sovereignty of the entire Macedonian empire. The weight of his power was first directed against the satraps whose rebellious conduct had enabled him to triumph over Eúmenes. Peuces'tes of Persia was banished, Py'thon of Media put to death, and Seleuc'us of Bab'ylon could only escape a similar fate by a precipitate flight into Egypt. The Macedonian governors in the west, instigated by Seleuc'us, formed a league for mutual defence, and sent an embassy to Antig'onus, who answered their proposals with menace and insult. But at the same time he prepared to wage a more effectual war than one of words: while his armies overran Syria and Asia Minor, he roused the southern Greeks, the Etolians, and Epirotes, to attack Cassan'der in Macedon. He bribed the mountaineers and northern barbarians to attack Lysim'achus in Thrace, while his son Demétrius, afterward named Poliorcétes, or the conqueror of cities, marched against the Egyptian Ptolemy. The first important operations of the war took place in southern Syria. Ptolemy overthrew Demétrius near Gáza, and in consequence of his victory, became master of Palestine and Phoenicia. But the Egyptians were defeated in their turn at the commencement of the next campaign; their recent acquisitions were lost as rapidly as they had been gained; and Demétrius would have invaded their country with great prospect of success, had he not been involved in an unwise contest with the Arabs.

We have already mentioned that the excavated city of Petra was the great depôt of the caravan-trade between the southern countries of Asia and northern Africa. Athenæ'us, a general in the army of Antig'onus, was sent to seize its rich stores: he surprised the inhabitants by a rapid march and unexpected attack, and was returning laden with plunder to join the main army; but the Nabathæ'an Arabs, enraged by their loss, hastily collected their forces, and urging their dromedaries through the desert, overtook Athenæ'us near Gáza, where they not only recovered the spoil, but almost annihilated his army. Demétrius eagerly hasted to avenge this loss, but he was baffled by the fastnesses of Arabia Petræ'a; and when he returned into Syria, he received intelligence that directed all his attention to the state of upper Asia.

After Ptolemy's victory at Gáza, Seleuc'us, with a small but gallant band of attendants, boldly threw himself into his ancient satrapy of Bab'ylon, and was received with so much enthusiasm, that he obtained possession of all his former power without striking a blow. The Persian and Median satraps appointed by Antig'onus hastened to destroy the dangerous enemy that had thus suddenly arisen; but they were totally routed after a brief but ineffectual struggle (B. c. 312). This battle, from which a new dynasty may be dated, forms an important epoch in Grecian history, called the era of the Seleucida.

Alarmed by these occurrences, Antigonus hastened to conclude a peace with his other opponents; and a treaty was ratified which was pregnant with the elements of future war. Cassan'der agreed to restore the freedom of the Grecian cities, without the slightest intention of performing his promise. Ptolemy consented that Antig'onus should retain his present possessions, while he was preparing a fleet to seize the Asiatic islands, previous to invading Syria; Lysimachus was resolved to annex the northern provinces of Asia Minor to his satrapy

of Thrace; and all agreed to acknowledge the son of Alexander for their sovereign, though a resolution had been already formed for his destruction. Alarmed by the murmurs of the Macedonians, Cassan'der caused Roxána, Alexander Æ'gus, and Her'cules (the last survivor of the great conqueror), to be assassinated; and soon after consigned the princess Cleopátra to the same fate, dreading that she might bestow her hand on some of the rival satraps.

It was not long before Antig'onus discovered that he had been deceived in the recent treaty by Cassan'der and Ptolemy. He sent his son Demétrius into Greece, under the pretence of restoring the liberty of the states; and Athens, still enamored of the memory of its freedom, opened its gates to the young prince (B. c. 308). Thence he sailed to Cy'prus, and gained a decisive victory over the Egyptian fleet that came to protect the island. He was baffled, however, in an attempt to invade Egypt; and when he went thence to besiege Rhodes, he was recalled to Greece by the prayers of the Athenians, who were exposed to imminent danger from the power of Cassan'der.

The success of Demétrius induced his father to nominate him captain-general of Greece-an injudicious measure, which led to the formation of a new confederacy against Antig'onus. Cassan'der renewed his attacks on southern Greece; Ptolemy entered Syria; Lysimachus, with an army of veterans, invaded Thrace; while Seleúcus marched westward with the numerous forces of upper Asia, including four hundred and eighty elephants. The junction of Lysim'achus and Seleúcus in Phrygia necessarily brought on a decisive engagement, which Antig'onus, reinforced by his gallant son Demétrius, showed no anxiety to avoid (B. c. 301). The battle that decided the fate of an empire was fought at Ip'sus in Phrygia: it ended in the defeat and death of Antig onus, and the destruction of the power that he had raised. The consequences of this victory were, a new partition of the provinces, and the erection of the satrapies into independent kingdoms. Seleúcus became monarch of upper Asia; Ptolemy added Syria and Palestine to Egypt; Lysimachus obtained the northern provinces of Asia Minor as an appendage to his kingdom of Thrace; and the services of Cassan'der were rewarded, not only with the sovereignty of Macedon and Greece, but also of the rich province of Cilícia. Thus, in the course of a single generation, the mighty empire of Alexander had risen to unparalleled greatness, and fallen into hopeless ruin; while not a single descendant of the illustrious founder was spared to transmit his name to posterity. The most enduring memorial of his policy was the city of Alexandria, founded during his Egyptian campaign, which became one of the greatest commercial marts of antiquity, and is still at the head of the trade between Europe and the Levant.

CHAPTER XII.

HISTORY OF THE STATES THAT AROSE FROM THE DISMEMBERMENT OF

THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE.

SECTION I.-The History of Macedon and Greece from the Battle of Ipsus to the Roman Conquest.

FROM B. C. 301 TO B. c. 146.

AFTER the fatal battle of Ip'sus, Demétrius fled to Greece, hoping to obtain a refuge from the Athenians, whom he had essentially served in the days of his prosperity; but the harbors and gates of the city were closed against him. Having obtained, however, the restoration of the ships and money he had deposited there, he established himself in the Peloponnésus, and commenced a desultory naval war against Lysim'achus. Seleucus, who now transferred to Lysimachus the jealousy of which the fallen fortunes of Demétrius could no longer be an object, sought an alliance with his ancient enemy, and married Stratonice, the daughter of Demétrius, and this union was equally advantageous to both parties.

Cassan'der did not long survive the establishment of his power: on his death (B. c. 296), he left Macedónia to his three sons, of whom Philip speedily followed his father to the grave. The survivors quarrelled about the division of their inheritance. Antipater murdered his mother Thessaloníca, on account of the favor she showed to his brother Alexander. The vengeance of his brother being, however, supported by the general feeling of the Macedonians, he fled to the court of his father-in-law Lysim'achus, where he died prematurely. Dreading the resentment of the Thracian monarch, Alexander sought the aid of Pyr'rhus, king of Epírus, and Demétrius Poliorcétes, who both entered Macedon, in the hope of gaining some advantage. The ambition of Demétrius soon provoked the jealousy of the son of Cassan'der, he grew jealous of his ally, and attempted to remove so formidable a competitor by stratagem; but he was counterplotted and slain. The vacant throne was seized by Demétrius, who possessed, in addition to Macedon, Thessaly, a great portion of southern Greece, with the provinces of At'tica and Meg'aris, to which after a fierce resistance, he added Bœótia. He might have enjoyed this extensive realm in tranquillity, but his restless ambition led him to form plans for the recovery of his father's power in Asia.

Seleúcus and Ptolemy, in great alarm at the sudden appearance of a

rival, formidable by the revived influence of his father's claim, and still more by his personal qualities, roused Lysimachus, king of Thrace, and Pyrrhus, king of Epírus, to attack him at the same time. The Macedonians, terrified by such a confederacy, mutinied; and Demétrius fled, disguised as a common soldier, into the Peloponnésus, which was governed by his son Antig'onus (B. c. 287). Pyrrhus obtained possession of the vacant kingdom; but after a brief reign of seven months, he was forced to yield to the superior power or popularity of Lysim'achus, and retire to his native Epírus. Demétrius had, in the meantime, sailed to Asia, with the hope of seizing the provinces belonging to Lysimachus (B. c. 286); but he was driven into Cilícia, and forced to surrender to his father-in-law Seleúcus, by whom he was detained in prison until the day of his death (B. c. 284). His son Antig'onus, however, maintained himself in the Peloponnésus, waiting with patience a favorable opportunity of restoring the fortunes of his family.

Lysimachus was unfortunate in his domestic relations: at the instigation of his queen, the wicked Arsinoë, he put to death his gallant son Agathoc'les, upon which Cassan'dra, the widow of the young prince, with her brother Ptolemy Ceraúnus, fled to the court of Seleucus, and stimulated that prince to war. Lysimachus was defeated and slain (B. C. 282); but in the following year Seleucus was murdered by Ptólemy Ceraúnus who availed himself of the treasures of his victim, and the yet remaining troops of Lysimachus, to usurp the throne of Macedon. In the same year that Seleucus fell (B. c. 281); Pyrrhus invaded Italy as an ally of the Tarentines; the Achæan league was revived in southern Greece; and several Asiatic provinces, especially Cappadócia, Arménia, and Pon'tus, in the north, and Par'thia and Bac'tria in the east, became independent kingdoms.

The revolts in Asia against the successors of Alexander, appear to have arisen at least as much from religious as political motives. It was part of the great conqueror's plan to impress a uniform character on all the lands he subdued, and in every one of them to constitute society afresh on the Grecian model. This was called an effort to Hellenize the east. But the Asiatics clung obstinately to their institutions, whether good or bad, as they have done in all subsequent ages, and Alexander's successors in central and western Asia, by assailing the religion of the people, provoked fierce insurrections, which led to the entire loss of Persia and the perilous insurrection of the Jews under the gallant Maccabees.

Ptolemy Ceraúnus did not long retain the crown of Macedon, which he had procured by treachery and assassination. An innumerable multitude of Gauls, who had, about two centuries before, settled in Pannónia, driven by want, or perhaps instigated by their restless disposition, poured into Thrace and Macedon, desolating the entire country with the reckless fury of ferocious savages. Ceraúnus led an army against them, but was defeated and slain (B. c. 279). In the following year, his successor Sosthenes met the same fate; and the Gauls, under the guidance of their Brenn, or chief, advanced into southern Greece. The Athenians, aided by the Etolians, made a brave defence at the straits of Thermop'yla; but the latter being called home to defend their own country, invaded by a Gallic division, the Athenians were unable

any longer to defend the pass, and the main body of the Gauls, entering Phócis, marched to plunder Del'phi. Here, however, the success of the invaders ended: the detachment sent against Etolia was cut to pieces by a nation scarcely less ferocious than the Gauls themselves; and the main body, after suffering severely from cold and storms in the defiles of Mount Parnas'sus, was almost annihilated by the enthusiastic defenders of the national temple. The miserable remnant of the invaders fell back upon a fresh body of their countrymen, with whom they passed over into Asia; and after inflicting many calamities on the states of Anatólia, obtained possession of the province which received from them the name of Galátia.

Antigʻonus Gonátas, the son of Demétrius Poliorcétes, deriving his name from Góni in Thessaly, where he had been educated, obtained the vacant throne of Macedon, after a contest of three years with various competitors, and transmitted it to his posterity; but he did not, like his predecessors, possess the sovereignty of southern Greece, whose independence had been secured by the Achæan league. This association had been originally revived by the towns of Pat'ræ, Dy'me, Tríte, and Pháræ; but it did not become formidable until it was joined by Sic'yon (B. C. 251), after the noble Arátus had freed that city from tyrants.

The return of Pyr'rhus from Italy was followed by a new revolution in Macedon; the mercenaries revolted to the Epirote monarch, and Antig'onus was driven from the throne. He retired into southern Greece, whither he was soon followed by his rival, who had been solicited to place Cleon'ymus on the throne of Lacedæ'mon. Pyr'rhus professed that his chief object in entering the Peloponnésus was to deliver the cities from the yoke of Antig'onus; but his actions were inconsistent with his declarations, for he ravaged the lands of Lacónia, and made an attempt to surprise Sparta. Being defeated in this enterprise, he turned his arms against Ar'gos, and was admitted into the city by some of his secret partisans. But the Argives opened another gate to Antig'onus, who entered with a chosen body of troops. A fierce struggle ensued, which was terminated by the death of Pyrrhus. An Argive woman, whose son he was about to slay, struck him with a tile from the roof of the house; he fell from his horse, and was trampled to death in the press (B. c. 271). After a short contest with Alexander, the son of Pyrrhus, Antig'onus regained the throne of Macedon, and retained it to his death.

The Achæan league was joined by Corinth, Træœzéne, and Epidaúrus, when Arátus, by a bold attempt, had driven the Macedonian garrison from the Corinthian citadel. It was finally joined by Athens (B. C. 229), and continually grew in strength, though opposed by the Macedonians and Etolians. So rapidly did the power of the confederacy increase, that the king of Egypt sought its alliance, and some of the states north of the Peloponnésus solicited to be admitted as members.

On the death of Antig'onus Gonátas (B. c. 243), his son Demétrius II. became king of Macedon. The ten years of his reign were spent in war with the Etolians, who had formed a confederacy similar to that of the Achæans. After his death (B. c. 233), Antig'onus Dóson, cousin to the late monarch, succeeded to the throne, nominally as guardian of the infant prince Philip II., just as a revolution in the Peloponnésus