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of Antiochus, which had gained a victory over that of the Egyptians, restored the island to the kings of Egypt, and then returned to Rome, to acquaint the senate with the success of his embassy.

Almost at the same time, ambassadors from Antiochus, the two Ptolemies, and Cleopatra their sister, arrived in Rome. The former reported, "That the peace which the senate had been pleased to grant their sovereign appeared to him more glorious than the most splendid conquests; and that he had obeyed the commands of the Roman ambassadors, as strictly as if they had been sent from the gods!" They afterwards congratulated the Romans on the victory they had gained over Perseus. The other ambassadors spoke in the same fulsome and impious strain. They said, "That the two Ptolemies and Cleopatra thought themselves bound in as great obligations to the senate and people of Rome, as to their parents, and even to the gods; having been delivered, by the protection which Rome had granted them, from a very grievous siege, and reestablished on the throne of their ancestors, of which they had been well nigh dispossessed." The senate replied, "That Antiochus acted wisely in paying obedience to the ambassadors; and that the senate and people of Rome were pleased with him for it." With regard to the Ptolemies and Cleopatra, it was answered, "That the senate were very much pleased with the opportunity of doing them some service; and that they would endeavour to make them sensible, that they ought to look upon the friendship and protection of the Romans as the most solid support of their kingdom." The prætor was then directed to make the ambassadors the usual presents. All these latter events occurred B. c. 168.

The swords of the uncle and nephew had scarcely been sheathed, by the intervention of the Romans, when the brothers turned theirs against each other. Their divisions, indeed, rose to such a height, that the Roman senate gave orders to the ambassadors they had sent into Syria, to proceed to Alexandria, and to use their utmost endeavours to reconcile the two kings. But before the ambassador reached Egypt, Physcon, the younger brother, had driven Philometer from the throne, and obliged him to quit the kingdom. He embarked for Italy, and landed at Brundusium, from whence he travelled to Rome on foot, meanly dressed, and with very few attendants. This humble appearance he affected in all likelihood, to excite the pity of the senate. Demetrius, the son of Seleucus Philopater, late king of Syria, was then a hos

tage at Rome; and when he had notice of the arrival of Ptolemy in Italy, and of the deplorable condition in which he was going to appear in the metropolis of the world, he caused an equipage to be prepared for him suitable to his dignity, and went out with it himself to meet him, that he might appear at Rome as a king. Demetrius found Philometer at twenty-six miles distant from Rome, covered with dust. He embraced him, put a crown upon his head, and begged he would make use of the royal equipage, which he had brought for that purpose. Ptolemy expressed his gratitude for the honour and respect the Syrian had shown him, but had his reasons for not accepting the offers of the prince. He would not even permit Demetrius to accompany him the rest of his journey, but entered Rome on foot, with the same mean attendance, and in the same dress with which he first set out on his journey, and without any state or ceremony took up his lodging with a painter of Alexandria.

When the senate were informed of his arrival, they sent for Philometer, and excused themselves for not having received him with those ceremonies which were usual on such occasions; assuring him that it was not from any neglect, or want of respect, but because his arrival in Italy had been kept so secret, that they were not apprized of it till after he had entered Rome. After this, having desired him to quit the habit he wore, and to fix a day for an audience of the senate in order to lay before them the motives of his journey, he was conducted by some of the senators to lodgings suitable to his dignity, and the quæstor was ordered to supply him with every necessary, at the expense of the public.

On the day appointed for his audience with the senate, he represented to them the injustice of his brother, and the wrongs he had received at his hands, so effectually, that they immediately decreed his restoration, and deputed two of their body, Quintius and Canuleius, to attend him to Alexandria, and cause their decree to be put into execution. They reconducted him, accordingly, and on their arrival in Egypt, succeeded in negotiating an accommodation between the two brothers, in virtue of which, Physcon was put in possession of Lybia and the province of Cyrene; and Philometer of all, Egypt and the island of Cyprus, each of them being declared independent of the other in the dominion allotted them. The treaty of agreement was confirmed with the customary oaths and sacrifices.

Oaths and sacrifices, however, at this date, (B. c. 162,) had

long been with the generality of princes mere ceremonies, by which they did not consider themselves bound in the slightest degree. Accordingly, soon after, Physcon being dissatisfied with his portion, went to Rome to complain to the senate. He demanded that the treaty of partition should be annulled, and that he should be restored to the possession of the isle of Cyprus. He alleged that he had been forced by the necessity of the times to comply with the former proposals, and that, even though Cyprus should be granted him, his share would be still inferior to his brother's. Menithyllus, whom Philometer had sent to plead his cause, maintained it with great zeal and ability. He made it appear that Physcon not only held Libya and Cyrenaica, but his life also from the goodness of his brother; that he had made himself so much abhorred by the people by his violent proceedings, that they would have left him neither life nor government had not his brother rescued him from their resentment, by making himself mediator; that at the time he was preserved from this danger, he thought himself happy in presiding over the region allotted to him; and that both sides had ratified the treaty before the gods, and sworn to observe their agreement with each other. The truth of this statement was confirmed by Quintius and Canuleius, who had negotiated the treaty between the brothers.

Nothing could be more equitable than the decisions of the senate of Rome, when their own interest did not interfere and help to turn the balance. But as it was for the advantage of the republic that the strength of the kingdom should be divided, and consequently lessened, those refined politicians, without any regard to justice, granted the younger brother his demands. Polybius observes on this transaction, that the Romans were ever careful to improve to their own advantage the quarrels and disputes which arose among kings and princes, conducting themselves therein in such a manner as to make the contending parties believe that they favoured them, while they promoted their own interest, which they had solely in view in all their resolutions. This alone prompted them to favour Physcon, and adjudge to him the island of Cyprus.

While Physcon was at Rome on this occasion, he had frequent opportunity of seeing Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, who was the pattern of her sex, and the prodigy of her age. Being taken, not so much with her charms as with her virtue and extraordinary qualifications, he caused proposal

of marriage to be made to her. But she, being the daughter of Scipio Africanus, and the widow of Tiberius Gracchus, who had been twice consul, and once censor, despised the offer, imagining it to be more honourable to be one of the first matrons of Rome than to reign with Physcon upon the throne of Libya.

When Physcon returned, two commissioners were sent with him to carry their decree into effect-to put him in possession of Cyprus. Their orders were, to use gentle methods, and endeavour by fair means to prevail upon Philometer to give up Cyprus to his brother. Their plan was to concert an in

terview between the two brothers on the frontiers of their dominions, and there to settle matters between them agreeably to their instructions. But Torquatus, on his arrival at the court of Alexandria, found Philometer no way inclined to comply with the decree of the senate. He urged the late agreement made by him and his brother by Quintius and Canuleius, the former ambassadors, in virtue of which, Cyprus having been allotted to him, he deemed it strange that it should, contrary to the articles of that treaty, be now taken from him and given to his brother. Philometer did not, however, absolutely refuse to yield to the order of the senate, but showing himself inclined to grant some things, and objecting against others, he spun out the time without coming to any determination, in order that he might concert secret measures against his brother.

In the mean time, Physcon, who waited at Apis in Libya, as had been agreed, to hear the result of the negotiations of Torquatus, receiving no intelligence from him, sent Merula the other ambassador also to Alexandria, hoping that both might be able to prevail upon Philometer to comply with the orders of the republic. But Philometer still observed the same conduct, treating the ambassadors with great kindness, flattering them with fair words, and entertaining them in a costly manner for forty days together without giving them any definite reply At length, when he found that he could evade their demands no longer, he declared that he was resolved to stand to the first treaty, and no other. With this answer Merula returned to Physcon, and Torquatus to Rome.

The Cyreneans in the mean time, being informed of the conduct of Physcon during his brief reign at Alexandria, conceived so strong an aversion against him, that they resolved to keep him out of their country by force of arms. Philometer,

it was believed, secretly formented these disturbances, in order to find his brother employment at home, and thereby divert him from raising fresh commotions in Egypt or Cyprus. Physcon being informed of these troubles, and at the same time receiving intelligence that the Cyreneans were already in the field, laid aside all thoughts of Cyprus, and leaving Apis, where his fleet lay in harbour, he hastened to Cyrene with all his forces, but was on his arrival overthrown by the rebels. Having now well nigh lost all hope, Physcon sent two deputies to Rome, there to renew his complaints against his brother, and to solicit their protection. The senate, offended at Philometer's refusal to evacuate Cyprus according to their decree, declared that there was no longer any amity and alliance between him and the Romans, and ordered his ambassador to leave the city in five days. Two ambassadors were despatched to Cyrene to acquaint Physcon with the resolution of the Roman senate.

Physcon, at length, having subdued his rebellious subjects, re-established himself in Cyrenaica. But his wicked and vicious conduct soon estranged the minds of the Cyreneans from him to such a degree, that some of them conspired against him, and wounded him in several places, leaving him for dead. This he laid to the charge of his brother Philometer, and as soon as he was recovered, returned to Rome to make his complaints to the senate, he showed them the scars of his wounds, and accused him of having employed the assassins from whom he received them.

Though Philometer was known to be a prince of a mild disposition, and of all men living the most unlikely to countenance so black a crime, yet the senate, being offended at his refusal to submit to their decree with reference to Cyprus, hearkened to this false accusation. They carried their prejudice against him, indeed, to such an extent, that they would not so much as hear what his ambassadors had to say in his defence. Orders were sent to them to quit Rome immediately. At the same time, they appointed five commissioners to conduct Physcon into Cyprus, and put him in possession of that island, enjoining all their allies in the adjacent countries to furnish him with forces for that purpose. By these means, B. c. 159, Physcon landed in the island of Cyprus. Philometer, however, who had gone there in person to defend his territories, defeated him, and obliged him to shut himself up in Lapitho, a city in that Island, where he was closely besieged, and at length taken and delivered up to Philometer,

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