A. M. Ant. J. C. 81. being overthrown and defeated in a great battle, shut themselves up in the city of Thebes, where they defended themselves with incredible obstinacy. It was at length taken after a siege of three years. Lathyrus used it with so much rigour, that from being the greatest and richest city till then in Egypt, it was almost reduced to nothing. Lathyrus did not long survive the ruin of Thebes. 3923. Reckoning from the death of his father, he had reigned thirty-six years; eleven jointly with his mother in Egypt, eighteen in Cyprus, and seven alone in Egypt after his mother's death. Cleopatra, his daughter, succeeded him, who was his only legitimate issue. Her proper name was Berenice; but by the established custom of that family all the sons were called Ptolemy, and the daughters Cleopatra. Sylla', at that time perpetual dictator of Rome, sent Alexander to take possession of the crown of Egypt, after the death of his uncle Lathyrus, as the nearest heir male of the deceased. He was the son of that Alexander who had put his mother to death. But the people of Alexandria had already set Cleopatra upon the throne, and she had been six months in possession of it when Alexander arrived. To accommodate the difference, and not to draw Sylla, the master of Rome, and, in consequence, dispenser of law to the universe, 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 associate 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, if I may use that expression, were grown into fashion among princes and princesses. r Appian de Bel. Civ. p. 414. Porphyr, in Græc. Seal. p. 60. 3928. Ant. J.C. 76. Some time after, Nicomedes, king of Bithynia A. M. died, having first made the Roman people his heirs. His country by that means became a province of the Roman empire, as Cyrenaica did also the same year. The Romans, instead of appropriating the latter to themselves, had granted it liberty. Twenty years had since elapsed, during which term, sedition and tyranny had occasioned infinite calamities. It is said, that the Jews, who had been long settled there, and composed a great part of the nation, contributed very much to those disorders. The Romans, to put a stop to them, were obliged to accept Cyrenaica, which had been bequeathed to them by the last king's will, and to reduce it into a Roman province. Appian. in Mithridat. p. 218. De Bel. Civil. 1. i. p. 420. SEGT. VII. Selene, sister of Lathyrus, conceives hopes of the crown of Egypt; she sends two of her sons to Rome for that purpose. The eldest, called Antiochus, on his return passes through Sicily. Verres, prætor of that island, takes from him a golden candelabrum, designed for the Capitol. Antiochus, surnamed Asiaticus, after having reigned four years over part of Syria, is dispossessed 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 set Ptolemy Auletes on the throne in his stead. Alexander, at his death, makes the Roman people his heirs. In consequence, some years after they order Ptolemy king of Cyprus, brother of Auletes, to be deposed, confiscate his fortunes, and seize that' island. The celebrated Cato is charged with this commission. t SOME* troubles which happened in Egypt, ocA. M. casioned by the disgust taken against Alexander, 3931. made Selene, the sister of Lathyrus, conceive Ant. J.C. thoughts of pretending to the crown. She sent her 73. two sons, Antiochus Asiaticus and Seleucus, whom she had by Antiochus Eusebes, to Rome, to solicit the senate 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 she had hitherto always opposed the kings who were desirous of joining the forces of Egypt with Cic. vi. in Ver. Orat. n. 61-67. Reges Syria, regis Antiochi filios pueros, scitis Roma nuper fuisse qui venerant non propter Syriæ regnum, nam id sine controversiá obtinebant, ut à patre et à majoribus acceperant; sed regnum Egypti ad se et ad Selenem matrem suam pertinere arbitrabantur. Hi, postquam temporibus populi Romani exclusi, per senatum agere que voluerant non potuerunt, in Syriam, in regnum patrium profecti sunt. those of Syria, prevented the princes from obtaining what they demanded. After a residence of two years in Rome, and ineffectual solicitations, they set out upon their return into their own kingdom. The eldest, called Antiochus, resolved to pass through Sicily. He experienced an insult there, which is hardly credible, and shows how much Rome was corrupted in the times we speak of, to what an excess the avarice of the magistrates, sent into the provinces, had risen, and what horrid rapine they committed with impunity, in the sight and with the knowledge of the whole world. Verres was at that time prætor in Sicily. As soon 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 sending Antiochus presents considerable enough, consisting in provisions of wine, oil, and corn. He then invited him to supper. The hall was magnificently adorned. The tables were set off with all his vessels of the most excellent workmanship, of which he had a great number. The feast was sumptuous and delicate, for he had taken care that nothing should be wanting to make it so. In a word, the king withdrew, well convinced of the prætor's magnificence, and still better satisfied with the honourable reception he had given him. Eorum alter, qui Antiochus vocatur, iter per Siciliam facere voluit. + Itaque isto (Verre) prætore venit Syracusas. Hic Verres hæreditatem sibi venisse arbitratus est, quòd in ejus regnum ac manus venerat is, quem iste & audierat multa secum præclara habere, & suspicabatur. Mittit homini munera satis larga: hec ad usum domesticum, vini, olei, quod visum erat, etiam tritici quod satis esset. Deinde ipsum regem ad canam invitat. Exornat amplè magnificéque triclinium. Exponit ea, quibus abundabat, plurima ac pulcherrima casa argentea. ...Omnibus curat rebus instructum et paratum ut sit convivium. Quid multa? Rex ita discessit, ut et istum copiosè ornatum, et se honorificè acceptum arbitraretur. He* invites Verres to supper in his turn; exposes all his riches, a vast quantity of silver plate, and not a few cups of gold set with jewels, after the custom of kings, especially those of Syria. There was among the rest a very large vessel for wine, made out of one precious stone. Verres takes each of these vessels into his hand one after the other, praises and admires them, while the king rejoices that the prætor of the Roman people is so well pleased 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 sent to desire that he would let him have the finest of the vessels he had seen at his house, under pretence of showing them to his workmen. The prince, who did not know Verres, complied without difficulty or suspicion. The prætor sent again to de-ire that he would lend him the vessel made of a single precious stone, that he might examine it more attentively, as he said. The king sent him that also. But to crown all, the kings of Syria, of whom we speak, had carried a candelabrum with them to * Vocat ad cœnam deinde ipse prætorem. Exponit suas copias omnes: multum argentum, non pauca etiam pocula ex auro quæ, ut mos est regius & maximè in Syria, gemmis erant distincta clarissimis. Erat etiam vas vinarium ex und gemma pergrandi —Iste unumquodque vas in manus sumere, laudare, mirari. Rex gaudere prætori populi Romani satis jucundum & gratum illud esse convivium. + Posteà quàm inde discessum est, cogitare iste nihil aliud, quod ipsa res declaravit, nisi quemadmodum regem ex provinciá spoliatum expilatumque dimitteret. Mittit rogatum vasa ea, que pulcherrima apud illum viderat: ait se suis calatoribus celle ostendere. Rex, qui istum non nósset, sine ullá suspicione libentissimè dedit. Mittit etiam trullam gemmeam rogatum: velle se eam diligentiùs considerare. Ea quoque mittitur. Nunc reliquum, judices, attendite-Candelabrum è gemmis clarissimis,opere mirabili perfectum, reges hi, quos dico, Romam cùm attulissent, ut in Capitolio ponerent; quòd nondum etiam perfectum templum offenderant, neque ponere, neque vulgò ostendere ac proferre voluerunt; ut & magnificentius videretur, cùm suo tempore in sella Jovis Opt. Max. poneretur, et clarius, cùm pulchritudo ejus re |