strongest, it was at last transferred to another family. If Alexander had continued peaceably in Macedonia, the grandeur of his empire would not have excited the ambition of his captains, and he might have transmitted the sceptre of his progenitors to his own descendants; but, as he had not prescribed any bounds to his power, he was instrumental in the destruction of his house; and we shall behold the extermination of his family, without the least remaining traces of them in history. His conquests occasioned a vast effusion of blood, and furnished his captains with a pretext for murdering one another. These were the effects that flowed from the boasted bravery of Alexander, or rather from that brutality, which, under the glittering names of ambition and glory, spread and carried desolation, fire and sword through whole provinces without the least provocation, and shed the blood of multitudes who had never injured him.

We are not to imagine, however, that Providence abandoned these events to chance, but, as it was then preparing all things for the approaching appearance of the Messiah, it was vigilant to unite all the nations that were to be first enlightened with the gospel, by the use of one and the same language, which was that of Greece: and the same Providence rendered it necessary for them to learn this foreign tongue, by subjecting them to such masters as spoke no other. The Deity, therefore, by the agency of this language, which became more common and universal than any other, facilitated the preaching of the apostles, and rendered it more uniform.

The partition of the empire of Alexander the Great among the generals of that prince, immediately after his death, did not subsist for any length of time, and hardly took place, if we except Egypt, where Ptolemy had first established himself, and on the throne of which he always maintained himself, without acknowledging any superior.

This partition was not fully regulated and fixed, till after the battle of Ipsus in Phrygia,* wherein Antigones and his son Demetrius, surnamed Poliorcetes, were defeated, and the former lost his life. The empire of Alexander was then divided into four kingdoms by a solemn treaty, as had been foretold by Daniel. Ptolemy had Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Cœlosyria, and Palestine. Cassander, the son of Antipater, obtained Macedonia and Greece. Lysimachus acquired Thrace, Bithynia, and some other provinces on the other side of the Hellespont and the Bosphorus; and Seleucus had Syria, and all that part of Asia Major which extended to the other side of the Euphrates, and as far as the river Indus.

Of these four kingdoms, those of Egypt and Syria subsisted almost without any interruption, in the same families, and through a long succession of princes. The kingdom of Macedonia had several masters of different families successively. That of Thrace was at last divided into several branches, and no longer constituted one entire body, by which means all traces of regular succession ceased to subsist.

I. THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT.

THE kingdom of Egypt had fourteen monarchs, including Cleopatra, after whose death those dominions became a province of the Roman empire. All these princes had the common name of Ptolemy, but each of them was likewise distinguished by a surname. They had also the appellation of Lagides, from Lagus, the father of that Ptolemy who reigned the first in Egypt. The histories of six of these kings will be found in the third and fourth volume of this work, and I shall give their names a place here, with the duration of their reigns, the first of which commenced immediately upon the death of Alexander the Great.

Ptolemy Soter. He reigned thirty-eight years and some months.†

A. M. 3704. Ant J. C. 300.

†A. M. 3680. Ant. J. C 324.

Ptolemy Philadelphus. He reigned forty years, including the two years of his reign in the lifetime of his father.*

Ptolemy Euergetes, twenty-five years.t
Ptolemy Philopator, seventeen.t
Ptolemy Epiphanes, twenty-four.§
Ptolemy Philometer, thirty-four.

II. THE KINGDOM OF SYRIA.

THE kingdom of Syria had twenty-seven kings; which makes it evident, their reigns were often very short; and, indeed, several of these princes waded to the throne through the blood of their predecessors.

They are usually called Seleucides, from Seleucus, who reigned the first in Syria. History reckons up six kings of this name, and thirteen who are called by that of Antiochus; but they are all distinguished by different surnames. Others of them assumed different names, and the last was called Antiochus XIII. with the surnames of Epiphanes, Asiaticus, and Commagenus. In his reign, Pompey reduced Syria into a Roman province, after it had been governed by kings for the space of two hundred and fifty years, according to Eusebius.

The kings of Syria, the transactions of whose reigns are contained in the third and fourth volumes, are eight in number. Seleucus Nicator. He reigned twenty years. T

Antiochus Soter, nineteen.**

Antiochus Theos, fifteen.††

Seleucus Callinicus, twenty.‡‡

Seleucus Ceraunus, three.§§

Antiochus the Great, thirty-six.||||

Seleucus Philopator, twelve.¶¶

Antiochus Epiphanes, brother of Seleucus Philopator, eleven.*†

III. THE KINGDOM OF MACEDONIA.

MACEDONIA frequently changed its masters, after the solemn partition had been made between the four princes.*+ Cassander died three or four years after that partition, and left three sons. Philip, the eldest, died shortly after his father. The other two contended for the crown without enjoying it, both dying soon after without issue.

Demetrius Poliorcetes, Pyrrhus, and Lysimachus, made themselves masters of all, or the greatest part of Macedonia; sometimes in conjunction, and at other times separately.*§

After the death of Lysimachus, Seleucus possessed himself of Macedonia, but did not long enjoy it.*||

Ptolemy Ceraunus, having slain the preceding prince, seized the kingdom and possessed it alone but a very short time, having lost his life in a battle with the Gauls, who had made an irruption into that country.*¶

Sosthenes, who defeated the Gauls, reigned but a short time in Macedonia.t‡ Antigonus Gonatus, the son of Demetrius Poliorcetes, obtained the peaceable possession of the kingdom of Macedonia, and transmitted those dominions to his descendants, after he had reigned thirty-four years.t§

He was succeeded by his son Demetrius, who reigned ten years, and then died, leaving a son named Philip, who was but two years old.

Antigonus Doson reigned twelve years in the quality of guardian to the young prince.t¶

Philip, after the death of Antigonus, ascended the throne, at the age of fourteen years, and reigned something more than forty.‡§

His son Perseus succeeded him, and reigned about eleven years. He was defeated and taken prisoner by Paulus Emilius; and Macedonia, in consequence of that victory, was added to the provinces of the Roman empire.

IV. THE KINGDOM OF THRACE AND BITHYNIA, &c.

THIS fourth kingdom, composed of several separate provinces, very remote from one another, had not any succession of princes, and did not long subsist in its first condition; Lysimachus, who first obtained it, having been killed in a battle, after a reign of twenty years, and all his family being exterminated by assassinations, his dominions were dismembered, and no longer constituted one kingdom.

Besides the provinces which were divided among the captains of Alexander, there were others which had been either formed before, or were then erected into different and independent Grecian states, whose power greatly increased in process of time.

KINGS OF BITHYNIA.

WHILE Alexander was extending his conquests in the East, Zypethes had laid the foundation of the kingdom of Bithynia. It is not certain who this Zypethes was, unless we may conjecture with Pausanias, that he was a Thracian. His successors, however, are better known.

Nicomedes I. This prince invited the Gauls to assist him against his brother, with whom he was engaged in a war.

Prusias I.

Prusias II. surnamed the Hunter, in whose court Hannibal took refuge, and assisted him with his counsels in his war against Eumenes II. king of Pergamus.

Nicomedes II. was killed by his son Socrates.

Nicomedes III. was assisted by the Romans in his wars with Mithridates, and bequeathed to them at his death the kingdom of Bithynia, as a testimonial of his gratitude to them; by which means these territories became a Roman province.

KINGS OF PERGAMUS.

THIS kingdom at first comprehended only one of the smallest provinces of Mysia, on the coast of the Ægian sea, over against the island of Lesbos. It was founded by Philatera, a eunuch, who had been a servant to Doct mus, a commander of the troops of Antigonus. Lysimachus confided to him the treasures he had deposited in the castle of the city of Pergamus, and he became master both of these and the city after the death of that prince. He governed this little sovereignty for the space of twenty years, and then left it to Eumenes his nephew.

Eumenes I. enlarged his principality, by the addition of several cities, which he took from the kings of Syria, having defeated Antiochus, the son of Seleucus, in a battle.** He reigned twelve years.

He was succeeded by Attalus I. his cousin-german, who assumed the title of king, after he had conquered the Galatians ;ft and transmitted it to his posterity, who enjoyed it to the third generation. He assisted the Romans in their war with Philip, and died after a reign of forty-three years. He left four sons.

His successor was Eumenes II. his eldest son, who founded the famous library of Pergamus. He reigned thirty-nine years, and left the crown to his brother Attalus, in the quality of guardian to one-of his sons, whom he had by Stratonice, the sister of Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia. The Romans

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enlarged his dominions considerably, after the victory he obtained over Antiochus the Great.

Attalus II.* espoused Stratonice his brother's widow, and took extraordinary care of his nephew, to whom he left the crown after he had worn it twenty-one years.

Attalus III.† surnamed Philometer, distinguished himself by his barbarous and extravagant conduct. He died after he had reigned five years, and bequeathed his riches and dominions to the Romans.

Aristonicus, who claimed the succession, endeavoured to defend his pre tensions against the Romans; but the kingdom of Pergamus was reduced, af ter a war of four years, into a Roman province.

KINGS OF PONTUS.

THE kingdom of Pontus in Asia Minor was anciently dismembered from the monarchy of Persia, by Darius the son of Hystaspes, in favour of Artabazus, who is said, by some historians, to have been the son of one of those Persian lords who conspired against the magi.§

Pontus is a region of Asia Minor, and is situated partly along the coast of the Euxine sea (Pontus Euxinus,) from which it derives its name. It extends from the river Halys, as far as Colchis. Several princes reigned in that country since Artabazus.

The sixth monarch was Mithridates I. who is properly considered as the founder of the kingdom of Pontus, and his name was assumed by the generality of his successors.

He was succeeded by his son Ariobarzanes,

who had governed Phrygia

under Artaxerxes Mnemon, who reigned twenty-six years.

His successor was Mithridates II.** Antigones suspecting, in consequence of a dream, that he favoured Cassander, had determined to destroy him, buthe eluded the danger by flight. This prince was called Kriors, or The Founder, and reigned thirty-five years.

Mithridates III. succeeded him, added Cappadocia and Paphlagonia to his dominions, and reigned thirty-six years.tt

After the reigns of two other kings, Mithridates, the great grandfather of Mithridates the Great, ascended the throne, and espoused the daughter of Seleucus Callinicus, the king of Syria, by whom he had Laodice, who was married to Antiochus the Great.

He was succeeded by his son Pharnaces,‡‡ who had some disagreement with the kings of Pergamus. He made himself master of Sinope, which afterwards became the capital of the kingdom of Pontus.

After him reigned Mithridates V. surnamed Euergetes, the first who was called the friend of the Romans, because he had assisted them against the Carthaginians in the third Punic war.

He was succeeded by his son Mithridates VI. surnamed Eupator.§§ This is the great Mithridates, who sustained so long a war with the Romans, and reigned sixty-six years.

KINGS OF CAPPADOCIA.

STRABO informs us, that Cappadocia was divided into two satrapies, or governments, under the Persians, as it also was under the Macedonians. The maritime part of Cappadocia formed the kingdom of Pontus; the other tracts constituted Cappadocia, properly so called, or the Cappadocia Major, which extends along Mount Taurus, and to a great distance beyond it.||||

When Alexander's captains divided the provinces of his empire among themselves, Cappadocia was governed by a prince named Ariarathes.¶¶ Perdiccas attacked and defeated him, after which he caused him to be slain.

His son Ariarathes re-entered the kingdom of his father, sometime after this event, and established himself so effectually, that he left it to his posterity. The generality of his successors assumed the same name, and will ˇbave their place in the series of this history.

Cappadocia, after the death of Archelaus, the last of its kings, became a province of the Roman empire, as the rest of Asia also did, much about the şame time.

KINGS OF ARMENIA.

ARMENIA, a vast country of Asia, extending on each side of the Euphrates, was conquered by the Persians; after which it was transferred, with the rest of the empire, to the Macedonians, and at last fell to the share of the Romans. It was governed for a great length of time by its own kings, the most considerable of whom was Tigranes, who espoused the daughter of the great Mithridates king of Pontus, and was also engaged in a long war with the Ro mans. The kingdom supported itself many years, between the Roman and Parthian empires, sometimes depending on the one, and sometimes on the other, till at last the Romans became its masters.

KINGS OF EPIRUS.

EPIRUS is a province of Greece, separated from Thessaly and Macedonia by mount Pindus. The most powerful people of this country were the Molossians.

The kings of Epirus pretended to derive their descent from Pyrrhus the son of Achilles, who established himself in that country, and called them selves Eacides, from acus the grandfather of Achilles.

The genealogy of the latter kings, who were the only sovereigns of this country of whom any accounts remain, is variously related by authors, and consequently must be doubtful and obscure.*

Arymbas ascended the throne, after a long succession of kings; and as he was then very young, the states of Epirus, who were sensible that the welfare of the people depended on the proper education of their princes, sent him to Athens, which was the residence and centre of all the arts and sciences, in order to cultivate, in that excellent school, such knowledge as was necessary to form the mind of a king. He there learned the art of reigning, and as he surpassed all his ancestors in ability and knowledge, he was in consequence infinitely more esteemed and beloved by his people than they had been.t When he returned from Athens, he made laws, established a senate and a magistracy, and regulated the form of the government.

Neoptolemus, whose daughter Olympias had espoused Philip king of Macedon, attained an equal share in the regal government with Arymbas, his elder brother, by the credit of his son-in-law. After the death of Arymbas, Eacides, his son, ought to have been his successor; but Philip had still sufficient influence to procure his expulsion from the kingdom by the Molossians, who established Alexander the son of Neoptolemus sole monarch of Epirus. Alexander espoused Cleopatra the daughter of Philip, and marched with an army into Italy, where he lost his life in the country of the Brutians.

acides then ascended the throne, and reigned without any associate in Epirus. He espoused Phthia, the daughter of Menon the Thessalian, by whom he had two daughters, Deidamia, and Troias, and one son, the celebrated Pyrrhus.

As he was marching to the assistance of Olympias, his troops mutinied against him, condemned him to exile, and slaughtered most of his friends. Pyrrhus, who was then an infant, happily escaped this massacre.

Neoptolemus, a prince of the blood, but whose particular extraction is little known, was placed on the throne by the people of Epirus.

*Diod. 1. xvi. p. 465. Justin. 1. viii. c. 6.

Plut. in Pyrrho.

↑ Quanto doctior majoríbus, tanto et gratior populo fuit.-Justin. 1. xvii. c. 3.