SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR, whom we last heard of as king of Syria, was
assassinated by one of his nobles—Heliodorus—in the twelfth year of his
reign. Antiochus his younger brother had been a hostage at Rome, and
being, according to agreement, exchanged in B. C. 175 for Philopator's son
Demetrius, he was returning to Syria. At Athens, on his journey home, he
heard of the death of Seleucus, and the attempt of Heliodorus to usurp the
kingdom. By the help of Eumenes Heliodorus was expelled and Antiochus
installed, to the satisfaction of the people, who gave him at first the surname
of Epiphanes. He is the Antiochus Epiphanes whose cruelties are recorded
in the books of the Maccabees. He died mad at Tabae in Persia, B. C. 164.
See
31, 11. For the following extract preserved by Athenaeus, see the
translation of
Livy, 41, 19.
Antiochus Epiphanes
ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES, nicknamed from his actions
Antiochus Epiphanes, B. C. 175-164. |
Epimanes (the Madman), would sometimes
steal from the court, avoiding his attendants,
and appear roaming wildly about in any
chance part of the city with one or two companions. His
favourite place to be found was the shops of the silversmiths or goldsmiths, chatting and discussing questions of art
with the workers in relief and other artists; at another time he
would join groups of the people of the town and converse with
any one he came across, and would drink with foreign visitors
of the humblest description. Whenever he found any young
men carousing together he would come to the place without
giving notice, with fife and band, like a rout of revellers, and
often by his unexpected appearance cause the guests to rise and
run away. He would often also lay aside his royal robes, and,
putting on a tebenna,
1 go round the market-place as though
a candidate for office, shaking hands and embracing various
people whom he intreated to vote for him, sometime as aedile,
and sometimes as tribune. And when he got the office and
took his seat on an ivory curule chair, after the fashion of the
Romans, he heard law cases which came on in the agora, and
decided them with the utmost seriousness and attention. This
conduct was very embarrassing to respectable people, some of
whom regarded him as a good natured easy-going man, and others
as a madman. In regard to making presents, too, his behaviour
was on a par with this. Some he presented with dice made
of gazelle horn, some with dates, others with gold. There
were even instances of his making unexpected presents to
men whom he met casually, and whom he had never seen
before. In regard to public sacrifices and the honours paid to
the gods, he surpassed all his predecessors on the throne; as
witness the Olympieium at Athens and the statues placed
round the altar at Delos. He used also to bathe in the
public baths, when they were full of the townspeople, pots of
the most expensive unguents being brought in for him; and on
one occasion on some one saying, "Lucky fellows you kings,
to use such things and smell so sweet!" without saying a
word to the man, he waited till he was bathing the next day,
and then coming into the bath caused a pot of the largest
size and of the most costly kind of unguent called
stacte to be
poured over his head, so that there was a general rush of the
bathers to roll themselves in it; and when they all tumbled
down, the king himself among them, from its stickiness, there
was loud laughter. . . .