PTOLEMY LATHYRUS SECTION VI. CONTINUATION OF SUCCEEDS PHYSCON. THE WARS IN SYRIA AND EGYPT. The first, PHYSCON, at his death, left three sons. named Apion, was a natural son, whom he had by a concubine. The two others were legitimate, and the children of his niece Cleopatra, whom he married after having repudiated her mother. The eldest was called Lathyrus, and the other Alexander. He left the kingdom of Cyrenaica by will to Apion, and Egypt to his widow Cleopatra, and to which of his two sons she should think fit to choose. Cleopatra, believing that Alexander would be the most complaisant, resolved to choose him; but the people would not suffer the eldest to lose his right of birth, and obliged the queen to recal him from Cyprus, whither she had caused him to be banished by his father, and to associate him with her on the throne. Before she would suffer him to take possession of the crown, she obliged him to repudiate his eldest sister Cleopatra, whom he passionately loved, and to take Selena, his younger sister, for whom he had no inclination. Dispositions of this kind promise no very pacific reign. At his coronation he took the title of Soter. Some authors give him that of Philometer; but, the generality of historians distinguish him by the name of bA. M. 3887. Ant. J. C. 117. Justin. I. xxxix. c. 4, 5. Mithrid. sub finem et in Syr. p. 132. Strab. 1. xvii. p. 795. Appian. in Plin. l. ii. c. 67, and 1. vi. c. 30. Porphyr. in Græc. Euseb. Scalig. Joseph. Antiq. Į ii. c. 18. Diod. in Excerpt. Vales. P. 385. Lathyrus. However as that is but a kind of nickname, nobody dared to give it him in his own time. k Antiochus Grypus, king of Syria, was making preparations for invading Judea, when a civil war broke out to employ him, fomented by Antiochus of Cyzicum, his brother by the mother's side. He was the son of Antiochus Sidetes, and born whilst Demetrius was prisoner amongst the Parthians, When Demetrius returned, and repossessed himself of his dominions after the death of Antiochus Sidetes, his mother, out of regard to his safety, had sent him to Cyzicum, a city situate upon the propontis, in Mysia Minor, where he was educated by the care of a faithful eunuch, named Craterus, to whom she had intrusted him. From thence he was called the Cyzicenian, Grypus, to whom he gave umbrage, was for having him poisoned. His design was discovered, and the Cyzicenian was reduced to take up arms in his own defence, and to endeavour to make good his pretensions to the crown of Syria, 1 Cleopatra, whom Lathyrus had been obliged to repudiate, finding herself at her own disposal, married the Cyzicenian. She brought him an army m for her Aabuges signifies a kind of pea, called in Latin "cicer," from which came the sirname of Cicero. Lathyrus must have had some very visible mark of this sort upon his face, or the name had been inconsistent. * A. M. 3890. Ant. J. C. 114. IA. M. 3891. Ant. J. C. 113. We find in the latter editions of Justin the following words; "Exercitum Grypi, sollicitatum, velut dotalem, ad maritum deducit;" which shows that Cleopatra having succeeded in corrupting part of Grypus's army, carried it to her husband. Several editions read, "Cypri” instead of" Grypi," which implies, that Cleopatra had an army in Cyprus. dowry, to assist him against his competitor. Their forces by that means, being very near equal, the two brothers came to a battle, in which the Cyzicenian having the misfortune to be defeated, retired to Antioch. He left his wife for her security in that place, and went himself to raise new troops for the reinforcement of his army. But Grypus immediately laid siege to the city, and took it, Tryphena, his wife, was very earnest with him to put Cleopatra, his prisoner, into her hands. Though her sister by father and mother, she was so excessively enraged at her for having married their enemy, and given him an army against them, that she resolved to deprive her of life. Cleopatra had taken refuge in a sanctuary, which was held inviolable; Grypus would not have a complaisance for his wife, which he saw would be attended with fatal effects, from the violence of her rage. He alleged to her the sanctity of the asylum, where her sister had taken refuge; and represented that her death would neither be of use to them, nor of prejudice to the Cyzicenian ; that in all the civil or foreign wars, wherein his ances. tors had been engaged, it had never been known after victory, that any cruelty had been exercised against the women, especially so near relations; that Cleopatra was her sister, and his near relation;" that therefore he desired her to speak no more of her to him, because he could by no means consent to her being treated with any severities. • Tryphena, far from giving in to - Her father Physcon was the uncle of Cleopatra, Grypus's mother. •Sed quanto Grypus, abnuit, tanto furor muliebri pertinacia accendi. tur ; rata non misericordiæ hæc verba, sed amoris esse. Justin. his reasons, became more violent by conceiving jealousy; and imagining that it was not from the motive of compassion, but love, that her husband took the part of that unfortunate princess in such a manner; she therefore sent soldiers into the temple, who could not tear her in any other manner from the altar, than by cutting off her hands with which she embraced it. Cleopatra expired, uttering a thousand curses against the parricides who were the authors of her death, and imploring the god, in whose sight so barbarous a cruelty was committed, to avenge her upon them. However, the other Cleopatra, the common mother of the two sisters, did not seem to be affected at all with either the fate of the one, or the crime of the other. Her heart, which was solely susceptible of ambition, was so taken up with the desire of reigning, that she had no other thoughts than of the means of supporting herself in Egypt, and of retaining an absolute authority in her own hands, during her life. To strengthen herself the better, she gave the kingdom of Cyprus to Alexander her youngest son, in order to draw from him the assistance she might have occasion for, in case Lathyrus should ever dispute the authority she was determined to keep. P The death of Cleopatra in Syria, did not long remain unpunished. The Cyzicenian returned at the head of a new army, to give his brother battle a second time, defeated him, and took Tryphena, upon whom he inflicted the torments her cruelty to her sister had well deserved. PA. M. 3892. Ant. J. C. 112. 'Grypus was obliged to abandon Syria to the vic He retired to Aspendus in Pamphylia, which occasioned his being sometimes called in history the Aspendian, but returned a year after into Syria and repossessed himself of it. The two brothers at length divided that empire between them. The Cyzicenian had Celosyria and Phenicia, and took up his residence at Damascus. Grypus had all the rest, and kept his court at Antioch. Both gave alike into luxury, and many other excesses. Whilst the two brothers were exhausting their forces against one another, or indolently dosed after the peace in luxurious sloth and ease, John Hyrcanus augmented his wealth and power; and seeing that he had nothing to fear from them, he undertook to reduce the city of Samaria. He sent Aristobulus and Antigonus, two of his sons, to form the siege of that place. The Samaritans demanded aid of the Cyzicenian, king of Damascus, who marched thither at the head of an army. The two brothers quitted their lines, and a battle ensued, wherein Antiochus was defeated, and pursued as far as Scythopolis, escaping with great difficulty. 'The two brothers, after this victory, returned to the siege, and pressed the city so vigorously, that it was obliged a second time to send to the Cyzicenian, to solicit him to come again to its aid. But he had not troops enough to undertake the raising of the siege; and Lathyrus, king of Egypt, was treated with upon 9 A. M. 3893. 'A. M. 3894. Ant. J. C. 110. • A. M. 3895. Ant. J. C. 111, Joseph. Antiq. 1, xiii. 17-19. |