ALE 



RiiJ tlie lions, wlio fwam on (liorc into th? enemies' cntintiy, 

 were delh'oyed ; bat the Romans were iooii aftenv;uds to- 

 tally defeated. Alexander, for prefervinij liis reputation, 

 calmly faid, that the oracle had foretold a viftory, but had 

 not declared whether it would happeu to the Romans or 

 their enemies. 



Amidft the fuccefTes of Alexander, he found himfelf at- 

 tacked by two claiTcs of adverfaries, who detei-niiiied to mi- 

 madv his importure. Thele wei-e the ChrilHans and the Epi- 

 cureans. In order to counterail their infiuenee, he began the 

 ceremony of the pretended myfteries, which he inllituted in 

 imitation of the Eleufinian, with proclaiming, '• Hence all 

 Chrillians ;" and the choir rejoined, " Ilenee all Epicu- 

 reans." He alfo often repeated, that Pontus was full of 

 Athcift.i and Chrillians, and that thefc enemies of the gods 

 ought to be iloned; and what lie adviled, he endeavoured more 

 than once to execute. Lueian, who once endeavoured to 

 enfnare him, had nearly loll his life in the attempt. The 

 impoftor, however, determined to dcllroy him ; and with 

 this view he received him politely, and, at his departure, 

 made him prefeuts, and furnifltcd him with a veflcl and 

 rowers. When he was at fea, he oijlerved the pilot weeping, 

 and difputing in a myfterious manner with the feamen. At 

 length the honell pilot difclofed the fecret, and with great 

 concern informed Liician, that he had received orders to 

 throw him into the fea ; but that he had lived with honour 

 for 60 years, and that he could not prevail with himfelf to ren- 

 der his old age infamous, and to incur the difpleafure of the 

 gods by mtn-der. Lueian was put on ihore, and elcaped the 

 villainy of theiimpollor. This delufion lafled 20 years ; but 

 it is faid, that Alexander terminated his life in a tragical 

 manner ; being deflroyed by worms, which proceeded from 

 a mortification in 'the foot, leg and thigh. Lucian's Alex- 

 ander feu Pfeudomantis apud oper. tom.ii. p. 207. Crevicr's 

 Rom. Em. vol. vii. p. 346 — 357. See impollure and 

 truth admirably contralled in the charafter and conduft of 

 St. Paul, and this Alexander, by Lord Lyttelton in his 

 *' Converfion, Sec. of St. Paul," Works, vol. ii. p. 54, 

 &c. 8vo. 



Alexander, the Soph'iji, was born in Seleucia, a city of Ci- 

 licia, and educated under Favorinus, Adrian's great favourite, 

 who taught him the art of fpeaking, in which he excelled, 

 and for which he is highly commended by Philoftratns. The 

 firft office he fuftained was that of ambaffador from Seleucia to 

 the emperor Antonine; and he was afterward interpreter for 

 the Greek tongue to M. Aurelius. He fpent the greateil 

 part of his life in the fchools of Antioch, Rome and Tarfus ; 

 and he vifited almoft all the parts of Egypt. Whilil he was 

 at Athens he acquired great fame by the extemporaneous 

 orations which he delivered, and received very diitinguifhed 

 tokens of favour from Herod. He died, as fome fay, in 

 Gaul, but according to others in Italy, at the age of 60, 

 or by fome accounts, 68 years. Philoftratus de Vitis So- 

 phiftarum, apud oper. p. 570. ed. Olearii. 



Alexander Trallian, a learned and ingenious phy- 

 fician pf Tralles, a city of Lydia, flouriflied at Rome in 

 the time of the emperor Juftinian, about the middle of the 

 fixth century. Friend is very copious in his account, and 

 profufe in his encomiums on the works of this great man, 

 VFhom he confiders as one of the bell praftical phyficians 

 among the ancients. 



Like Hippocrates he travelled over various coimtries, over 

 Italy, France, Spain, and Egypt, to improve himfelf in 

 knowledge ; and is faid to have acquired a competent ac- 

 tjuaintaiice with the languages of the different , countries 

 through which he palTed^ He invented feveral compolitions, 



A L E 



and improved many of thofc in common ufe. lie wasliber4l 

 in adminlllerlng preparations of iron, internally, which before 

 liis time was little, if at all, done. He followed the pradlicc 

 of Hippocrates and Galen, though not fervikly, but ua 

 preferring it to that of ylitius and Oribulius, with whofe 

 woiks he appears to have been well acquainted. He was not 

 however free from fome of the errors ol the age in which Kc 

 lived, being credulous and fuperftitious, and having great 

 faith in charms and amulets. He has given no accouut 

 of the difeafes peculiar to women, which Friend juftly 

 thinks, conlidering the general cdimation he was in, and the 

 extent of hispradlice, is very fmgular. 



His works were full printed in Greek by Robert Ste- 

 phens, at Paris, 1548, in folio ; in Greek and I^atin, at 

 BaOe, 1556, Johan. Guinthero Interprete. For .m account 

 of various other editions, fee Haller's Bib. Med. Pr.l£l. vol. J. 

 p. 305 Haller's edition was printed at Lavfannc, in 



Alkxander Javn;i:us, king of the Jews, was the third 

 fon of Hyrcanus, and lueeeeded his brother Ariftohidus in 

 the year before Chrill 106. Q^ueen Salome, the widow of 

 Ariftobuhis, took him and his two brother,", out of prifon, 

 and placed Alexander on the throne. His fourth brotlicr 

 endeavoured to deprive him of the crown, and was put to 

 death ; but the youngell, whofe name was Ablaloni, was fa- 

 voured with his protection, as long as he lived. Alexander, 

 being a fublle and warlike prince, began his reign witJl 

 leading an army againll Ptolemais ; but his ov/n dominions 

 being invaded during his abfence by Ptolemy Lathyrus, he 

 was obliged to raife the liege and return to defend them. 

 On the banks of the Jordan he was defeated, with the lof» 

 of 30;000 men, befides thofe that were taken priloncrs, and 

 if he had not been fuccoured by Cleopatra, Lathyrus 

 would have forced his way into Juda'a. Alexander, afteT an 

 interview with Cleopatra at Ptolemais, returned to Jerufalem ; 

 and having recruited his broken army, he marched againft. 

 Gadaraand took it. He next proceeded againft Amathus, and 

 reduced it after a very (hort ficge ; but he was foon obliged 

 to relinquifh it in confequencc of a defeat by Thcodotui, 

 the fon of Zeno, tyrant of Philadelphia, in which he loft 

 many men, his baggage, and the whole of the treafure which 

 he had taken poll'eflion of at Amathus. The next place 

 againll which he direfted his arms was Gaza, which had af- 

 forded proteftiou and affiftance to Lathyrus ; and on this 

 account, as foon as the town was betrayed to him, he 

 revenged himfelf on the inhabitants after leading them to 

 expeft clemency and moderation, by abandoning them to 

 the fury of his foldiers. However, this art of vengeance, 

 executed with fingular fevcrity, provoked the citizens to 

 reful to the utmoll of their power ; fo that he lofl of his 

 own men as many as he dcllroyed of the enemy. He then 

 reduced the city to a heap of ruins. On his return to Jeru- 

 falem, the people, exafperated by the Pharifees, who were 

 conllantly caballing againll him, infulted him with the mod 

 opprobrious language, exclaiming that fuch a flave as he was 

 unworthy of either the pontifical or regal dignity, and pro- 

 ceeded even to violence againll his perfon. Although he 

 took effeftual meafnres 10 ieeure himfelf from further infult 

 and injun', he was v.earied with their clamours and marched 

 out of Jenifalem, in order to gratify his inclination for war. 

 Having taken and deRroycd the city of Amathus, he pro- 

 ceeded againll the Arabians, whom he fubdued, and then 

 laid the Aloaliiies and Mountaineers of Gilead under tribute. 

 Near Gadara he fell into an anib\illi, and il was with great 

 difficiJty that he efcapc<l and regained his own capital. 

 During his abfence, his inveterate enemies, ths Phanfces, 

 4 K 3 had 



