ANTIOCHUS IV. EPIPH'ANES (Gk.
Epiplialls, illustrious). King of Syria, 175-164 B.C. Son of Antiochus III., suc ceeded his brother, Seleueus IV., Philo pato• (1S7-175). In 188 he had been sent to Rome as hostage, and he had been educated there: in 176 Seleueus had sent his own son Demetrius to take his place. Antiochus was on his way home, when the news reached him that his brother had been murdered by Ileliodorus. Ile took possession of the throne that by right of succession belonged to Deme trius. Suspicious of the young son of Seleueus, be aeems to have used Andronicus to remove him, after which Andronicus himself was executed. In 173 Cleopatra died, and hostilities with Egypt began. His first Egyptian campaign, however, did not. occur before 170. He captured Pelusitn. entered Egypt, and led Ptolemy V11. Philometor as king into Memphis. sought in vain to storm Alexandria. hut defeated Ptolemy 1X. Physeon in a naval battle before he was obliged by troubles in Syria to return. In Judea, Onias had been removed from the high-priesthood, and his brother, Jason, who was a mere tool of the ambitious family of the Tobiadie, put into his place in 173. Immediately before the Egyptian expedition, the Tobiad Menelaus secured from Antiochus the high-priestly office. When a ru mor spread in Jerusalem that Antioehus had perished, Jason returned, but his brother, Onias III., was preferred by the people. Jason fell and Onias was made high-priest. Menelaiis and other Tobiadie fled to Antwen. On his way back, Antioehus went to Jerusalem to reinstate MenclaUs. Onias III. fled to Egypt, where he was granted the privilege of building a temple at Leontopolis by Ptolemy V1I. Philometor. An tioehus entered the temple in Jerusalem and took many of its treasures, among them the golden altar, the candelabra, and the table of incense. He does not seem to have shed any blood. In 163 he undertook his second cam paign against Egypt, where Philometor and Physcon were now united against him. His prog
ress was checked by the Roman legate, Popilius Deltas, who demanded immediate obedience to the demands of the Senate. Returning to Syria, he found many of the Jews embittered by the in dignities heaped upon them, rebellious against the illegitimate high-priest, and scarcely conceal ing their joy over his humiliation. Ile, there fore, ordered the walls to be razed, fortified the Acra. put in a strong garrison, destroyed in part the temple, erected on the top of the old altar a new one to Zeus Olympins (31140:az Shamen, "abomination of desolation:" for Baal Sha mem, "lord of heaven," Dan. xi : 31), abolished the sacred seasons, forbade circumcision, and burned sacred books, 168 B.C. This course of action may, in part, have been due to a genuine zeal for the god of Hellas, for whom he must have longed during his Boman days, and on whose sanctu aries at Athens, Olympia, and elsewhere he later lavished his gifts. On the other hand, reasons of state may have led him to build a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus in Antioch. That Ile should have forsaken the gods of his fathers to wor ship this strange "god of fortresses," seemed to the author of Daniel a particular sign of his wickedness (xi : 38). His stringent meas ures for the Hellenization of JudTa caused the Maeeabinan revolt. II\ tattathias began the re bellion. After his death in 166, his son, Judas, defeated Apoleonius, Seron, Go•gias, and finally Lysias himself: took possession of Jerusalem, except the Acra, and restored and rededicated the temple in December, 165 B.C. Meanwhile An tiochus had gone with an army, first against Ar Menia and Sophene, 166 B.c., then against Mes sene on the Persian Gulf. 165 B.C., and finally into Susiana, gaining many victories everywhere. He attempted to plunder the temple of Nantea in Elymais, but the people defended successfully their sanctuary, and he was forced to retire to Babylon. In Persis he received the sad news from Juclau, and died in Tabu, 164 B.C.