of the defunct. He was the fon of that Alexander who had put his mother to death. But the people of Alexandria had already fet Cleopatra upon the throne, and the had been fix months in poffeffion of it when Alexander arrived. To accommodate the difference, and not to draw Sylla, the master of Rome, and in confequence difpenfer of law to the univerfe, upon their hands, it was agreed, that Cleopatra and he should marry, and reign jointly. But Alexander, who either did not approve of her for a wife, or would have no affociate in the throne, caused her to be put to death nineteen days after their marriage, and reigned alone fifteen years. Murder and parricide were no longer reckoned as any thing in those times, and might be faid to have grown into fashion among princes and princeffes.

Some time (a) after, Nicomedes king of Bithynia died, having first made the Roman people his heirs. His country by that means became a province of the Roman empire; as Cyrenaica did alfo the fame year. The Romans, inftead of appropriating the latter to themselves, had granted it liberty. Twenty years had paffed fince, during which term fedition and tyranny had occafioned infinite calamities. It is faid, that the Jews, who had been long fettled there, and composed a great part of the nation, contributed very much to thofe diforders. The Romans, to put a stop to them, were obliged to accept Cyrenaica, which had been bequeathed to them by the laft king's will, and to reduce it into a Roman province.

SECT.

(a) A. M. 3828. Ant. J. C. 76. Appian. in Mithridat. p. 218. De Bel. Civil. 1.i. p. 420. Liv. Epift. 1. lxx, & xciii. Plut. in Lucul. p. 492.

SECT. VII. SELENA, fifter of LATHYRUS, conceives hopes of the crown of Egypt; fhe fends two of her fons to Rome for that purpofe. The eldeft, called ANTIOCHUS, on his return, goes to Sicily. VERRES, prætor of that island, takes from him a golden fconce, defigned for the Capitol. ANTIOCHUS, furnamed ASIATICUS, after having reigned four years over part of Syria, is difpoffeffed of his dominions by POMPEY, who reduces Syria into a province of the Roman empire. Troubles in Judea and Egypt. The Alexandrians expel ALEXANDER their king, and fet PTOLEMY AULETES on the throne in his ftead. ALEXANDER, at his death, makes the Roman people his heirs. In confequence, fome years after, they ordered PTOLEMY, king of Cyprus, brother of AULETES, to be depofed, confifcate his fortunes, and feize that ifland. The celebrated "CATO is charged with this commiffion.

(b)

SOM

OME* troubles which happened in Egypt, occafioned by the disgust taken against Alexander, made Selena, the fifter of Lathyrus, conceive thoughts of pretending to the crown. She fent her two fons, Antiochus Afiaticus and Seleucus, whom he had by Antiochus Eufebes, to Rome, to folicit the fenate in her behalf. The important affairs which employed Rome, at that time engaged in a war with Mithridates, and perhaps the motives of policy, from which fhe had always oppofed the kings who were for joining the forces of Egypt with thofe of Syria, prevented the princes from obtaining what they demanded. After a refidence of two years in Rome, and ineffectual folicitations, they fet out upon their return into their own kingdom. M 3

The

(b) A. M. 3931. Ant. J. C. 73 Cic. vi. in Ver. Orat. n. 61-67. Reges Syriæ, reges Antiochi filios pueros, fcitis Romæ nuper fuiffe: qui venerant non propter Syriæ regnum, nam id fine controva eâ obtinebant, ut a patre et a majoribus acceperant; fed regnum Ægypti ad fe et Selenam matrem fuam pertinere arbitrabantur. Hi, poftquam temporibus populi Romani exclufi, per fenatum agere quæ volucrant non potuerunt, in Syriam in regnum patrium profecti funt.

The eldeft *, called Antiochus, refolved to pass by the way of Sicily. He experienced an infult there, which is hardly credible, and fhows how much Rome was corrupted in the times we speak of, to what excess the avarice of the magiftrates fent into the provinces rofe, and what horrid rapine they committed with impunity, in the fight and with the knowledge of the whole world.

Verres + was at that time prætor in Sicily. As foon as he heard that Antiochus was arrived at Syracuse, as he had reason to believe, and had been told, that that prince had abundance of rare and precious things with him, he judged his arrival a kind of rich inheritance fallen to him. He began by fending Antiochus prefents confiderable enough, confifting of provifions of wine, oil, and corn. He then invited him to fupper. The hall was magnificently adorned; the tables fet off with all his veffels of the moft excellent workmanship, of which he had a great number. The feaft was fumptuous and delicate; for he had taken care that nothing fhould be wanting to make it fo. In a word, the king withdrew, well convinced of the prætor's magnificence, and still better fatisfied with the honourable reception he had given him.

He invites Verres to fupper in his turn; exposes all his riches, multitudes of filver veffels, and not few cups

of

*Eorum alter, qui Antiochus vocatur, iter per Siciliam facere voluit. Itaque ifto (Verr:) prætore venit Syracufas. Hic Verres hæreditatem fibi veniffe arbitratus eft, quod in ejus regnum ac manus veneratis, quem ifte et audierat multa fecum præclara habere et fufpicabatur. Mittit homini munera fatis larga: hæc ad ufum domefticum, vini. olei, quod vifum erat, etiam tritici quod fatis effet. Deinde ipfum regem ad cœnam invitat. Exornat ample magnificeque triclinium. Exponit ea, quibus abundabat, plurima ac pulcherrima vafa argentea.- -Omnibus curat rebus inftructum et paratum ut fit convivium. Quid multa? Rex ita difceffit, ut et iftum copiofe ornatum, et fe honorifice acceptum arbitraretur.

Vocat ad cœnam deinde ipfe prætorem. Exponit fuas copias omnes: multum argentum, non pauca etiam pocula ex auro, quæ ut mos eft regius, et maxime in Syria, gemmis erant diftincta, clariffimis. Erat etiam vas vinarium et una gemma pergrandi.-Ifte unumquodque vas in manus fumere, laudare, mirari. Rex gaudere prætori populi Ro̟mani fatis jucundum et gratum illud effe convivium,

of goid fet with jewels, after the custom of kings, and efpecially thofe of Syria. There was, amongst the rest, a very large veffel for wine, made out of one precious ftone. Verres takes each of these vessels into his hand, one after another, praises and admires them; the king rejoices that the prætor of the Roman people is fo well pleafed with his entertainment.

*

From thenceforth, the latter had no other thoughts. than how to rifle Antiochus, and send him away fleeced and plundered of all his rich effects. He fent to defire that he would let him have the finest of the veffels he had feen at his house, under pretence of showing them to his workmen. The prince, who did not know Verres, com plied without difficulty or fufpicion. The prætor sent again, to defire that he would lend him the veffel made of a fingle precious ftone, that he might confider them more exactly, as he faid. The king fent him that alfo.

But, to crown all †, the kings of Syria, of whom we fpeak, had carried a branch-fconce with them to Rome, of fingular beauty, as well from the precious ftones with which it was adorned, as its exquifite workmanship. With this they intended to adorn the capitol, which had been burnt during the wars between Marius and Sylla, and was then rebuildiug. But that edifice not being. finished, they would not leave it behind them, nor suffer any body to have a fight of it, in order that, when it fhould

M 4

*Poftea quam inde difceffum eft, cogitare ifte nihil aliud, quod ipfa res declaravit, nifi quemadmodum regem ex provincia fpoliatum expilatumque dimitteret. Mittit rogatum vifa ea, quæ pulcherrima apud illum viderat: ait fe fuis cælatoribus velle oftendere. Rex, qui iftum non noffet, fine ulla fufpicione libentiffime dedit. Mittit etiam trullam gemmeam rogatum: velle fe eam diligentius confiderare. Ea quoque mittitur.

Nunc reliquum, judicis, attendite-Candelabrum é gemmis clariffimis opere mirabili perfectum, reges hi, quos dico, Roman cum attuliffent, ut in Capitolio ponerent: quod nondum etiam perfectum templum offenderant, neque ponere, neque vulgo oftendere ac proferre voluerunt; ut, et magnificentius, videretur, cum fuo tempore in fella Jovis Opt. Max. poneretur, et clarius, cum pulchritudo ejus recens ad oculos hominum atque integra pervenerit. Statuerunt id fecum in Syriam reportare, ut, cum audiffent fimulacrum Jovis Opt. Max. dedicatum legatos mitterent, qui cum cæteris rebus illud quoque eximium, atque pulcherrimum donum in Capitolium afferrent..

fhould appear at a proper time in the temple of Jupiter, the furprise might add to the admiration of it, and the charm of novelty give new fplendour to the prefent. They therefore chofe to carry it back into Syria, refolving to fend ambaffadors to offer this rare and magnificent gift, amongst many others, to the god, when they should know that his ftatue was fet up in the temple.

* Verres was informed of all this by fome means or other; for the prince had taken care to keep the sconce concealed; not that he feared or fufpected any thing, but that few people might fee it before expofed to the public view of the Romans. The prætor demanded it of the king, and earneftly begged him to fend it him, expreffing a great defire to examine it, and promifing to let nobody elfe fee it. The young prince, with the candour and fimplicity of whofe youth the noble fentiments of his birth were united, was far from fufpecting any bad defign. He ordered his officers to carry the fconce fecretly to Verres, well covered from fight, which was done accordingly. As foon as the wrappers were taken off, and the prætor beheld it, he cried out, this is a prefent worthy of a prince, worthy of a king of Syria, worthy of the Capitol. For it was amazingly fplendid, from the quantity of fine jewels with which it was adorned, and the variety of the workmanship, in which art feemed to vie with

* Pervenit res ad iftius aures nefcio quomodo. Nam rex id celatum voluerat: non quo quidquam metueret aut fufpicaretur, fed ut ne multi illud ante perciperent oculis, quam populus Romanus. Ifte petit a rege, et cum plurimus verbis rogat, uti ad fe mittat: cupere fe dicit infpicere, neque fe aliis videndi poteftatem effe facturum. Antiochus, qui animo et purili effet et regio, nihil de iftius improbitate fufpicatus cft. Imperat fuis, ut id in prætorium involutum quam occultiffime deferrent. Quò pofteaquàm attulerunt, involucrifque rejectis. conftituerunt, ifte clamare cœpit, dignam rem effe regno Syriæ, dignam regio munere, dignam Capitolio. Etenim erat eo fplendore, qui ex clariffimis et plurimuş gemmis effe debebat; ea varietate operum ut ars certare videretur cum copia; ea magnitudine, ut intelligi poffet, non ad hominum apparatum, fed ad ampliffimi templi ornamentum, effe factum. Quod cum fatis jam perfpexiffe videretur tolere, incipiunt ut referrent. Ifte ait fe velle illud etiam atque etiam confide-. rare nequaquam fe effe fatiatum. Jubet illos difcedere, et candelabrum relinquere. Sic illi tum inanes ad Antiochum revertuntur.