EGYPT. 



369 



History, sian armies, but his safety was chiefly owing to the jea- 

 ""~Y~" W ' lousy which subsisted between the Persian commander 

 Fharnabasus, and the Grecian general Iphicrates, who 

 had a command in the Persian army. Upon Egypt be- 

 ing freed from the eastern invaders, Nectanebus employ- 

 ed his time in removing the desolations of war ; but he 

 soon died amidst the lamentations of his subjects. 



It was obvious, that the Persian government would 

 not rest satisfied with the defeat which they had sustain- 

 ed ; and Tachos, the successor of Nectanebus, procured 

 assistance from Greece, and made provision for the se- 

 curity of his kingdom ; hut an unwise policy defeated his 

 purpose. Agesilaus, the celebrated Spartan general, felt 

 indignant at the treatment he received ; for, instead of 

 being placed at the head of the Egyptian army, as his 

 merit and experience deserved, he was destined by Ta- 

 chos to be second in command. From this moment the 

 Spartan general was hostile to the king, and cherished 

 rel>ellion in the bosom of his kingdom. In this state of 

 difficulty and danger, he fled to the Persian court, and 

 was succeeded in the kingdom by Nectanebus II. who 

 had a competitor to contend with ; but by the assistance 

 of Agesilaus, he came off victorious. But his triumph 

 was of short duration ; for he was subdued by Ochus, 

 who succeeded to the Persian throne, and fled into Ethi- 

 opia, with a few attendants, and much valuable treasure. 



Pherendates, a Persian, was now intrusted with the 

 government of Egypt ; and his conduct was marked by 

 rapacity and oppression. Hitherto the seventies of Per- 

 sia had been warded off or mollified, by the intervening 

 influence of a national governor ; but now the people 

 were exposed to the prejudices and cruelty of an unre- 

 lenting foreigner, though in the mean time the govern- 

 ment of Persia was on the eve of destruction. The un- 

 feeling conduct of Ochus towards Egypt was avenged by 

 Bugoas, an Egyptian, who held a place of trust under the 

 Persian king. Upon the death of Ochus, Codomanus 

 was raised to the throne, with the surname of Darius. 

 This feeble king was unable to maintain his power, and 

 both he and Bagoas were soon humbled in the dust. 



It was in this enfeebled condition of Persia, that it was 

 attacked and overthrown by Alexander the Great. Per- 

 sia, from being an obscure but warlike state, rose to groat 

 eminence in tl> ccolo of nations. In the days of its vi- 

 gour and glory, it had frequently been the tenor of 

 Greece; and when its power declined, the Grecian states 

 in their turn were desirous of invading Persia. Philip of 

 Macedon had not only strengthened his country by the 

 military knowledge and science of Greece, but he became 

 generalissimo of the Grecian armies, and was ready to 

 invade Persia, when he fell by the poinard of an assassin. 

 His eldest son Alexander was but twenty years of age; 

 yet having distinguished himself by extraordinary talents 

 as n warrior, and having been trained up under the care 

 of the celebrated Aristotle, he succeeded his father in 

 commanding the confederated army of Greece. He 

 inarched into the Persian dominions, and was no less 

 uccessful in gaining the affections of every country which 

 lie entered, than he was in conquering the armies whom 

 lie engaged in battle. 



In returning from Persia, he passed as a conqueror 

 through Syria, took Sydon, and compelled Tyre to sur- 

 render. Continuing his march, he was received in Egypt 

 rather as a friend than a conqueror ; but his vanity led 

 him to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, where he was de- 

 clared to be the son of that deity. When he returned 



VOL. VIII. PART I. 



Alexander 

 the Great. 



into Egypt, he founded the city of Alexandria, as a good ^History. 

 commercial station, and connected it by canals with the v ~ p ~."~^ 

 river Nile. On the eve of his departure, he invested 

 Doloaspes, a native Egyptian, with the sovereign power, 

 and he carried along with him the aifections and the re- 

 gret of the Egyptian people. 



Returning into Persia, he became master of Babylon, 

 Susa, and Persepolis, while Darius was treacherously 

 murdered ; and after a few struggles, the great and cele- 

 brated empire of Persia was dissolved. But the termi- 

 nation of his own life drew nigh ; for returning to Bn'.y- 

 lon, he expired in that city, amid the revels of lei 

 and wine. It has been suggested, that he died by poi- IIis atilt!l 

 son, which had secretly been administered amid his 

 draughts of pleasure and excess; but whatever might he 

 the cause of his death, he was prematurely cut off in the 

 32d year of his age. An event so unexpected, and such 

 extensive conquests left without a head, naturally occa- 

 sioned consternation, mingled with ambition, among the 

 principal chiefs of Alexander. 



After a pause of several days, Arideus, the brother of 

 the late king, was raised to the throne ; and if Roxuna 

 should be delivered of a son, it was appointed that he 

 should reign along with him, to the exclusion of his bro- 

 ther Hercules, who was born to Alexander by the daugh- 

 ter of Darius ; but these arrangements were of short du- 

 ration ; for Perdiccas, who had been a favourite of Alex- 

 ander, assumed the regency, trusting to his address and 

 influence for the establishment of his power. But this 

 step raised violent commotions among the generals of 

 Alexander; and after a battle which was fought in Pliry- 

 gia, the empire of Alexander was divided into separate Empire ili- 

 portions. Ptolemy Lagus, who was afterwards denomi- vidcd. 

 nated Sotcr, was entrusted with the government of E- 

 gypt. 



I', was in the year 3f>8 that Ptolemy took upon him Ptolemy I. 

 the sovereign authority in Egypt; and though lie was B. C. 368. 

 not till afterwards honoured with the name of king, yet 

 he was under no controul, and he exercised his power for 

 the good of the state. Having added Palestine, Syria, 

 and Phoenicia to his new dominions, he proceeded to ac- 

 quire Cyprus, which abounded with wood, for the build- 

 ing of ships; but he was interrupted in these proceedings 

 by the invasion of Antigonus, whose capital was Babylon, 

 and whose possessions were immense. He made a suc- 



ful inroad into the dominions of Ptolemy ; and Gaza, 

 Joppa, and Tyre, were subdued. After various struggles, 

 and interchanging successes between Antigonus and Pto- 

 lemy, the former was slain in battle, and his son Deme- 

 trius, after various reverses, was taken a prisoner of war, 

 and letained a captive till he died. Ptolemy Soter was 

 of a literary character, as well as a skilful and intrepid 

 general. He wrote the life of Alexander the Great, 

 which was lost amid the ravages of time ; but from com- 

 ments and observations which remain, it appears to have 

 been elegant and much esteemed. 



His taste for literature, and his love of science, appear- 

 ed in the exertions which lie made to promote knowledge 

 and enquiry. He founded a college or museum, which 

 became the abode of learned men ; and he formed a li- 

 brary, to assist the cultivation of science. Among the 

 men of learning who flocked to Alexandria upon the invi- 

 tation of Ptolemy, was Demetrius Phaleriu.s the Athenian. 

 He was a wise and a favourite governor in that city ; but 

 upon Athens being taken by Antigonus, the people re. 

 ceived the conqueror with extravagant demonstrations of 

 2 z 



