An outline of the deeds of the kings of Syria in war and peace, down to Antiochus Epiphanes, is presented in the irth chapter of Daniel; in which Epiphanes and his father are the two principal figures. Nothing but ignorance or a heated ima gination can account for some modern expositors referring that chapter to the events of the eighteenth century after Christ. The wars and treaties of the kings of Syria and Egypt from B.C. 280 to B.C. 165 are described so minutely and so truly, in vv. 6-36, as to force all reasonable and well-informed men to choose between the alternatives,-either that it is a most signal and luminous prediction, or that it was written after the event.
Besides Antiochus Epiphanes, the book of Mac cabees mentions his son, called Antiochus Eupator, and another young Antiochus, son of Alexander Balas, the usurper; both of whom were murdered at a tender age. [ALEXANDER BALAS.] In the two last chapters of the book a fourth Antiochus appears,-called by the Greeks Sidetes, from the town of Side, in Pamphylia. This is the last king of that house, whose reputation and power were not unworthy of the great name of Seleucus. In the year B.C. 134 he besieged Jerusalem, and hav ing taken it next year, after a severe siege, he pulled down the walls, and reduced the nation once more to subjection, after only ten years' independence. His moderation and regard for their religious feel ings are contrasted by Josephus with the impiety of Epiphanes (Antiq. xiii. 8, 2, 3). It is remarkable
that, though the beginning of his quarrel with the Jewish high-priest is narrated in the first book of Maccabees, the story is cut short abruptly.
The most compact and unbroken account of the kings of this dynasty is to be found in Appian's book (De Reba Syriacis), at the end. The dates of the following table are taken from Clinton's Fasti Hellenici, vol. iii., Appendix, ch. R t. Seleucus Nicator, B.C. 312-280.
2. Antiochus Soter, his son, 28o-26i.
3. Antiochus Theos, his son, 4. Seleucus Callinicus, his son, 247-226.
5. (Alexander, or) Seleucus Ceraunus, his son, 226-223.
6. Antiochus the Great, his brother, 223-187.
7. Scleucus Philopator, his son, 187-176.
8. Antiochus Epiphanes, his brother, 176-164.
9. Antiochus Eupator, his son (a minor), 64 62.
to. Demetrius Soter, son of Seleucus Philopator, 162-150.
rt. Alexander Balas, a usurper, who pretends to be son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and is acknowledged by the Romans, 152-146.
[12. Antiochus Theos, or Alexander (a minor), son of the preceding. He is murdered by the usurper Trypho, who contests the kingdom till 140.] 12. Demetrius Nicator, son of Demetrius Soter, reigns 146-44r, when he was captured by the Parthians.
13. Antiochus Sidetes, his brother, 141-128.* F. W. N.