A Manual of Ancient History

by M. E. Thalheimer

The Parthian empire, at its greatest extent, comprised all the countries between the Euphrates and the Indus; from the Araxes and the Caspian on the north, to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean on the south. Its numerous parts were not consolidated into one government, as were the satrapies of Persia or the provinces of Rome; but each nation, with its own laws and usages, retained its native king, who was tributary to the lord-paramount in the Arsacid family. Hence the Parthian coins, like the Assyrian monuments, commonly bear the title “King of Kings.” The wars of Mithridates made the Euphrates the boundary-line between the Parthian and Roman empires. The wealth and power of the Oriental monarchy provoked at once the avarice and the jealousy of the western Republic, and a collision could not long be delayed. The details of the Parthian wars of Rome will be found in Book V.

RECAPITULATION.

Bravery and barbarism of the Thracians. Rise of Pergamus, B. C. 283. Reigns of Philotærus, Eumenes, Attalus I. Success and enlightened policy of Eumenes II. Wars of Attalus Philadelphus. His new cities. Crimes of Attalus III. Bequest of his kingdom to Rome. Short reign of Aristonicus. Bithynia ruled by Nicomedes I., Zeilas, Prusias I. and II., Nicomedes II. and III., B. C. 278-74. Rise of the kingdom of Pontus, B. C. 363. Independent of Macedon, B. C. 318; enlarged by Mithridates III. and Pharnaces, B. C. 245-160. Education of Mithridates V., his conquests and alliances; first collision with the Romans, B. C. 88; massacre of 80,000 Italians; disasters and humiliating peace. Second Roman War, B. C. 83, 82. Seven years’ drill of Pontic forces in Roman tactics. Third Roman War, B. C. 74-65; Mithridates driven into Armenia, B. C. 71; recovered his kingdom, B. C. 68; defeated by Pompey, B. C. 66; took refuge in the northern wilds, and ended his life by violence, B. C. 63. Pontus became a Roman province. Cappadocia in alliance with Rome, B. C. 188. Just and peaceful reign of Ariarathes V. End of the dynasty in Ariarathes VIII. Exiles and returns of Ariobarzanes I. The country absorbed into the Roman dominion, A. D. 17. Armenia a part of the Syrian empire, B. C. 301-190. “Greater” and “Lesser” kingdoms then formed on the east and west of the Euphrates. Conquest of Syria by Tigranes I., B. C. 83. His wars with Rome, B. C. 69-66. Losses. Fate of Artavasdes. Massacre of the Romans by Artaxias. Alternate dependence upon Rome and Parthia, B. C. 19-A. D. 114. Bactria dependent upon Syria, B. C. 305-255. Diodotus reigned, B. C. 255-237. The third king a Lydian, B. C. 222-200. Indian campaigns of Demetrius and Eucratidas, B. C. 200-160. Decline and fall of the kingdom under attacks of surrounding barbarians, B. C. 160-80. Parthian empire powerful, but uncivilized. Absorption of Bactrian provinces, B. C. 174-136. A group of kingdoms, rather than a nation, side by side with Rome.

XII. Judæa.

100. Judæa, with the rest of Syria, had been assigned to Laom´edon upon the partition of Alexander’s conquests; but it was soon annexed by Ptolemy Soter, and continued 117 years a part of the Egyptian empire. Its history in this Book will be considered in three periods:

I.	From the Fall of the Persian Empire to the Rise of an Independent Jewish Kingdom,	B. C. 323-168.
II.	The Time of the Maccabees,	B. C. 168-37.
III.	The Time of the Herods,	B. C. 37-A. D. 44.

First Period. Under the first three Ptolemies, the Jews were peaceful and prosperous. The high priest was at the head of the state, and in local matters ruled with little interference from Egypt. Ptolemy Philopator, however, a wicked and foolish prince, attempted to profane the temple, and the Jews, in alarm, sought protection from Antiochus the Great. That monarch, with their aid, gained possession of all the coast between Upper Syria and the Desert of Sinai; and though often disputed, and once recovered by the Egyptians, this district remained a part of the Syrian kingdom.

101. For thirty years the privileges of the Jews were respected by their new sovereigns; but toward the close of his reign, Seleucus IV. resolved to appropriate the sacred treasures of the temple to his own pressing needs, and sent Heliodorus, his treasurer, for this purpose to Jerusalem. According to the Jewish tradition,[61] three angels appeared for the defense of the holy place. One of them was seated on a terrible horse, which trampled Heliodorus under its feet, while the others scourged him until he fell lifeless to the ground. He was only restored by the prayers of the high priest, and the treasury remained unmolested.

Antiochus Epiphanes, the brother and successor of Seleucus, was guilty of still more impious outrages. He put up the high priesthood at auction, and twice awarded it to the highest bidder, on condition of his introducing Greek rites and customs into Jerusalem. One of these mercenary pontiffs stole the sacred vessels of the temple and sold them at Tyre. An insurrection arose at Jerusalem, but it was punished by Antiochus in person, who seized the city, set up an altar to Zeus Olympius, with daily sacrifices of swine’s flesh in the sacred inclosure of the temple, and put to death a great number of the people. Two years later, B. C. 168, he ordered a general massacre of the Jews, and by a frightful persecution sought to exterminate the last remnant of the ancient religion. The Asmonæ´an family now arose, and by their brave fidelity made themselves at last sovereigns of Judæa.