the rest: The first was called Seleucia, from his own name; the second, Apamea, from his consort of that name, who was the daughter of Artabazus the Persian; the third was Laodicea, so denominated from his mother. Apamea and Seleucia were situated on the same river on which Antioch was built, and Laodicea was in the southern part of the same quarter. He allowed the Jews the same privileges and immunities in each of these new cities, as were enjoyed by the Greeks and Macedonians, and especially at Antioch in Syria, where that people settled in such numbers, that they possessed as considerable a part of that city as their other countrymen enjoyed at Alexandria. Demetrius had withdrawn himself to Ephesus, after the battle of Ipsus, and from thence, embarked for Greece, his whole resource being limited to the affection of the Athenians, with whom he had left his fleet, money, and wife Deidamia. But he was strangely surprised and offended, when he was met in his way, by ambassadors from the Athenians, who came to acquaint him that he could not be admitted into their city, because the people had, by a decree, prohibited the reception of any of the kings: they also informed him, that his consort Deidamia had been conducted to Megara, with all the honours and attendance due to her dignity. Demetrius was then sensible of the value of honours and homages extorted by fear, and which did not proceed from the will. The posture of his affairs not permitting him to revenge the perfidy of that people, he contented himself with intimating his complaints to them in a moderate manner, and demanded his gallies, among which was that prodigious galley of sixteen benches of oars. As soon as he had received them, he sailed towards the Chersonesus; and having committed some devastations in the territories of Lysimachus, he enriched his army with the spoils, and by that expedient prevented the desertion of his A. M. 299. troops, who now began to recover their vigour, and Lysimachus, king of Thrace, in order to strengthen e This double alliance between Lysimachus and 3705 Ptolemy gave umbrage to Seleucus, who thereupon Ant. J. C. entered into a treaty with Demetrius, and espoused Stratonice, the daughter of that prince, by Phila the sister of Cassander. The beauty of that princess had induced Seleucus to demand her in marriage; and as the affairs of Demetrius were at that time in a very bad condition, so honourable an alliance with so powerful a prince was exceedingly agreeable to him. In consequence of which he immediately conducted his daughter with all his fleet into Syria from Greece, where he was still in possession of some places. During his passage he made a descent on Cilicia, which then belonged to Plistarchus the brother of Cassander, to whom it had been assigned by the four kings, who divided the dominions of Alexander the Great after the death of Antigonus. Plistarchus went to complain of this proceeding to Seleucus, and to reproach him for contracting an alliance with the common enemy, without the confent of the other kings, which he considered as an infraction of the treaty. Demetrius receiving intelligence of this journey, advanced directly to the city of Synada, where the treafures of the province, amounting to twelve hundred talents*, were deposited. These he carried off with all expedition to his fleet, and then set sail for Syria, where he found Seleucus, and gave him the princess Stratonice in marriage. Demetrius, after some days Plut. in Demetr. p. 903. . passed in rejoicings for the nuptials and the enter tainments given on each side, returned to Cilicia, and made himself master of the whole province, He then sent his wife Phila to Cassander, in order to excuse this proceeding. These kings imitated the princes of the East, with whom it is customary to have several wives at the same time. During these transactions of Demetrius, Deidamia, another of his wives, who had taken a journey to meet him in Greece, and had passed some time with him in that country, was seised with an indisposition that ended, her days. Demetrius having recon- A. M. ciled himself with Ptolemy, by the mediation of 3706. Seleucus, espoused Ptolemaida, the daughter of Ant. J. C. Ptolemy, by which means his affairs began to assume a better aspect; for he had all the island of Cyprus, and the two rich and powerful cities of Tyre and Sidon, besides his new conquests in Cilicia. It was very imprudent in Seleucus to permit so dangerous an enemy to establish himself at so small a distance from him, and to usurp from one of his allies a province so near his own dominions as Cilicia. All this shows that these princes had no established rules and principles of conduct, and were even ignorant of the true interests of their ambition. For as to faith of treaty, equity, and gratitude, they had long since renounced them all, and only reigned for the unhappiness of their people, as the author of the first book of Maccabees has observed*. The eyes of Seleucus were however open at last, and in order to prevent his having a neighbour of such abilities on each side of his dominions, he required Demetrius to surrender Cilicia to him for a very considerable sum of money; but that prince not being disposed to comply with such a proposal, Seleucus insisted upon his restoring him the cities of Tyre and Sidon, that depended on Syria, of which * Chap. i. ver. 9, 10. 298. A. M. 297. he was king. Demetrius, enraged at this demand, replied very abruptly, that though he should lose several other battles as fatal to him as that of Ipsus, he should never resolve to purchase the friendship of Seleucus at so high a price. At the same time he sailed to those two cities, where he re-inforced their garrisons, and furnished them with all things necessary for a vigorous defence; by which means the intention of Seleucus to take them from him was rendered ineffectual at that time. This proceeding of Seleucus was very conformable to the rules of political interest, but had such an odious aspect, with reference to the maxims of honour, that it shocked all mankind, and was universally condemned: for as his dominions were of such a vast extent as to include all the countries between India and the Mediterranean, how insatiable was that rigour and avidity which would not permit him to leave his father-in-law the peaceable enjoyment of the shattered remains of his fortune! Cassander died about this time of a dropsy, after 3707 having governed Macedonia for the space of nine Ant. J. C. years, from the death of his father, and six or seven from the last partition. He left three sons by Thessalonica, one of the sisters of Alexander the Great. Philip, who succeeded him, and died soon after, left his crown to be contested by his two brothers. 'f Pyrrhus, the famous king of Epirus, had espoused Antigone, a relation of Ptolemy in Egypt. This young prince was the son of acides, whom the Molossians, in a revolt had expelled from the throne; and it was with great difficulty, that Pyrrhus himself, then an infant at the breast, was preserved from the fury of the revolters, who pursued him with intent to destroy him. After various adventures, he was conducted to the court of king Glaucias in Illyria, where he was taken into the protection of that prince. Cassander, the mortal enemy of acides, solicited f Plut. in Pyrrh, p. 383-385. the king to deliver the young prince into his hands, and offered him two hundred talents on that occasion: Glaucias, however, was struck with horror at such a proposal, and when the infant had attained the twelfth year of his age, he conducted him in person to Epirus with a powerful army, and reinstated him in his dominions; by which means the Molossians were compelled to submit to force. Justin tells us, that their hatred being softened into compassion, they themselves recalled him, and assigned him guardians to govern the kingdom till he should be of age himself, but there seems to be no great probability in his account. When he had attained his seventeenth year, he began to think himself sufficiently established on the throne; and set out from his capital city for Illyria, in order to be present at the nuptials of one of the sons of Glaucias, with whom he had been brought up. The Molossians, taking advantage of his absence, revolted a second time, drove all his friends out of the kingdom, seised all his treasures, and conferred the crown on Neoptolemus, his great uncle. Pyrrhus being thus divested of his dominions, and finding himself destitute of all succours, retired to his brother-in-law, Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, who had espoused, his sister Deidamia. This young prince distinguished himself among the bravest in the battle that was fought on the plains of Ipsus, and would not forsake Demetrius even after he was defeated. He also preserved for him those Grecian cities which that prince had confided to him, and when a treaty of peace was concluded between Ptolemy and Demetrius, by the mediation of Seleucus, Pyrrhus went into Egypt as an hostage for his brother-in-law. During his continuance at the court of Ptolemy he gave sufficient proofs of his strength, address, and extraordinary patience, in hunting-exercises, and all other labours. Observing, that of all the wives of Ptolemy, Berenice had the greatest ascendant over |