[283] Aradus is an island lying two or three miles from the mainland of Phoenicia. According to Strabo, a State was founded in it by refugees from Sidon. For a long time the island was independent, under its own kings; and even after it fell under the sway of the Macedonian kings of Syria, and subsequently under that of the Romans, it retained a great deal of its commercial prosperity. Aradus appears in Hebrew under the form Arvad. It is evident from Ezek. xxvii. 8, 11, that its inhabitants were skilful sailors and brave warriors. They sent out colonies to Aradus south of Carmel, the island of Aradus near Crete, and the islands in the Persian gulf. The present name of this island is Ruad. The Aradians inhabited the mainland opposite the island, as well as the island itself.
[284] Artaxerxes Ochus reigned B.C. 359-338.
[285] Perinthus was a Samian colony on the Propontis. For the siege by Philip, see Diodorus, xvi. 74-76.
[286] Impartial historians deny that Philip’s murderers were bribed; they committed the murder from private resentment.
[287] Ochus was poisoned about B.C. 338, by the eunuch Bagoas, who placed upon the throne Arses, one of the king’s sons, killing all the rest. Cf. Aelian (Varia Historia, vi. 8). Two years afterwards, Bagoas put Arses and all his children to death; thus leaving no direct heir of the regal family alive. He then placed upon the throne one of his adherents, named Darius Codomannus, a descendant of one of the brothers of Artaxerxes Mnemon. Bagoas soon afterwards tried to poison this Darius; but the latter, discovering his treachery, forced him to drink the deadly draught himself (Diod., xvii. 5; Justin, x. 3). From Arrian, iii. 19, we learn that Bistanes, a son of Ochus, was alive after the battle of Arbela.
[288] Aeschines, in his speech against Ctesiphon (p. 634), asserts that Darius sent 300 talents to Athens, that the Athenians refused them, and that Demosthenes took them, reserving 70 talents for his own private use. Deinarchus repeats this statement in his speech against Demosthenes. (pp. 9-14). If Demosthenes had really acted thus, it is strange Alexander knew nothing about it.
[289] This statement of Arrian is confirmed by Curtius (iii. 34), who says that Parmenio captured the treasure, not in the city, but from fugitives who were conveying it away.
[290] In giving the names of the captured Grecian envoys, Curtius (iii. 35) seems to have confounded this with a future occasion, mentioned in Arrian (iii. 24).
[291] The great Iphicrates had been adopted by Alexander’s grandfather, as is stated in a note on Book I. chap. [23].
[292] Byblus is said by Strabo (xvi. 2) to have been situated on a height not far from the sea. It was reported to be the oldest city in the world. It possessed a considerable extent of territory, including Berytus, and was an independent State for a long period, the last king being deposed by Pompey. On a Byblus coin of Alexander’s time appears the name Einel, which is the king Enylus mentioned by Arrian (ii. 20). Byblus was the chief seat of the worship of Adonis, or Thammuz, who was supposed to have been born there. In the Bible it appears under its Hebrew name Gebal (mountain-district). The inhabitants of Gebal are said in Ezek. xxvii. 9 to have been skilled in building ships. In Josh. xiii. 5 the northern boundary of the Holy Land is said to reach as far as the land of the Giblite, or inhabitant of Gebal. In 1 Kings v. 18 the word translated in our Bible stone-squarers ought to be rendered Giblites. The Arabs still call the place Jebail. Cf. Milton (Paradise Lost, viii. 18).