While he was before the walls of this city, a report reached Palestine that he was dead. On this Jason, taking advantage of the unpopularity of Menelaus, placed himself at the head of 1000 men, seized Jerusalem, and, while his brother secured himself in the castle of Zion, put great numbers of the Jews to death (2 Macc. v. 5, 6).
The first intelligence of these events received by Antiochus represented that all Judæa was in a state of rebellion, and that the Jews were rejoicing in his supposed death. Enraged at these tidings he instantly made preparations for marching upon Jerusalem, whence Jason, hearing of his approach, fled into the country of the Ammonites. The city was taken by storm, and the late proceedings being considered as a revolt, it was resolved to inflict a proportionate punishment. Accordingly for three days Antiochus surrendered the capital to the fury and license of his soldiers, and during this period 40,000 of the inhabitants were slain, and an equal number sold into captivity. Under the guidance of the impious Menelaus, he then entered the Sanctuary, seized all the sacred vessels, and searching even the subterranean vaults, carried off treasure to the amount of 1800 talents of gold. He next ordered a great sow to be sacrificed on the brazen altar of burnt-offering, a portion of the flesh to be boiled, and the liquor poured over every part of the Temple; and having thus drained the capital of its treasure, drenched the streets with blood, and profaned its Sanctuary, handed it over once more to the administration of Menelaus, supported by Philip, a Phrygian, and for manners more barbarous than he that set him there (2 Macc. v. 15–23; 1 Macc. i. 20–28).
CHAPTER III.
PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS UNDER EPIPHANES.
B.C. 169–167.
HIS exchequer recruited by this valuable plunder, Antiochus in the following year, B.C. 169, led a third expedition into Egypt, and once more laid siege to Alexandria. But his late proceedings at Jerusalem had raised against him fiercer enemies even than the Egyptians. The Jews, who formed a full half of the population, stung to the quick by the indignities offered to their fellow-countrymen and the desecration of the national Temple, assisted the Alexandrians with the fiercest zeal in repelling his attacks, and once more forced the king to raise the siege.
Undaunted, however, by this second repulse, he reappeared before the walls the next year, B.C. 168, and having a still larger force at his command, determined to reduce the city to subjection. But he was now confronted with a power it was impossible to resist. Having defeated Perseus at the decisive battle of Pydna, and reduced Macedonia to the condition of a Roman province, the Romans had at length found themselves able to listen to the repeated entreaties of the Ptolemies for assistance.
Accordingly Antiochus, on invading Egypt for the fourth time, found at Eleusis, about 4 miles from Alexandria, Caius Popilius Lænas, Caius Decimius, and Caius Hostilius, ambassadors from Rome, who commanded him to abstain from all hostilities against the Ptolemies, or prepare for war against the haughty republic of the West. During his long residence at Rome[23], Antiochus had made the acquaintance of Popilius, and seeing him at the head of the embassy, stretched forth his arms to embrace him. But the Roman sternly repelled the salute, and handed to him the written orders of his government. The Syrian monarch requested time to refer the matter to his council, but Popilius drew a circle on the sand with his staff round the king, and declared that he should not leave it, till he had given him an answer, which he could report to the senate. Confounded at this determined conduct, Antiochus was obliged to yield, and having, after a brief struggle, consented to bow to the senate’s decree, was rewarded with the ambassador’s hand[24].
Accordingly the command was given to desist from any attack upon Alexandria, and the Syrian mercenaries prepared to evacuate the land of the Ptolemies. But the rage and disappointment of Antiochus knew no bounds. The imperious commands of the haughty Romans roused him to positive phrenzy. His private life had long since procured for him the title of Epimanes, “the madman,” instead of Epiphanes, “the illustrious[25].” Uniting “the quick and versatile character of a Greek with the splendid voluptuousness of an Asiatic[26],” he thought nothing of debasing the royal dignity by mingling with the revels of his meanest subjects. He would scour the streets, visit the lowest places and the commonest baths, or, like Peter of Russia, converse with the artizans in their shops respecting their various trades. Sometimes he would mingle with some drunken revellers, and amuse them by singing or playing on his flute. At other times he would array himself in a white robe like the candidates for office at Rome, and in this guise go about the streets of Antioch, saluting the citizens, taking them by the hand, and supplicating their votes for some Roman office, of which in all probability they had never heard the name. Having in this way obtained a sufficient number of votes he would, with all the solemnity of a tribune or an ædile, take his seat in the market-place after the Roman fashion, and deliver judgment with all the gravity of a Roman magistrate. Immoderately fond of wine, he became under its influence a madman, and when thwarted in any design his fury knew no bounds. At the same time he was bigoted and intolerant to an extent almost incredible. His favourite deity was Zeus Olympius, and in his honour he was in the habit of celebrating games at Daphne, which exceeded in splendour anything that his predecessors had ever attempted, and erected a magnificent temple, at which he offered the most sumptuous and extravagant sacrifices.
Such was the man, now goaded into even more than usual fury by the disappointments of his designs on Egypt, who was forced to bow before the power of Rome. As he returned to his own dominions, Jerusalem unfortunately lay in his way. Accordingly, he detached Apollonius, one of his generals, with a division of 22,000 men, and ordered him to wreak that vengeance on the city which he could not inflict on Egypt. As he was the chief collector of the tribute throughout Judæa, Apollonius found no difficulty in effecting his way into the capital, and no suspicions were entertained of his designs. He then waited till the first sabbath after his arrival, when he knew no resistance was to be dreaded, and suddenly let loose his soldiers on the unresisting multitude, instructing them to slay all the men they met, to make slaves of the women and children, plunder the houses, and throw down the city walls (2 Macc. v. 24–26).
His orders were executed with relentless severity; the streets of the city and the courts of the Temple ran with blood; the houses were pillaged; the dwellings near Mount Zion demolished; and with the materials thus obtained the fortifications of that citadel were strengthened, and occupied with a Syrian garrison (1 Macc. i. 33). This fortress overlooked the Temple, and the Jews could no longer steal into the city, and offer sacrifice in the accustomed place. The daily sacrifice therefore ceased in the month of Sivan, B.C. 167; Jerusalem became deserted; her inhabitants fled; her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness; her feasts were turned into mourning; her sabbaths into reproach; her honour into contempt (1 Macc. i. 39).