actions and characters of men born for the calamity of the 'human race, and whofe very names fhould not be tranfmitted to pofterity? It may even be thought dangerous, to familiarize the minds of the generality of mankind to uninterrupted feenes of too fuccefsful iniquity; and to be particular in defcribing the unjuft fuccefs which waited on thofe illuftrious criminals, the long duration of whose profperity being frequently attended with the privileges and rewards of virtue,may be thought an imputation on providence, by perfons of weak understandings. This hiftory, which feems likely to prove very difagreeable, from the reafons I have juft mentioned, will become more fo from the obfcurity and confufion in which the feveral tranfactions will be involved, and which it will be difficult, if not impoffible to remedy. Ten or twelve of Alexander's captains were engaged in a course of hoftilities against each other, for the partition of his empire after his death; and to fecure themfelves fome portion, greater or lefs of that vaft body. Sometimes feigned friends, fometimes declared enemies, and they are continually forming different parties and leagues, which are to fubfift no longer than is confiftent with the intereft of each particular. Macedonia changed its mafter five or fix times in a very short space; by what means then can order and perfpicuity be preferved, in a prodigious variety of events that are perpetually croffing and breaking in upon each other? Befides which, I am no longer fupported by any ancient authors capable of conducting me through this darkness and confufion. Diodrous will entirely abandon me, after having been my guide for fome time; and no other hiftorian will appear to take his place. No proper feries of affairs will remain; the feveral events are not to be difpofed into any regular connexion with each other; nor will it be poffible to point out, either the motives to the refolutions formed, or the proper character of the principal actors in this scene of obfcurity. I think myself happy when Polybius and Plutarch lend me their affiftance. In my account of Alexander's fuc ceffors, ceffors, whofe tranfactions are, perhaps, the moft complicated and perplexed part of ancient hiftory, Ufher, Prideaux, and Vaillant, will be my ufual guides; and, on many occafions, I fhall only tranfcribe from Prideaux; but with all these aids, I fhall not promise to throw fo much light into this history as I could defire. After a war of twenty years, the number of the principal competitors were reduced to four; Ptolemy, Caffander, Seleucus, and Lyfimachus: the empire of Alexander was divided into four fixed kingdoms, agreeably to the prediction of Daniel, by a folemn treaty concluded between the parties. Three of these kingdoms, Egypt, Macedonia, Syria, or Afia, will have a regular fucceffion of monarchs, fufficiently clear and diftinct; but the fourth, which comprehended Thrace, with part of the Leffer. Afia, and fome neighbouring provinces, will fuffer a number of variations. As the kingdom of Egypt was fubject to the fewest changes, becaufe Ptolemy, who was established there as a governor, at the death of Alexander, retained the poffeffion of it ever after, and left it to his pofterity: we shall, therefore, confider this prince as the basis of our chronology, and our feveral epochas fhall be fixed from him. The fifth volume contains the events for the space of one hundred and twenty years, under the four firft kings of Egypt, viz. Ptolemy, the fon of Lagus, who reigned thirty-eight years; Ptolemy Philadelphus, who reigned forty; Ptolemy Evergetes, who reigned twenty-five; and Ptolemy Philopator, whofe reign continued feventeen. In order to throw fome light into the hiftory contained therein, I fhall, in the first place, give the prin cipal events of it, in a chronological abridgment. Introductory to which, I muft defire the reader to accompany me in fome reflections, which have not efcaped Monfieur Boffuet, with relation to Alexander. This prince, who was the most renowned and illuftrious conqueror in all hiftory, was the last monarch of his race. Macedonia, his ancient kingdom, which his ancestors had had governed for many ages, was invaded from all quarters, as a vacant fucceffion; and after it had long been à prey to the ftrongest, it was at last transferred to another family. If Alexander had continued pacific in Macedonia, the grandeur of his empire would not have excited the ambition of his captains; and he might have tranfmitted the fceptre of his progenitors to his own defcendants: but, as he had not prefcribed any bounds to his power, he was inftrumental in the deftruction of his house, and we shall behold the extermination of his fa mily, without the least remaining traces of them in hif tory. His conquefts occafioned a vaft effufion of blood, and furnifhed his captains with a pretext for murdering one another. Thefe were the effects that flowed from the boafted bravery of Alexander, or rather from that bru tality, which, under the glittering names of ambition and glory, spread the defolations of fire and fword through whole provinces, without the leaft provocation, and thed the blood of multitudes, who had never injured him. We are not to imagine, however, that providence abandoned thefe events to chance, but, as it was then preparing all things for the approaching appearance of the Meffiah, it was vigilant to unite all the nations, that were to be firft enlightened with the gofpel, by the ufe of one and the same language, which was that of Greece: and the fame providence made it neceffary for them to learn this foreign tongue, by fubjecting them to fuch. mafters as spoke no other. The deity, therefore, by the agency of this language, which became more com mon and univerfal than any other, facilitated the preach ing of the apostles, and rendered it more uniform.. The partition of the empire of Alexander the Great, among the generals of that prince immediately after his death, did not fubfift for any length of time, and hardly took place, if we except Egypt, where Ptolemy had first established himself, and on the throne of which he al ways maintained himself without acknowledging any fuperior. This partition was not fully regulated and fixed, till: H 5 after after the battle of Ipfus in Phrygia, wherein Antigonus and his fon Demetrius, furnamed Poliorcetes, were defeated, and the former loft his life. The empire of Alexander was then divided into four kingdoms, by a folemn treaty, as had been foretold by Daniel. Ptolemy had Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Cœlofyria, and Palestine. Caffander, the fon of Antipater, obtained Macedonia and Greece. Lyfimachus acquired Thrace, Bithynia, and fome other provinces on the other fide of the Hellefpont and the Bofphorus. And Seleucus had Syria, and all that part of Afia Major, which extended to the other fide of the Euphrates, and as far as the river Indus. Of these four kingdoms, thofe of Egypt and Syria fubfifted, almoft without any interruption, in the fame families, and through a long fucceffion of princes. The kingdom of Macedonia had feveral mafters of different families fucceflively. That of Thrace was at laft divided into several branches, and no longer conftituted one entire body, by which means all traces of regular fucceffion ceafed to fubfift. I. The kingdom of Egypt. The kingdom of Egypt had fourteen monarchs, including Cleopatra, after whofe death, thofe dominions became a province of the Roman empire. All these princes had the common name of Ptolemy, but each of them was likewife distinguished by a peculiar furname. They had alfo the appellation of Lagides, from Lagus the father of that Ptolemy who reigned the first in Egypt. The fifth and fixth volumes contains the hiftories of fix of these kings, and I fhall give their names a place here, with the duration of their reigns, the firft of which commenced immediately upon the death of Alexander the Great. m Ptolemy Stoter. He reigned thirty-eight years and fome months. n Ptolemy Philadelphus. He reigned forty years, including the two years of his reign in the lifetime of his father. A. M. 3680. "3718. Ptolemy Ptolemy Evergetes reigned twenty-five years. P Ptolemy Philopator reigned feventeen. Ptolemy Epiphanes reigned twenty-four. Ptolemy Philometor reigned thirty-four. II. The kingdom of Syria. The kingdom of Syria had twenty-feven kings; which makes it evident, that their reigns were often very fhort: and indeed feveral of thefe princes waded to the throne through the blood of their predeceffors. They are ufually called Seleucides, from Seleucus, who reigned the firft in Syria. History reckons up fix kings of this name, and thirteen who are called by that of Antiochus; but they are all diftinguished by different furnames. Others of them affumed different names,and the laft was called Antiochus XIII. with the furnames of Epiphanes, Afiaticus, and Commagenes. In his reign Pompey reduced Syria into a Roman province, after it had been governed by kings, for the fpace of two hundred and fifty years, according to Eufebius. The kings of Syria, the tranfactions of whofe reigns are contained in the fifth and fixth volumes, are eight in number. • Seleucus Nicanor. He reigned twenty years. Antiochus Soter, nineteen. "Antiochus Theos, fifteen. * Seleucus Callinicus, twenty. y Seleucus Ceraunus, three. * Antiochus the Great, thirty-fix. · a Seleucus Philopator, twelve. B Antiochus Epiphanes, brother of Seleucus Philopator, eleven. III. The kingdom of Macedonia. • Macedonia frequently changed its mafters, after the folemn partition had been made between the four |