Antiochus III the Great

“ Thoas, the foremost man amongst them, happened to return from his mission to Antiochus just at this time, bringing with him an envoy from the king in the person of Menippus. Before the meeting of the national council these two men had filled all ears with descriptions of the land and sea forces which Antiochus had collected. They declared that a great host of infantry and cavalry were on their way, elephants had been brought from India and - what they thought would most of all impress the popular mind - he was bringing gold enough to buy up the Romans themselves. ”

“ Antiochus seemed to have restored the Seleucid empire in the east, and the achievement brought him the title of “the Great King.” In 205/4 the infant Ptolemy V. Epiphanes succeeded to the Egyptian throne, and Antiochus concluded a secret pact with Philip of Macedonia for the partition of the Ptolemaic possessions. Once more Antiochus attacked Palestine, and by 199 he seems to have had possession of it. It was, however, recovered for Ptolemy by the Aetolian Scopas. ”

“ The history of Antiochus the Great is foretold in the 11th chapter of the prophet Daniel, from the 14th to the 19th verse. On the death of Ptolemy Philopator, this king entered Palestine with a great army, and easily obtained from the time-serving Jews the surrender of Jerusalem. Some of them who had forsaken their Law to gain the favour of Ptolemy, were punished by Antiochus, because he knew that no trust could be placed in men who cared for their own profit more than for their God. ”

“ The offer was accepted, and the two brothers set out for Greece, and thence for Asia. Africanus took his son with him on this expedition, but by some unlucky chance the boy was taken prisoner, and sent to Antiochus. The king offered to restore him to freedom, and to give a considerable sum of money, if the father would interpose his influence to obtain favorable terms for the king. Africanus refused; but the king, notwithstanding, soon after sent the boy back to his father, who just then was suffering from illness, and was absent from the camp. ”

“ This Antioch, then, Antiochus the Great Built up, this city, for his chiefest seat; The fairest in all Syria, I tell you what mine authors say: This king unto him took a fere, Who died and left a female heir, So buxom, so blithe, and full of face, As heaven had lent her all his grace; With whom the father liking took, And her to incest did provoke: Bad child; worse father! to entice his own To evil should be done by none: But custom what they did begin Was with long use account no sin. ”

“ And they all put crowns upon themselves after his death, and their sons after them, many years; and evils were multiplied in the earth.
1:11. And there came out of them a wicked root, Antiochus the Illustrious, the son of king Antiochus, who had been a hostage at Rome: and he reigned in the hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.
Antiochus the Illustrius. . .Epiphanes, the younger son of Antiochus the Great, who usurped the kingdom, to the prejudice of his nephew Demetrius, son of his elder brother Seleucus Philopater.—Ibid. Of the kingdom of the Greeks. . ”

“ Antiochus was no general. Himself irresolute and fond of pleasure, the power behind his throne was HANNIBAL. This great soldier, after his defeat at Zama, did not relinquish the aim of his life. He became the chief magistrate of his native city, and in a short time cleared the moral atmosphere, which was charged with corruption and depravity. Under him Carthage might have risen again. But his intrigues with Antiochus, with whom he wished to make an alliance, gave Rome an opportunity to interfere. ”

“ Now Antiochus, upon the agreeable situation of the affairs of his kingdom, resolved to make an expedition against Egypt, both because he had a desire to gain it, and because he contemned the son of Ptolemy, as now weak, and not yet of abilities to manage affairs of such consequence; so he came with great forces to Pelusium, and circumvented Ptolemy Philometor by treachery, and seized upon Egypt. He then came to the places about Memphis; and when he had taken them, he made haste to Alexandria, in hopes of taking it by siege, and of subduing Ptolemy, who reigned there. ”

“ The descendants of the Macedonians and Greeks in the colonies of Alexander and Seleucus, had become quite unwarlike; just as the Pullani (the offspring of the crusaders) in the Holy Land, a set of people with all the vices of the east without its virtues. Yet, as he possessed the whole extent of the Persian empire, Antiochus was looked upon in Asia as the μέγας βασιλεύς, and in Europe, as the terrible adversary of the Romans: the Ætolians therefore built great hopes on him.
It was natural that Hannibal should turn himself towards this prince, and try to stir him up to a war against Rome ”

“ For Antiochus, with his friends, came to the place as though he would marry her, and that he might receive great sums of money under the title of a dowry.
1:15. And when the priests of Nanea had set it forth, and he with a small company had entered into the compass of the temple, they shut the temple,
1:16. When Antiochus was come in: and opening a secret entrance of the temple, they cast stones and slew the leader, and them that were with him, and hewed them in pieces; and cutting off their heads, they threw them forth.
1:17. Blessed be God in all things, who hath delivered up the wicked. ”

“ A pretender to the name and titles of Antiochus, surnamed the Great, King of Syria, is mentioned by several ancient historians as having appeared after the death of that monarch. There is an unfathomable mystery, however, about the whole affair. This celebrated sovereign having acquired considerable renown by his wars against the Romans, and his efforts on behalf of Greek freedom, eventually falsified his subjects' expectation by giving way to all kinds of debaucheries and enervating excesses. ”

“ It is very probable that a similar reception awaited Antiochus I. in Ilium, so that he kept the city in good remembrance. That he cherished kindly feelings towards the Ilians is proved also by the inscription No. 3595 in the ‘Corpus Inscriptionum Græcarum.’ But whether it is he or Antiochus the Great that is referred to in the inscription I do not venture to decide. ”

“ Antiochus the Great, the successor of Seleucus, appointed him to the command of all Asia on this side of mount Taurus, BC 223. Achaeus recovered for the Syrian empire all the districts which Attalus had gained; but having been falsely accused by Hermeias, the minister of Antiochus, of intending to revolt, he did so in self-defence, assumed the title of king, and ruled over the whole of Asia on this side of the Taurus. As long as Antiochus was engaged in the war with Ptolemy, he could not march against Achaeus ”

“ Because of these successes Antiochus laid claim to the title of "Great." [17] Other Parthian dependencies, when they saw him master of Babylonia (130 b.c.) , [18] believed the newly established empire tottering and joined the Seleucid monarch.
When winter closed in, Antiochus went into quarters in Media instead of retiring to Syria as Phraates had hoped. Because of the numbers of his troops he found it advisable to billet them in several cities, where they formed a burden to the populace, only a part of which was friendly. ”

“ I hate the Romans and the Romans hate me. My father Hamilcar and all the gods are witness that I am speaking the truth. When, then, you are making plans for a war against Rome, count Hannibal amongst the first of your friends; if circumstances constrain you to remain at peace, seek someone else to share your counsels." This speech had a great effect upon the king and it brought about a reconciliation with Hannibal. The king left the council, resolved on war.
20 In Rome people spoke of Antiochus as the enemy, but beyond this attitude of mind they were making no preparations for war. ”

“ The Roman envoys and Quinctius himself were not far away, it would be better to discuss the question at issue in friendly debate than to throw Europe and Asia into a deadly struggle of arms.
33 The great mass of the assembly, eager for a change of policy, were wholly on the side of Antiochus and were even opposed to admitting the Romans into the council. Mainly, however, through the influence of the elders amongst their leading men, it was decided that a meeting of the council should be summoned to hear them. ”

“ Since now this scene where the great enemy of the people of God comes to his end, i.e., perishes, in no respect agrees with the place where Antiochus died, then according to Hitzig the pseudo-Daniel does not here accurately distinguish the separate expeditions from one another, and must have omitted between the first and the second half of the verse the interval between the return of Antiochus from Egypt and his death, because Antiochus never again trod the soil of Palestine. Such expedients condemn themselves. With “he shall come to his end,” cf. ”

“ Now, Antiochus sent his steward, Taliarchus, to Tyre, with orders to destroy Apollonius; but by the time the steward arrived the prince had put to sea in a fleet laden with treasure, corn, and many changes of raiment. Hearing this, Antiochus set a price on the head of Apollonius, and pursued him with a great armament. The prince, arriving at Tharsus, saved that city from famine by the supplies he brought, and a statue was raised in his honour. Then, by the advice of one Stranguilio and his wife, Dionysias, he sailed to Pentapolis. ”

“ The fourth Beast was the empire which succeeded that of the Greeks, and this was the Roman. This beast was exceeding dreadful and terrible, and had great iron teeth, and devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; and such was the Roman empire. It was larger, stronger, and more formidable and lasting than any of the former. It conquered the kingdom of Macedon, with Illyricum and Epirus, in the eighth year of Antiochus Epiphanes, Anno Nabonass.. 580; and inherited that of Pergamus, Anno Nabonass. 615; and conquered that of Syria, Anno Nabonass. ”

“ The infantry, coming up in their ordered ranks, prepared for battle, attacked a foe carelessly scattered and almost half asleep. The whole plain was covered with the bodies of the slain, and men were everywhere fleeing for their lives. Diophanes kept up the pursuit as long as it was safe, and then retired to the shelter of the city walls, after winning great glory for the Achaeans, for the women as well as the men had watched the action from the walls of Pergamum. ”

“ The king's troops made it a practice to advance up to the foot of the hill on which the city stands. In this way they acted as a screen, and the plundering parties behind them were not interfered with, as none came out of the city, not even to attack the advanced posts with missiles at long range. After the citizens had been once cowed by defeat they shut themselves within their wall, and the king's troops looked upon them with contempt and became careless. A great many did not keep their horses either saddled or bridled ”

“ Antiochus, the king of Antioch, (from whom the city takes its name,) had a daughter of such uncommon beauty, that when she came of marriageable years, she was sought after with the greatest eagerness. But on whom to bestow her was a source of much anxiety to the king; and, from frequently contemplating the exquisite loveliness of her face, the delicacy of her form, and the excellence of her disposition, he began to love her with more than a father's love. He burned with an unhallowed flame, and would have excited a simultaneous feeling in his daughter. ”

“ So they are indifferent to the opinion which the Achaeans have of them, because they are aware that they are thoroughly known to them. It is for the king's representatives, and through them for the king himself, that he has uttered this bombast. If anyone did not know before what it was that led Antiochus to make common cause with the Aetolians, it came out clearly in their delegate's speech. By lying to one another and boasting of forces which neither of them possess they have filled each other with vain hopes. ”

“ His kingdom on the contrary was weak, and tributary to the Romans, and he did not enlarge it. The horn was a King of fierce countenance, and destroyed wonderfully, and prospered and practised; that is, he prospered in his practises against the holy people: but Antiochus was frighted out of Egypt by a mere message of the Romans, and afterwards routed and baffled by the Jews. The horn was mighty by another's power, Antiochus acted by his own. The horn stood up against the Prince of the Host of heaven, the Prince of Princes ”

“ Here again the fighting was confined to skirmishes, as Eumenes firmly declined to risk a decisive action. A few days later the Roman and Rhodian fleets moved from Samos to Elea to support the king. When Antiochus received intelligence that troops were landed at Elea and that such a large naval force was concentrated in a single harbour, and at the same time learnt that the consul and his army were already in Macedonia, and that all preparations were being made for crossing the Hellespont, he thought that the time had come for discussing terms of peace, before he was beset both by land and sea. ”

“ None would feel the fatal result of such a war sooner than those who set it in motion. The Roman was a true prophet, but he spoke in vain. Without allowing time for deliberation by adjourning the council or even waiting for the Romans to retire, Thoas and the rest of his supporters got a decree passed amidst the cheers of the assembly for inviting Antiochus to give liberty to Greece and arbitrate between the Romans and the Aetolians. The insolence of this decree was aggravated by the personal effrontery of Damocritus their chief magistrate. ”