The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians Part 14

Perdiccas attacked and defeated him, after which he caused him to be slain.

His son Ariarathes re-entered the kingdom of his father some time after this event, and established himself so effectually, that he left it to his posterity.

The generality of his successors a.s.sumed the same name, and will have their place in the series of the history.

Cappadocia, after the death of Archelaus, the last of its kings, became a province of the Roman empire, as the rest of Asia also did much about the same time.

Kings of Armenia.

Armenia, a vast country of Asia, extending on each side of the Euphrates, was conquered by the Persians; after which it was transferred, with the rest of the empire, to the Macedonians, and at last fell to the share of the Romans. It was governed for a great length of time by its own kings, the most considerable of whom was Tigranes, who espoused the daughter of the great Mithridates king of Pontus, and was also engaged in a long war with the Romans. This kingdom supported itself many years, between the Roman and Parthian empires, sometimes depending on the one, and sometimes on the other, till at last the Romans became its masters.

Kings of Epirus.

Epirus is a province of Greece, separated from Thessaly and Macedonia by mount Pindus. The most powerful people of this country were the Molossians.

The kings of Epirus pretended to derive their descent from Pyrrhus the son of Achilles, who established himself in that country, and called themselves aeacides, from aeacus the grandfather of Achilles.

The genealogy of the latter kings, who were the only sovereigns of this country of whom any accounts remain, is variously related by authors, and consequently must be doubtful and obscure.(248)

Arymbas ascended the throne, after a long succession of kings; and as he was then very young, the states of Epirus, who were sensible that the welfare of the people depends on the proper education of their princes, sent him to Athens, which was the residence and centre of all the arts and sciences, in order to cultivate, in that excellent school, such knowledge as was necessary to form the mind of a king. He there learned the art of reigning, and as he surpa.s.sed all his ancestors in ability and knowledge, he was in consequence infinitely more esteemed and beloved by his people than they had been.(249) When he returned from Athens, he made laws, established a senate and magistracy, and regulated the form of the government.

Neoptolemus, whose daughter Olympias had espoused Philip king of Macedon, attained an equal share in the regal government with Arymbas his elder brother, by the influence of his son-in-law. After the death of Arymbas, aeacides his son ought to have been his successor; but Philip had still sufficient influence to procure his expulsion from the kingdom by the Molossians, who established Alexander the son of Neoptolemus sole monarch of Epirus.

Alexander espoused Cleopatra the daughter of Philip, and marched with an army into Italy, where he lost his life in the country of the Brutians.

aeacides then ascended the throne, and reigned without any a.s.sociate in Epirus. He espoused Phthia, the daughter of Menon the Thessalian, by whom he had two daughters, Deidamia and Troias, and one son, the celebrated Pyrrhus.

As he was marching to the a.s.sistance of Olympias, his troops mutinied against him, condemned him to exile, and slaughtered most of his friends.

Pyrrhus, who was then an infant, happily escaped this ma.s.sacre.

Neoptolemus, a prince of the blood, but whose particular extraction is little known, was placed on the throne by the people of Epirus.

Pyrrhus, being recalled by his subjects at the age of twelve years, first shared the sovereignty with Neoptolemus; but having afterwards divested him of his dignity, he reigned alone.

(M56) This history will treat of the various adventures of this prince. He died in the city of Argos, in an attack to make himself master of it.

Helenus his son reigned after him for some time in Epirus, which was afterwards united to the Roman empire.

Tyrants of Heraclea.

Heraclea is a city of Pontus, anciently founded by the Botians, who sent a colony into that country by the order of an oracle.

When the Athenians, having conquered the Persians, had imposed a tribute on the cities of Greece and Asia Minor, for the fitting out and support of a fleet intended for the defence of the common liberty, the inhabitants of Heraclea, in consequence of their attachment to the Persians, were the only people who refused to acquiesce in so just a contribution.(250) Lamachus was therefore sent against them, and he ravaged their territories; but a violent tempest having destroyed his whole fleet, he beheld himself abandoned to the mercy of that people, whose innate ferocity might naturally have been increased by the severe treatment they had lately received. But they had recourse to no other vengeance than kindness;(251) they furnished him with provisions and troops for his return, and were willing to consider the depredations which had been committed in their country as advantageous to them, if at that price they could convert the enmity of the Athenians into friends.h.i.+p.

(M57) Some time after this event, the populace of Heraclea excited a violent commotion against the rich citizens and senators, who having implored a.s.sistance to no effect, first from Timotheus the Athenian, and afterwards from Epaminondas the Theban, were necessitated to recall Clearchus, a senator, to their defence, whom themselves had banished; but his exile had neither improved his morals nor rendered him a better citizen than he was before. He therefore made the troubles, in which he found the city involved, subservient to his design of subjecting it to his own power. With this view he openly declared for the people, caused himself to be invested with the highest office in the magistracy, and a.s.sumed a sovereign authority in a short time. Being thus become a professed tyrant, there were no kinds of violence to which he had not recourse against the rich, and the senators, to satiate his avarice and cruelty. He proposed for his model Dionysius the Tyrant, who had established his power over the Syracusans at the same time.

After a hard and inhuman servitude of twelve years, two young citizens, who were Plato's disciples, and had been instructed in his maxims, formed a conspiracy against Clearchus, and slew him; but, though they delivered their country from the tyrant, the tyranny still subsisted.

(M58) Timotheus, the son of Clearchus, a.s.sumed his place, and pursued his conduct for the s.p.a.ce of fifteen years.(252)

(M59) He was succeeded by his brother Dionysius, who was in danger of being dispossessed of his authority by Perdiccas; but as this last was soon destroyed, Dionysius contracted a friends.h.i.+p with Antigonus, whom he a.s.sisted against Ptolemy in the Cyprian war.(253)

He espoused Amastris, the widow of Craterus, and daughter of Oxiathres, the brother of Darius. This alliance inspired him with so much courage, that he a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of king, and enlarged his dominions by the addition of several places, which he seized, on the confines of Heraclea.

(M60) He died two or three years before the battle of Ipsus, after a reign of thirty-three years, leaving two sons and a daughter under the tutelage and regency of Amastris.

This princess was rendered happy in her administration, by the affection Antigonus entertained for her. She founded a city, and called it by her own name; into which she transplanted the inhabitants of three other cities, and espoused Lysimachus, after the death of Antigonus.(254)

Kings of Syracuse.

(M61) Hiero, and his son Hieronymus, reigned at Syracuse; the first fifty-four years, the second but one year.

(M62) Syracuse recovered its liberty by the death of the last, but continued in the interest of the Carthaginians, which Hieronymus had caused it to espouse. (M63) His conduct obliged Marcellus to form the siege of that city, which he took the following year. I shall enlarge upon the history of these two kings in another place.

Other Kings.

Several kings likewise reigned in the Cimmerian Bosphorus, as also in Thrace, Cyrene in Africa, Paphlagonia, Colchis, Iberia, Albania, and a variety of other places; but their history is very uncertain, and their successions have but little regularity.

These circ.u.mstances are very different with respect to the kingdom of the Parthians, who formed themselves, as we shall see in the sequel, into such a powerful monarchy, as became formidable even to the Roman empire. That of the Bactrians received its original about the same period: I shall treat of each in their proper places.

Catalogue of the Editions of the princ.i.p.al Greek Authors cited in this Work.

HERODOTUS. Francof. An. 1608.

THUCYDIDES. Apud Henric.u.m Stephanum, An. 1588.

XENOPHON. Lutetiae Parisiorum, apud Societatem Graecarum Editionum, An.

1625.

POLYBIUS. Parisiis, An. 1609.