the total ruin of the nation, addressed themselves to Jonathan, his brother, exhorting him to imitate the virtues of Judas, and to have no less care for his country than his brother, who had died in its de*fence; intreating him not to suffer his nation to perish for want of a captain, when he himself was so well qualified to command. Jonathan answered, that he was ready not only to defend, but to die for them. He was immediately chosen general and captain of the Jews.

Bacchides, hearing this, sought to take him off by treachery: but both Jonathan and his brother Simon having intelligence of it, took their families and fled into the deserts of Tekoah. Bacchides, being informed of this, drew out all his forces, making choice of the sabbath to attack them; for he thought the Jews would not defend themselves on that day: but, contrary to his expectations, they fought valiantly, their general exhorting them to fight for their lives. They were in a perilous situation, being encamped by the marshes of Jordan, with the river before them, and their enemies behind. Jona than, after he had prayed to God for protection and assistance, encountered the enemy, and slew numbers of them; but, at last, he and his men were so overpowered, as to be obliged to leap into the river, by which they escaped, the others not venturing to pursue them into the water.

Having fortified all the garrisons in Judea, Bacchides returned to Demetrius. The Jews after this enjoyed the blessing of peace for two years, when their apostate brethren, perceiving that Jonathan

gained strength by the peace, applied to king Demetrius, begging him to send Bacchides, who might come suddenly upon Jonathan and his party before they were aware, and in one night destroy them all.

Bacchides accordingly came into Judea, and wrote to all his friends, both Jews and others, to seize on Jonathan; but he, having timely notice of their intentions, escaped the snare. Being informed that Bacchides was advancing against him in great force, Jonathan retired to a village in the desert, named Bethbasi, or, according to Josephus, Bethalaga, which he fortified. Bacchides, being informed of this, advanced with his army, and besieged it many days; when Jonathan found means to steal out of the city, leaving to his brother Simon the command of the place. He then gathered his soldiers together, and, in the dead of night, broke into Bacchides' camp, and slew a considerable number of his men. He likewise gave Simon notice of his advance, who sallied forth upon the enemy, burnt their engines, and made a great slaughter of them.

Being thus pressed both before and behind, Bacchides was almost at his wit's end. He concluded at length to raise the siege, and return home, with as little dishonour as he could; venting his rage on the apostate Jews, to whom he attributed all these disasters. Jonathan, being informed of his wish for peace, sent an ambassador to treat with him, on this condition, that the prisoners on each side should be E delivered up. Bacchides, thinking these = proposals honourable, acceded to them, the World and each swore not to make war on the

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3846.

other. Thus Bacchides returned to the king at Antioch, after which he never made war again upon Judea.

Demetrius entirely neglecting the affairs of his kingdom to pursue his pleasures, a conspiracy was formed against him. The conspirators took a young man, whose name was Bala, to whom, in order to carry on the plot, they gave the name of Alexander, and pretended he was the son of Antiochus Epiphanes. This roused Demetrius, and each party armed. The Romans, who were then very powerful, declared in favour of Alexander. Demetrius, in the mean time, wrote to Jonathan, begging his assistance, and sending him a commission to be ge-neral of all the king's troops in Judea. Alexander also endeavoured to gain Jonathan to his interest. He accordingly sent him a purple robe, and a crown of gold, with the offer of making him high-priest. Demetrius heard of this, and outbid Alexander. Jonathan, however, not being willing to trust him after the treatment the Jews had experienced at his hands, went over to the party of Alexander, accepted of the high-priesthood from him, and, with the consent of the people, at the feast of tabernacles, put on the pontifical vestments, and officithe World ated as high-priest. This place had been 3852, vacant seven years from the death of Al

Year of

cimus.

Alexander Bala, being powerfully supported, having the Romans and Jonathan on his side, gained many considerable advantages over Demetrius, to whom the Syrians were so disaffected, that

they continually deserted him. Demetrius, fearing the event of the war, sent his two sons, Demetrius and Antiochus, to Cnidos, a city of Caria, with a considerable sum of money, confiding them to the care of a friend, that, in case of accident, they might there wait a favourable opportunity to assert their rights.

The two competitors for the crown of Syria, having assembled their forces, came to a decisive battle. Demetrius fought in person with great valour, till at length his troops gave way, and, in the retreat, his horse plunged into a bog, where those who pursued killed him with their arrows.

Alexander immediately ascended the throne. When he found himself fully established in the government, he demanded Cleopatra, the daughter of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, in marriage. Ptolemy consented to the proposal, and accompanied his daughter, as far as Ptolemais, where the nuptials were celebrated with great splendour. Jonathan, being invited, went to this feast, where he was received by the two kings with all possible marks of honour.

Alexander now thought of nothing but giving himself up to luxury and dissipation. He therefore left the care of his dominions entirely to a favourite, named Ammonius. That insolent and cruel minister put to death Laodice, the sister of Demetrius, and Antigonus, Demetrius' son (who was left in Syria when his two brothers were sent to Cnidos): in short, he spared none of the royal family that he could find, in order to secure to his master that crown which he had usurped; but this, instead of

answering his purpose, contributed still more to incense the people against him.

Demetrius, the eldest son of the late king, being then at Cnidos, and hearing of the people's aversion to Alexander, thought this a favourable opportunity to regain the kingdom whieh his father had lost. Lasthenes, the friend with whom he lived, procured him some companies of Cretans, with which he landed in Cilicia, where he was quickly joined by numbers who were tired of the usurper; so that in a short time, he had an army sufficient to make himself master of the whole province.

Alexander, being informed of these things, forsook his pleasures to head his army, and committed the government of Antioch to Hierax and Diodotus, who is also called Tryphon. Upon receiving advice that Apollonius, the governor of Cœlosyria and Phoenicia, had gone over to the interest of Demetrius, he sent to Ptolemy his father-in-law, to aid him at this critical juncture. Apollonius in the mean time attempted to reduce the power of Jonathan, who continued firm in his attachment to Alexander. For this purpose he sent him a challenge to come to a general engagement. This being accepted by Jonathan, a battle was fought near Azotus, formerly called Ashdod, in which Apollonius was defeated with the loss of eight thousand men.

At length, Ptolemy Philometer came to the assistance of his son-in-law, and entered Palestine with a great army. All the cities opened their gates to him, according to the orders they had received from Alexander. Jonathan joined him at Joppa,