PTOLE}ITIES .\\D SELF]UCIDS II PTOLEMIES AND SELEUCIDS r. The political scene For,rowrNc Alexander''s death his empile became the spoil of his generals, four of'whom staked their claims and assumed the title of king. These were Cassander, rulel of Macedonia; Lysimachus, in control of Thrace since the paltition; Anti- gonus, who held the whole of Asia Minor and northern Sylia; and Ptolemy Lagi, who ruled Egypt and southern Syria. Within a short space of time these rvere joined by Seleucus, one Ptolemy I Lagi, surnamed Soter SeleucusI, surnamed Nicator (Con- of Alexander's successful generals, who had subsequently (Saviour), 376-u83 n.c. queror), 35o z8t n.c. served with Perdiccas and with Ptolemy.By 3rr e.c. he had Bronze busts fron Herculaneunl, now in the National Museum, Naples. so asserted his authority that he became the acknowledged One cannot be certain that these busts are contemporary; they are probabll. based on earlier portraits and certainly date frorn the first century A.D. master of Babylonia, this lear marking the beginning of the Seleucid dynasty. great powers continued in intermittent warlare for many years. During this time and for many years to come the land o{' Palestine remained in the control of the Ptolemies throughout Palestine was to remain a bone of contention. First Ptolemv most of the third century n.c.; but in the end they had took possessionof it and annexed it to his satrapy in Egvpt, to relinquish it to the Seleucids in the person of Antiochus III only to have it wrested from his grasp by Antigonus (3 t5 r.c.) ; (the Great) (zz3-r97 n.c.). After several unsuccessfulattempts winning it back at the battle of Gaza (3rz n.c.), he irad again Antiochus at last captured all its fortified cities in r99/r98 n.c., to r,vithdraw, leaving Antigonus in control. In 3or n.c., hon'- and at the Battle of Panion, near the source of the ever, a decisive battle was lought at Ipsus in Phrl.gia in which Jordan, finally won control of the whole land. The Seleucids had now Antigonus n'as defeated and killed. An agreement had already gained possession of what, {l'om the beginning, they had con- been reached that, on the defeat of Antigonus, Coele-Sylia sidered theirs by right. The bewildered inhabitants of Pales- should be given to Ptolemy; but since he had r-rottaken part tine, the among them, awaited the outcome of these in this battle it was now decided to annex it to Seleucus. Jews changes rvith no little apprehension. The to come rvould Ptolem-v, horvever, forestalled him and took immcdiate posses- 1'ears fully justifi their I'ears. sion of the land, an action Seleucus and his successols\\rere Meanr,r'hile Antiochus, though victorious over the Ptolemies, never to forget. Seieucus gained much h'om the victorl' at had trouble in another quarter. In r9z e.c. he found himself Ipsus, hor.r'ever',despite his loss of Palestine, and over the next at war with Rome, and at the Battle of N{agnesia (r9o n.c.) tu'ent)'1-ears he l:rid claim 1o a substantial part ol'Alexander''s suffered a crippling defeat. lle r,r.'asforced to pay an enormous great empire. But the issue rvas b;' no means settled artd the rB THE HISTORY PTOLEMIES AND SELEUCIDS I9 indemnity and to hand over twenty hostages,among them his together in one section of the city close to the seashore. They own son, who was later to become king as Antiochus IV thus enjoyed a certain autonomy in the ordering of their social (Epiphanes). Three yearslater he died a broken man, and was and religious affairs and were in the main content to live their :succeededby his son SeleucusIV (r87-r75 n.c.), who, after lives as members of a distinctlyJewish community. There were an uneventful reign, was murdered by his chief minister, not a few among them, however, who were deeply influenced Ileliodorus, who declared Seleucus' son king. The news of by their Greek environment, and so it is not surprising that in course of time Seleucus' death, however, had reached the ears ofhis brother there grew up in Egypt a type of Judaism Antiochus on his way home from Rome. He immediately ar- marked by a fusion ofJewish and Greek ideas, which was to ranged for the disposal of his young nephew and proclaimed have an immeasurable influence on the life and literature not himself king (r75 n.c.). A reign had begun which was to have only of the Dispersion but also of Palestine itself. During dire results for the entire Jewish nation. the time of the Ptolemies the city of Alexandria be- came famous throughout the ancient world as a centre of learn- ing and literature, its great Library attracting scholars ancl z. Relations with the Jews philosophers from near and far. Amons the many literarv The political events outlined above, from Alexander to works composed there none can compare *ith th" Greek trans- 'the Antiochus IV, are describedall too briefly and in tantalizingly lation of the Hebrew Scriptures known as Septuagint' (or cryptic form in Dan. r r.t Other historical recordsfill in details, LXX) . A legendary account of its origin is given in the Letter but the information is very limited indeed. The Greek writer of Aristeas (cf. Antiquities xu. ii. 4-r5), where it is stated that Hecataeus,for example, reports that manyJews, including the the translation was made in the time of Ptolemy II (zB5 246 j High Priest Hezekiah, followed Ptolemy I into Egypt after the n.c.) at the request of his librarian Demetrius, who wished to Battle of Gaza; the historian Agatharchidesstates that the same add a copyof theJewish Laws to his collection of zoo,ooo books king captured Jerusalem by guile and carried off many as for the benefit of Greek readers. At Demetrius, request ptolemy slaves to Egypt; the Letter of Aristeas claims that he trans- sent a letter to Jerusalem to the High Priest Eleazar, who in ported roo,ooo in this way, 3o,ooo of whom he settled as turn sent seventy-two scholars (later legend says ,seventy', I 'septuagint') garrisonsin the country. The historicity of theseaccounts can- hence the name to Alexandria to carry out the I not be proved, but it is clear from many papyri and inscriptions task. For seventy-two days they lived together in a house on found there that from the time of Ptolemy I onwards the num- the island of Pharos and at the end of that time had completed ber ofJews in Egypt grew considerably. Aristeas reports that their translation. Whilst legendary features in the story ian be Ptolemy II set free thoseJews who had been enslavedby his disregarded, it may nevertheless be taken as certain that the father" Friendly relationshipsapparently continued through the Torah or Pentateuch was actually translated into Greek in reigns of at least the first three Ptolemies,the Jewish commun- Alexandria, possibly under the patronage of Ptolemy II. The 'according ity being permitted to live to the laws of their rest of the Hebrew Scriptures would be similarlv translated fathers' with their own Council of Elders. later, most of them before about the year r50 B.c. It is hardly Synagogueswere built in many towns and villagesin various likely, however, that the translation was initigated by Deme- parts of the land and especiallyin Alexandria, where the Jews, trius, who died in exile in zB3 n.c., or that it was made for the though not forming a completely separatecommunity, settled sake of the learned Greeks in Alexandria; it was rather for the benefit r See pp. z4r ff. of the Alexandrian Jews who were no longer able to PTOLEMIES AND SELEUCIDS 2l iluaH.u..* andror 'il:T;ff:1,,o.* inthe synagogue and the unlawful enslavement of certain people in Syria, and serviceswere quite inadequate. The actual work of translation which are to be dated in the year z6I s.c. These documents was no doubt carried out by Jewish scholars of Alexandria, show that there was close contact between Palestine and Egypt perhaps with scrolls from Jerusalem, and not by Jerusalem and that the country was divided up into small administrative scholarsas the story claims. As a bond uniting the Jews of the units in the charge of numerous officials appointed by senior widely scatteredDispersion and as an instrument for the pro- officials in Alexandria. Of special importance were the asents pagation ofJudaism throughout the Greek-speakingworld the of Apollonius who were responsible for commercial and trade value of this translation can hardly be overestimated. relations between the two countries. In e59 e.c. Apollonius But what about theJews in Palestineduring this long period sent out a trade mission, perhaps with Zeno at its head, to tour of Ptolemaic supremacy?Relatively little information is avail- Palestine and the surrounding districts with a view to increas- able, and what there is is often of a legendary character. It ing trade with the local inhabitants. In somc of the Zeno papyri would appear that until near the closeof the third century the reference is made to aJew named Tobias (Hebrew, Tobiah), Jews were left in comparative peaceprovided that they caused a man of considerable substance, who was apparently in charge 'the no trouble and paid their taxes regularly to the Ptolemaic of a military colony of Ptolemaic soldiers situated in land government. Despite the removal of many into Egypt in the of the Ammonites' in Transjordan.