor of Jerusalem, (2 Macc. viii. 8, v, 22,) where he treated the Jews very cruelly, to force them to change their religion. Seeing that Apollonius and Seron were defeated by Judas Maccabæus, he sent for new succours to Ptolemy, governor of Colo-Syria, who sent him Gorgius and Nicanor with a powerful army. Some time after, Antiochus, going beyond the Euphrates to extort money from the people, Philip went along with him; and Antiochus finding himself near his end, (1 Macc. vi. 14,) made him regent of the kingdom, put his diadem into his hands, his royal cloak, and his ring, that he might render them to his son the young Antiochus Eupator. But Lysias having taken possession of the government in the name of the young Eupator, who was but a child, Philip not being able to cope with him, durst not return into Syria; but he went into Egypt, carrying the body of Epiphanes along with him, to implore assistance from Ptolemy Philometor against Lysias, the usurper of the government of Syria. The year following, while Lysias was busy in the war carrying on against the Jews, Philip invaded Syria, and took possession of Antioch; but Lysias returning into the country, with great diligence retook Antioch, and put Philip to death, who was taken in the city.

MATTATHIAS, a Jewish priest, founder of the family of Maccabees, was descended from one of the twenty-four appointed by David to officiate in the temple, and was of the branch of the Asmoneans. The persecution of his countrymen, and profanation of their religion by Antiochus Epiphanes, were so grievous to him, that he retired from Jerusalem to his native place, to avoid the sight. One of the king's officers, named Apelles, coming thither to enforce his master's commands, assembled the people, with Mattathias and his five sons, and endeavoured to persuade them to compliance; but the zealous and patriotic priest loudly declared, that although the whole nation abandoned the religion of their fathers, he and his house would continue faithful to their God. His zeal carried him much farther than a mere assertion of his pious constancy; he put in practice an injunction of the Mosaic law, by actually killing on the spot a Jew who presented himself to sacrifice at the altar of an idol. At the same instant, he fell upon, and slew the king's officer and his attendants, overthrew the idol, and ran

through the city, calling upon all who were attached to their law to follow them. They quickly found themselves at the head of a considerable body of men; and having consulted together as to the lawfulness of fighting on the Sabbath-day, it was agreed not only to be lawful, but obligatory, to resist an attack from their enemies, and the enemies of their religion, on the sabbath. They instantly became aggressors, and marched from city to city; overthrew the altars of idolatry, and restored the worship of the true God. Mattathias caused all the prisoners taken from the apostates to be put to death without mercy or compunction. Thus successfully did he commence that revolt which was productive of so many great events under his sons Simeon, Judas, and Jonathan; and perceiving his own end approaching, he gave a most solemn exhortation to his sons to live in unity, and pursue with zeal and courage the course they had entered upon. He died B.C. 166, leaving behind him the character of a valiant and faithful asserter of the religion and liberty of his country.

JUDAS MACCABÆUS, a valiant leader of the Jews, was the third son of Mattathias, of the Asmonean family, whom he succeeded as general of his nation in the year B. Č. 166. At this period the Jews were in a state of revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes, and Judas with a small body of men harrassed the Syrians, Samaritans, and apostate Jews, and filled the country with the terror of his name. After some important successes, and being left master of the field, Judas marched to Jerusalem, where he purified the city and temple, the latter of which was again dedicated, and a commemoratory festival on this occasion was instituted, which was ordered to be perpetual. The death of Antiochus gave the Jews some respite, but hostilities were soon renewed, and Judas displayed his usual vigour and military prowess. Lysias, the commander of the Syrians, was now his chief antagonist, him he defeated and obliged to seek terms of peace. After this the Syrian general invaded Judea a second time, and obliged Judas to take refuge in Jerusalem. He besieged the city, which would probably, notwithstanding the valour of its defender, have been obliged to surrender for want of provisions, had not the hostile army been hastily recalled by a rebellion in their own country. After Demetrius Soter had obtained the crown of Syria, the war with the Jews was renewed. Bacchides marched with the flower of his army, surprised Judas at the head of a small body of men, of whom, all but eight hundred, deserted at the approach of the enemy. With these he made a desperate resistance, till he fell upon a heap of slaughtered enemies. This was in the year B. C. 161. The news of his death caused the utmost grief and consternation at Jerusalem, where a general mourning was made for him, and he was cele

brated in songs as one of the greatest heroes of the nation. His body was recovered, and interred in the sepulchre of his father at Modin

ZACCHEUS, a person who was left by Judas Maccabæus, along with Simon and Joseph, to besiege the sons of Beon in two towers, (2 Macc. x. 19, 1 Macc. v. 5, iv. 5,) in the year of the world 3840. But Simon's people being bribed with money, permitted some to escape. Judas put these traitors to death. It is not plain that Joseph, Simon, or Zaccheus had any share in this treachery.

- JONATHAN, sirnamed Apphus, was son of Mattathias, and brother to Judas Maccabæus. After the death of Judas, he was appointed general of the troops of Israel. Bacchides, general of Demetrius Soter, his enemy, was soon informed of it. Jonathan went immediately into the country bordering on the lake Asphaltites; at last he passed the river Jordan, and observing that Bacchides was advancing towards him with a powerful army, in order to give him battle on the sabbath-day, and being posted in such a manner that he had the enemy before him, Jordan at his back, and woods and marshes at his right and left, he exhorted his people to implore the assistance of heaven, and represented to them the necessity they were under of either conquering or dying, since there was no way for escape. He therefore immediately gave battle, and being within reach of Bacchides, he stretched out his arm, meaning to run him through; but Bacchides dexterously avoided the blow by retiring backwards. At length Jonathan and his people having laid a thousand of their enemies dead upon the spot, and being apprehensive that they should be overwhelmed with numbers, threw themselves into the river Jordan, and swam over it, in the presence of their enemies, who, not daring to pursue them, retreated to Jerusalem. After various other battles, Jonathan made proposals of peace, which Bacchides accepted, returned to Syria, and came no more into Judea. Jonathan dwelt at Machmas, not at Jerusalem, because the troops of Demetrius Nicator were in possession of the citadel. Some years afterwards, Alexander Balas and Demetrius Soter, who contended for the kingdom of Syria, wrote to Jonathan, desiring his friendship, each endeavouring to engage him in their party. Jonathan declared for Alexander Balas, against Demetrius. The first time of his putting on the high-priest's ornaments was on the feast of Tabernacles, in the year B. C, 152. After his receiving Alexander Balas's letter, who gave him this dignity, the people importuned him to accept it, and he solemnly performed the functions belonging to it.

Two years after, Alexander Balas celebrating his marriage with the king of Egypt's daughter at Ptolemais, Jonathan was invited thither, and appeared with royal magnificence. Some

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