The Nabataean Kingdom (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 Nabāṭū), also named Nabatea (), was a political state of the Arab Nabataeans during classical antiquity.

The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, amassing large wealth and drawing the envy of its neighbors. It stretched south along the Red Sea coast into the Hejaz, up as far north as Damascus, which it controlled for a short period (85–71 BC).

Nabataea remained independent from the 4th century BC until it was annexed in AD 106 by the Roman Empire, which renamed it Arabia Petraea.

History
Nabataeans

The Nabataeans were one among several nomadic Bedouin tribes that roamed the Arabian Desert and moved with their herds to wherever they could find pasture and water. They became familiar with their area as seasons passed, and they struggled to survive during bad years when seasonal rainfall diminished. Although the Nabataeans were initially embedded in Aramaic culture, theories about them having Aramean roots are rejected by modern scholars. Instead, archaeological, religious and linguistic evidence confirm that they are a northern Arabian tribe.

The precise origin of the specific tribe of Arab nomads remains uncertain. One hypothesis locates their original homeland in today's Yemen, in the southwest of the Arabian peninsula, but their deities, language and script share nothing with those of southern Arabia. Another hypothesis argues that they came from the eastern coast of the peninsula.

The suggestion that they came from the Hejaz area is considered to be more convincing, as they share many deities with the ancient people there; nbtw, the root consonant of the tribe's name, is found in the early Semitic languages of Hejaz.

Similarities between late Nabataean Arabic dialect and the ones found in Mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian period, as well as a group with the name of "Nabatu" being listed by the Assyrians as one of several rebellious Arab tribes in the region, suggests a connection between the two.

The Nabataeans might have originated from there and migrated west between the 6th and 4th centuries BC into northwestern Arabia and much of what is now modern-day Jordan. Nabataeans have been falsely associated with other groups of people. A people called the "Nabaiti", who were defeated by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, were associated by some with the Nabataeans because of the temptation to link their similar names. Another misconception is their identification with the Nebaioth of the Hebrew Bible, the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's son.

Unlike the rest of the Arabian tribes, the Nabataeans later emerged as vital players in the region during their times of prosperity. However, their influence then faded, and the Nabataeans were forgotten.

Emergence

thumb|left|Trading routes of the ancient Middle East, when Petra was the last stop for caravans carrying spices before being shipped to European markets through the Port of Gaza|241x241px
The literate Nabataeans left no lengthy historical texts. However, thousands of inscriptions have been found in their settlements, including graffiti and on minted coins. The Nabataeans appear in historical records from the fourth century BC, although there seems to be evidence of their existence before that time. Aramaic ostraca finds indicate that the Achaemenid province Idumaea must have been established before 363 B.C. after the failed revolt of Hakor of Egypt and Evagoras I of Salamis against the Persians. The Qedarites joined the failed revolt, and consequently lost significant territory and their privileged position in the frankincense trade, and were presumably replaced by the Nabataeans. It has been argued that the Persians lost interest in the former territory of the Edomite Kingdom after 400 BC, allowing the Nabataeans to gain prominence in that area. All of these changes would have allowed Nabataeans to control the frankincense trade from Dedan to Gaza.

The first historical reference to the Nabataeans is by Greek historian Diodorus Siculus who lived around 30 BC. Diodorus refers accounts made 300 years earlier by Hieronymus of Cardia, one of Alexander the Great's generals, who had a first-hand encounter with the Nabataeans. Diodorus relates how the Nabataeans survived in a waterless desert and managed to defeat their enemies by hiding in the desert until the latter surrendered for lack of water. The Nabataeans dug cisterns that were covered and marked by signs known only to themselves. Diodorus wrote about how they were "exceptionally fond of freedom" and includes an account about unsuccessful raids that were initiated by Greek general Antigonus I in 312 BC.

thumb|Painting of a Nabataean tomb, Qasr al-Farid, located at Mada'in Saleh, Hejaz, Saudi Arabia
After Alexander the Great's death in 323 BC, his empire split among his generals. During the conflict between Alexander's generals, Antigonus I conquered the Levant, and this brought him to the borders of Edom, just north of Petra. According to Diodorus Siculus, Antigonus sought to add "the land of the Arabs who are called Nabataeans" to his existing territories of Syria and Phoenicia. The Nabataeans were distinguished from the other Arab tribes by wealth. The Nabataeans generated revenues from the trade caravans that transported frankincense, myrrh and other spices from Eudaemon in today's Yemen, across the Arabian peninsula, passing through Petra and ending up in the Port of Gaza for shipment to European markets.

Antigonus ordered one of his officers, Athenaeus, to raid the Nabataeans with 4000 infantry and 600 cavalry, and loot herds and processions. Athenaeus learned that, every year, the Nabataeans gathered for a festival, during which women, children, and elders were left at "a certain rock" (later interpreted by some as the future city of "Petra", "rock" in Greek.)Diodorus Siculus, Book XIX, 95-100, Loeb Classical Library edition, 1954, accessed 27 December 2019 The Antigonids attacked "the rock" in 312 BC while the Nabataeans were away trading; the inhabitants were taken by surprise and tonnes of spices and silver were looted. The Antigonids departed before nightfall and made camp to rest 200 stadion away, where they thought they would be safe from Nabataean counter-attack. The camp was attacked by 8000 pursuing Nabataean soldiers and - as Diodorus describes it - "all the 4000 foot-soldiers were slain, but of the 600 horsemen about fifty escaped, and of these the larger part were wounded"; Athenaeus himself was killed. The Antigonids had deployed no scouts, a failure that Diodorus ascribes to Athenaeus's failure to anticipate the rapidity of the Nabataean response. After the Nabataeans returned to their rock, they wrote a letter to Antigonus accusing Athenaeus and declaring that they had destroyed the Antigonid army in self-defence. Antigonus replied by blaming Athenaeus for acting unilaterally, intending to lull the Nabataeans into a false sense of security. But the Nabataeans, though pleased with Antigonus response, remained suspicious and established outposts on the edge of the mountains in preparation for future Antigonid attacks.

thumb|200px|Marble bust of Demetrius I Poliorcetes. Roman copy from 1st century AD of a Greek original from 3rd century BC.
The Antigonids' second attack was with an army of 4000 infantry and 4000 cavalry led by Antigonus's son, Demetrius "the Besieger". The Nabataean scouts spotted the marching enemy and used smoke signals to warn of the approaching Antigonid army. The Nabataeans dispersed their herds and possessions to guarded locations in harsh terrain - such as deserts and mountain tops - which would be difficult for the Antigonids to attack, and garrisoned "the rock" to defend what remained. The Antigonids attacked "the rock" through its "single artificial approach", but the Nabataeans managed to repulse the invading force. A Nabataean called out to Demetrius pointing out that Antigonid aggression made no sense, for the land was semi-barren and the Nabataeans had no desire to be their slaves. Realizing his limited supplies and the determination of the Nabataean fighters, Demetrius eventually was forced to accept peace, and withdraw with hostages and gifts. Demetrius drew Antigonus's displeasure for the peace, but this was ameliorated by Demetrius's reports of bitumen deposits in the Dead Sea, a valuable commodity that was essential for the embalming process.

Antigonus sent an expedition, this time under Hieronymus of Cardia, to extract bitumen from the Dead Sea. A force of 6000 Arabs sailing on reed rafts approached Hieronymus's troops and killed them with arrows. These Arabs were almost certainly Nabataeans. Antigonus thus lost all hope of generating revenue in that manner. The event is described as the first conflict caused by a Middle Eastern petroleum product.

The series of wars among the Greek generals ended in a dispute over the lands of modern-day Jordan between the Ptolemies based in Egypt and the Seleucids based in Syria. The conflict enabled the Nabataeans to extend their kingdom beyond Edom.

Diodorus mentions that the Nabataeans had attacked merchant ships belonging to the Ptolemies in Egypt at unspecified date, but were soon targeted by a larger force and "punished as they deserved". While it is unknown why the wealthy Nabataeans turned to piracy, one possible reason is that they felt that their trade interests were threatened by the understanding of the nature of monsoon in the Red Sea from the third century BC.

Creation of the Nabataean Kingdom
thumb|Al-Khazneh carved into rock by the Nabataeans in their capital, Petra. The Nabataean Arabs did not emerge as a political power suddenly; their rise instead went through two phases. The first phase was in the 4th century BC (ruled then by an elders' council), which was marked by the growth of Nabataean control over trade routes and various tribes and towns. Their presence in Transjordan by the end of the fourth century BC is guaranteed by Antigonus's operations in the region, and despite recent suggestions that there is no evidence of Nabataean occupation of the Hauran in the early period, the Zenon papyri firmly attest the penetration of the Hauran by the Nabataeans in the mid-third century BC beyond all doubt, and according to Bowersock, it "establish[es] these Arabs in one of the principal areas of subsequent splendor". Simultaneously, the Nabataeans had probably moved across the 'Araba to the west into the desert tracts of the Negev. In their early history, before establishing urban centers, the Nabataeans demonstrated on several occasions their impressive and well organized military prowess by successfully defending their territory against larger powers.

The second phase saw the creation of the Nabataean political state in the mid-3rd century BC. Kingship is regarded as a characteristic of a state and urban society. The Nabataean institution of kingship came about as a result of multiple factors, such as the indispensabilities of trade organization and war; the subsequent outcomes of the Greek expeditions on the Nabataeans played a role in the political centralization of the Nabatu tribe. The earliest evidence of Nabataean kingship comes from a Nabataean inscription in the Hauran region, probably Bosra, which mentions a Nabataean king whose name was lost, dated by Stracky to the early third century BC. The dating is significant, since the available evidence does not attest the existence of Nabataean monarchy until the second century BC. This nameless Nabataean king perhaps could be linked with a reference from the Zenon archive (the second historical mention of the Nabataeans) to deliveries of grain to "Rabbel's men", Rabbel being a characteristically royal Nabataean name, it is thus possible to link Rabbel of the Zenon archive with the nameless king of Bosra's inscription, though it is highly speculative.

A recent papyrological discovery, the Milan Papyrus, provides further evidence. The relevant part of the Lithika section of the papyrus describes an Arabian cavalry of a certain Nabataean king, providing an early 3rd century BC reference to a Nabataean monarch. The word Nabataean stands alone beside a missing word that start with the letter M; one of the suggested words for filling the gap is the traditional name of Nabataean kings, Malichus. Furthermore, the anonymous Nabataean coins dated by Barkay to the second half of the 3rd century BC, found mainly in Nabataean territory, support such an early date of the Nabataean Kingdom. This is in line with Strabo's account (whose description of Arabia derives ultimately from reports by 3rd century BC Ptolemaic officials) that the Nabataean kingship was old and traditional. In conclusion, Rachel Barkay states that "the Nabataean economy and political regime were in existence by the third century BC". The Kingship of the Nabataeans, was in the view of Strabo, an effective one, where the Nabataean kingdom was "very well governed" and the king was "a man of the people". For more than four centuries the Nabataean kingdom dominated, politically and commercially, a large territory and was arguably the first Arab kingdom in the area.

The testimony of the 4th and 3rd century external accounts and local materialistic evidence demonstrate that the Nabataeans played a relatively substantial political and economic role in the sphere of the early Hellenistic world. While the Nabataeans didn't attain observable characteristics of a Hellenistic state (i.e. monumental architecture) in their early period, similar to contemporary Seleucid Syria, the Milan papyrus speaks of their wealth and prestige in this period. In that respect, the Nabataeans must be considered a unique entity.

thumb|right|200px|Coin showing Aretas IV in military dress
thumb|right|200px|Statue of soldier in Petra

Aretas I, mentioned in II Macc as "the tyrant of the Arabs" (169-168 BC), is regarded as the first explicitly named king of the Nabataeans. His first appearance in history is in the II Macc, where the high-priest Jason, driven by his rival Menelaus, sought the protection of Aretas. Upon his arrival at the land of the Nabataeans, Aretas imprisoned Jason. It is not clear why or when that happened; his arrest by Aretas was either after he escaped Jerusalem, where Aretas, fearing the retaliation of Antiochus IV Epiphanes for "openly demonstrating pro-Ptolemaic stand" (in Hammond's view however, Aretas hoped to use Jason as a political bargaining counter with the Seleucids), arrested Jason. Or his imprisonment might have happened at a later date (167 BC), as a result of the established friendship between the Nabataeans and Judas Maccabaeus, aimed to hand Jason to the Jews. "Either suggestion is feasible and so the riddle remains unresolved", according to Kasher.

A Nabataean inscription in the Negev, mentions a Nabataean king called Aretas, the date given by Starcky is not later than 150 BC. However, the dating is difficult. It has been claimed that the inscription dates to the 3rd century BC, based on the pre-Nabataean writing style, or somewhere in the 2nd century BC. Generally, the inscription is attributed to Aretas I of II Macc, or perhaps as suggested by others, to Aretas II.

Around the same time, the Arab Nabataeans and the neighboring Jewish Maccabees had maintained a friendly relationship, the former had sympathized with the Maccabees, who were being mistreated by the Seleucids. The Romano-Jewish historian Josephus report that Judas Maccabeus and his brother Jonathan marched three days into the wilderness before encountering the Nabataeans in the Hauran, where they were settled in for at least a century. The Nabataeans treated them peacefully and told them of what happened to the Jews residing in the land of Galaad. This peaceful meeting between the Nabataeans and two brothers in the first book of Maccabees seems to contradict a parallel account from the second book where a pastoral Arab tribe launched a surprise attack on the two brothers. Despite open contradiction between the two accounts, scholars tend to identify the plundering Arab tribe of the second book with the Nabataeans in the first book. They were evidently not Nabataeans, for good relations between the Maccabees and their "friends", the Nabataeans, continued to exist. The friendly relations between them is further emphasized by Jonathan decision to send his brother John to "lodge his baggage" with the Nabataeans until the battle with the Seleucids is over. Again, the Maccabean caravan suffered an attack by a murderer Arab tribe in the vicinity of Madaba. This tribe was clearly not Nabataean, for they were identified as the sons of Amrai. In Bowersock view, the interpretation of the evidence in the books of Maccabees "illustrates the danger of assuming that any reference to Arabs in areas known to have been settled by the Nabataeans must automatically refer to them". But the picture is different, many Arab tribes in the region continued to be nomadic and moved in and out of the emerging Nabataean kingdom, and the Nabataeans, as well as invading armies and eventually the Romans also, had to cope with these people.

The Nabataeans began to mint coins during the second century BC, revealing the extensive economic and political independence they enjoyed.

Petra was included in a list of major cities in the Mediterranean area to be visited by a notable from Priene, a sign of the significance of Nabataea in the ancient world. Petra was included with Alexandria, which was considered to be a supreme city in the civilized world.

Nabataeans and Hasmoneans
thumb|right|Remains of Byzantine church at Avdat in the Negev, which reused elements of a temple built by the Nabataeans to commemorate king Obodas I and his victories against the Hasmoneans and the Seleucids|279x279px

The Nabataeans were allies of the Maccabees during their struggles against the Seleucid monarchs. They then became rivals of their successors, the Judaean Hasmonean dynasty, and a chief element in the disorders which invited Pompey's intervention in Judea. The Port of Gaza was the last stop for spices that were carried by trade caravans before shipment to European markets, giving the Nabataeans considerable influence over the Gazans.

The Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus, besieged the city of Gaza around 100 BC, on the grounds that the Gazans had favoured the Ptolemies over the Judaeans in their recent battles. Gaza was occupied and its inhabitants put to the sword by Jannaeus.

The Hasmoneans, under Jannaeus, launched a campaign that captured several territories in Transjordan north of Nabataea, along the road to Damascus, including northern Moab and Gilead. The territorial acquisitions threatened Nabataean trade interests, both to Gaza and to the Seleucids in Damascus. The Nabataean King, Obodas I fought to restore the areas. Obodas managed to defeat Jannaeus in the Battle of Gadara around 93 BC, when he ambushed him and his forces in a steep valley where Jannaeus "was lucky to escape alive".

After the Nabataean victory over the Judaeans, the former were now at odds with the Seleucids, who were not impressed with the increasing influence of the Nabataeans to the south of their territories. The Nabataeans were again victorious over the Greeks, and this time over the Seleucids. During the Battle of Cana, the Seleucid king Antiochus XII waged war against the Nabataeans; the king himself was slain during combat. His demoralized army fled and perished in the desert from starvation. After Obodas's victories over the Judaeans and the Greeks, he became the first Nabataean king to be worshipped as a god by his people.
thumb|upright=0.8|Aretas III on a Roman coin, depicted in a pose of submission

Avdat was a temple built in the Negev desert by the Nabataeans to commemorate Obodas. He was buried there and inscriptions have been found referring to "Obodas the god".

During the reign of Aretas III (87 to 62 BC) the kingdom seems to have reached its territorial zenith; it was defeated by a Roman army under the command of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. Scaurus's army even besieged Petra; eventually a compromise was negotiated. Paying a tribute, Aretas III received formal recognition by the Roman Republic.Taylor, Jane; Petra; p.25-31; Aurum Press Ltd; London; 2005;

The Nabataean kingdom saw itself slowly surrounded by the expanding Roman Empire, which conquered Egypt and annexed Hasmonean Judea. While the Nabataean kingdom managed to preserve its formal independence, it became a client kingdom under the influence of Rome.

Roman annexation
thumb|320px|A map of the Roman Empire, at its greatest extent, showing the territory of Trajan's Nabataean conquests in red

In 106 AD, during the reign of Roman emperor Trajan, the last king of the Nabataean kingdom Rabbel II Soter died. That might have prompted the official annexation of Nabatea to the Roman Empire, but the formal reasons and the exact manner of annexation are unknown. Some epigraphic evidence suggests a military campaign, commanded by Cornelius Palma, the governor of Syria. Roman forces seem to have come from Syria and also from Egypt. It is clear that by 107 AD Roman legions were stationed in the area around Petra and Bosra, as is shown by a papyrus found in Egypt. The kingdom was annexed by the empire to become the province of Arabia Petraea. Trade seems to have largely continued thanks to the Nabataeans' undiminished talent for trading. Under Hadrian, the limes Arabicus ignored most of the Nabatæan territory and ran northeast from Aila (modern Aqaba) at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. A century later, during the reign of Alexander Severus, the local issue of coinage came to an end. There was no more building of sumptuous tombs, apparently because of a sudden change in political ways, such as an invasion by the neo-Persian power under the Sassanid Empire.

The city of Palmyra, for a time the capital of the breakaway Palmyrene Empire, grew in importance and attracted the Arabian trade away from Petra.Teller, Matthew; Jordan; p.265; Rough Guides; Sept 2009;

Geography
The Nabataean Kingdom was situated between the Arabian and Sinai Peninsulas. Its northern neighbour was the kingdom of Judea, and its south western neighbour was Ptolemaic Egypt. Its capital was the city of Raqmu in Jordan, and it included the towns of Bosra, Hegra (Mada'in Saleh), and Nitzana/Nessana.

Raqmu, now called Petra, was a wealthy trading town, located at a convergence of several important trade routes. One of them was the Incense Route which was based around the production of both myrrh and frankincense in southern Arabia, and ran through Mada'in Saleh to Petra. From there, aromatics were distributed throughout the Mediterranean region.

See also
 List of Nabataean kings
 Nabataean language

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading
Benjamin, Jesse. "Of Nubians and Nabateans: Implications of research on neglected dimensions of ancient world history." Journal of Asian and African Studies 36, no. 4 (2001): 361–82.
Fittschen, Klaus, and G Foerster. Judaea and the Greco-Roman World In the Time of Herod In the Light of Archaeological Evidence: Acts of a Symposium. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.
Kropp, Andreas J. M. "Nabatean Petra: the royal palace and the Herod connection." Boreas 32 (2009): 43–59.
Negev, Avraham. Nabatean Archaeology Today. New York: New York University Press, 1986.

External links

 A map of the  showing the outposts that made up Hadrian's limes

Category:168 BC
Category:160s BC establishments
Category:States and territories established in the 3rd century BC
Category:States and territories disestablished in the 2nd century
Category:Nabataea
Category:History of Saudi Arabia
Category:History of Palestine (region)
Category:Ancient history of Jordan
Category:Ancient Syria
Category:Roman client kingdoms
Category:100s disestablishments
Category:Political entities in the Land of Israel
Category:Gilead

Emergence thumb|left|Trading routes of the ancient Middle East , when Petra was the last stop for caravans carrying spices before being shipped to European markets through the Port of Gaza|241x241px The literate Nabataeans left no lengthy historical texts .

However , thousands of inscriptions have been found in their settlements , including graffiti and on minted coins .

Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans
The Nabataean Arabs were one of the most remarkable peoples of the Ancient World but are today known only for their hauntingly beautiful rock-carved capital Petra. This vividly illustrated book recounts the story of a lost civilization, remembering both its flowering and its demise.
What people are saying - Write a review
Petra and the lost kingdom of the NabataeansUser Review - Not Available - Book Verdict
Writer and photographer Taylor (High Above Jordan) has created a beautifully illustrated work covering the history of the Nabataeans, an Arab people who lived in the area of present-day southern ... Read full review
User Review - Flag as inappropriate
Great. Actually Nabataeans are not from Ismail's firstborn son Nabit (Nebaioth) but from Qaydar (Qedar). Why? Because Qedar had a son named Aram/Arram/Ja'tham/Nabt! From Aram/Nabt came the Prophet Muhammad as well as the Nabataeans!

Question: what was the last stop for caravans carrying spices before being shipped to europe

Answer: Petra

Question: where were spices shipped to europe

Answer: Port of Gaza

Question: who left no lengthy historical texts

Answer: Nabataeans

Question: what did caravans carry to europe

Answer: spices

Question: along with graffiti and inscriptions, what other inscriptions have been found in nabata

Answer: minted coins

Question: along with coins, what type of inscriptions have been found in nabataeans

Answer: graffiti

Question: how many inscriptions have been found in nabataeans settlements

Answer: thousands

Antigonus ordered one of his officers , Athenaeus , to raid the Nabataeans with 4000 infantry and 600 cavalry , and loot herds and processions .

|
mail:
|
Bill Thayer
Italiano
Help
Up
Home
Â p33Â 73 1Â When the activities of this year had come to an end, Theophrastus obtained the archonship in Athens, and Marcus Publius and Gaius Sulpicius became consuls in Rome.1 While these were in office, the people of Callantia, who lived on the left side of the Pontus2 and who were subject to a garrison that had been sent by Lysimachus, drove out this garrison and made an effort to gain autonomy. 2Â In like manner they freed the city of the Istrians and other neighbouring cities, and formed an alliance with them binding them to fight together against the prince. They also brought into the alliance those of the Thracians and Scythians whose lands bordered upon their own, so that the whole was a union that had weight and could offer battle with strong forces. 3Â As soon, however, as Lysimachus learned what had taken place, he set out against the rebels. After marching through Thrace and crossing the Haemus Mountains, he encamped near Odessus. Beginning a siege, he quickly frightened the inhabitants and took the city by capitulation. 4Â Next, after recovering the Istrians in a similar way, he set out against the Callantians. At this very time the Scythians and the Thracians arrived with large forces to aid their allies in accordance with the treaty. 5Â Lysimachus, meeting them and engaging them at once, terrified the Thracians and induced them to change sides; but the Scythians he defeated in a pitched battle, slaying many of them and pursuing the survivors beyond the frontiers. Â p35Â Then, encamping about the city of the Callantians, he laid siege to it, since he was very eager to chastise in every way those who were responsible for the revolt. 6Â While he was thus engaged, there came certain men bringing word that Antigonus had sent two expeditions to the support of the Callantians, one by land and one by sea, that the general Lycon with the fleet had sailed through into the Pontus, and that Pausanias with a considerable number of soldiers was in camp at a place called Hieron.3 7Â Perturbed at this, Lysimachus left an adequate body of soldiers to carry on the siege;4 but with the strongest part of the army he himself pushed on, intent on making contact with the enemy. 8Â When, however, he reached the pass over the Haemus, he found Seuthes, the Thracian king, who had gone over to Antigonus, guarding the crossing with many soldiers. 9Â Engaging him in a battle that lasted a considerable time, Lysimachus lost not aÂ few of his own men; but he destroyed a vast number of the enemy and overpowered the barbarians. 10Â He also came suddenly upon the forces of Pausanias, catching them after they had taken refuge in a place difficult of access. This he captured; and, after slaying Pausanias, he dismissed some of the soldiers on receiving ransom and enrolled others in his own army.
This was the situation of Lysimachus.
74 1Â Antigonus, after he had failed in this undertaking, dispatched Telesphorus5 into the Peloponnesus, giving him fifty ships and a suitable force of Â p37Â infantry, and he ordered him to free the cities, for he hoped by doing this to establish among the Greeks the belief that he truly was concerned for their independence; and at the same time he gave him a hint to note the activities of Cassander. 2Â As soon as Telesphorus had reached port in the Peloponnesus, he advanced upon the cities that were occupied by Alexander's garrisons6 and freed all of them except Sicyon and Corinth; for in these cities Polyperchon had his quarters, maintaining strong forces and trusting in these and in the strength of the positions. 3Â While this was being done, Philip,7 who had been sent by Cassander to the war against the Aetolians as commander, immediately on arriving in Acarnania with his army undertook to plunder Aetolia, but soon, hearing that Aeacides8 the Epirote had returned to his kingdom and had collected a strong army, he set out very quickly against him, for he was eager to bring this struggle to an end separately before the army of the Aetolians joined forces with the king. 4Â Although he found the Epirotes ready for battle, he attacked them at once, slaying many and taking captive no small number, among whom there chanced to be about fifty of those responsible Â p39Â for the return of the king; these he bound and sent to Cassander.9 5Â As Aeacides and his men rallied from the fight and joined the Aetolians, Philip again advanced and overpowered them in battle, slaying many, among whom was King Aeacides10 himself. 6Â By gaining such victories aÂ few days Philip so terrified many of the Aetolians that they abandoned their unfortified cities and fled to the most inaccessible of their mountains with their children and their women.
Such was the outcome of the campaign in Greece.11
75 1Â In Asia, Asander,12 the ruler of Caria, being hard pressed by the war, came to terms with Antigonus, agreeing to transfer to him all his soldiers, to relinquish the Greek cities and leave them autonomous, and to hold as a grant the satrapy that he had formerly had, remaining a steadfast friend of Antigonus. 2Â Having given his brother Agathon as a hostage for the fulfilment of these terms and then after aÂ few days having repented of the agreement, he secretly removed his brother from custody and sent emissaries to Ptolemy and Seleucus, begging them to aid him as soon as possible. 3Â Antigonus, enraged at this, dispatched a force both by sea and by land to liberate the cities, appointing Medius Â p41Â admiral of the fleet and making Docimus general of the army.13 4Â These men, coming to the city of the Milesians, encouraged the citizens to assert their freedom; and, after taking by siege the citadel, which was held by a garrison, they restored the independence of the government. 5Â While they were thus engaged, Antigonus besieged and took Tralles; then, proceeding to Caunus and summoning the fleet, he captured that city also except for its citadel. Investing this, he kept making continuous attacks on the side where it was most easily assailed. Ptolemaeus,14 who had been sent to Iasus with an adequate force, compelled that city to support Antigonus. 6Â In this way, then, these cities, which were in Caria, were made subject to Antigonus. AÂ few days later, when ambassadors came to the latter from the Aetolians and the Boeotians, he made an alliance with them; but, when he entered into negotiations with Cassander about peace in the Hellespontine region, he accomplished nothing since they could in no way agree. For this reason Cassander gave up hope of settlement and decided to play a part once more in the affairs of Greece. 7Â Setting out for OreÃ¼s,15 therefore, with thirty ships, he laid siege to the city. While he was vigorously attacking and was already at the point of taking the city by storm, reinforcements appeared for the people of OreÃ¼s: Telesphorus from the Peloponnesus with twenty ships and aÂ thousand soldiers, and Medius from Asia with aÂ hundred ships. 8Â They saw the ships of Cassander blockading the harbour and threw fire Â p43Â into them, burning four and almost destroying them all; but when reinforcements for the defeated came from Athens, Cassander sailed out against the enemy, who were off their guard. When they met, he sank one ship and seized three with their crews.16
Such were the activities in Greece and the Pontus.17
76 1Â In Italy,18 the Samnites were advancing with a large army, destroying whatever cities in Campania19 were supporting their enemies; and the Roman consuls, coming up with an army, were trying to aid those of their allies who were in danger. 2Â They took the field against the enemy near Tarracina20 and at once relieved that city from its immediate fears; then aÂ few days later, when both sides had drawn up their armies, a hard-fought battle took place and very many fell on both sides. Finally the Romans, pressing on with all their strength, got the better of their enemies and, pushing the pursuit for a long time, slew more than ten thousand. 3Â While this battle was still unknown to them, the Campanians, scorning the Romans, rose in rebellion; but the people at once sent an adequate force against them with the dictator Gaius Manius as commander and accompanying him, according to the national custom, Manius Fulvius as master-ofâhorse. 4Â When these were in position near Capua, the Campanians at first endeavoured Â p45Â to fight; but afterwards, hearing of the defeat of the Samnites and believing that all the forces would come against themselves, they made terms with the Romans. 5Â They surrendered those guilty of the uprising, who without awaiting the judgement of the trial that was instituted killed themselves. But the cities gained pardon and were reinstated in their former alliance.21
77 1Â When this year had passed, Polemon was archon in Athens, and in Rome the consuls were Lucius Papirius for the fifth time and Gaius Iunius;22 and in this year the Olympic Games were celebrated for the oneÂ hundred and seventeenth time, Parmenion of MitylenÃª winning the footrace. 2Â In this year23 Antigonus ordered his general Ptolemaeus into Greece to set the Greeks free and sent with him oneÂ hundred and fifty warships, placing Medius in command of them as admiral, and an army of five thousand foot and five hundred horse. 3Â Antigonus also made an alliance with the Rhodians and received from them for the liberation of the Greeks ten ships fully equipped for war. 4Â Ptolemaeus, putting in with the entire fleet at the harbour of Boeotia known as Bathys,24 received from the Boeotian League two thousand two hundred foot soldiers and one thousand three hundred horse. He also summoned his ships Â p47Â from OreÃ¼s, fortified Salganeus,25 and gathered there his entire force; for he hoped to be admitted by the Chalcidians, who alone of the Euboeans were garrisoned by the enemy. 5Â But Cassander, in his anxiety for Chalcis, gave up the siege of OreÃ¼s, moved to Chalcis, and summoned his forces. When Antigonus heard that in Euboea the armed forces were watching each other, he recalled Medius to Asia with the fleet, and at once with his armies set out at top speed for the Hellespont as if intending to cross over into Macedonia, in order that, if Cassander remained in Euboea, he might himself occupy Macedonia while it was stripped of defenders, or that Cassander, going to the defence of his kingdom, might lose his supremacy in Greece. 6Â But Cassander, perceiving Antigonus' plan, left Pleistarchus26 in command of the garrison in Chalcis and setting out himself with all his forces took Oropus by storm and brought the Thebans into his alliance. Then, after making a truce with the other Boeotians and leaving Eupolemus as general for Greece, he went into Macedonia, for he was apprehensive of the enemy's crossing. 7Â As for Antigonus, when he came to the Propontis, he sent an embassy to the Byzantines, asking them to enter the alliance. But there had arrived envoys from Lysimachus also who were urging them to do nothing against either Lysimachus or Cassander; and the Byzantines decided to remain neutral and to maintain peace and friendship toward both parties. Antigonus, because he had been foiled in these undertakings and also because the winter season Â p49Â was closing in upon him, distributed his soldiers among the cities for the winter.27
78 1Â While these things were going on, the Corcyraeans,28 who had gone to the aid of the people of Apollonia and Epidamnus, dismissed Cassander's soldiers under a truce; and of these cities they freed Apollonia, but Epidamnus they gave over to Glaucias, the king of the Illyrians. 2Â After Cassander had departed for Macedonia, Antigonus' general Ptolemaeus, striking fear into the garrison that was holding Chalcis, took the city; and he left the Chalcidians without a garrison in order to make it evident that Antigonus in very truth proposed to free the Greeks, for the city is well placed for any who wish to have a base from which to carry through a war for supremacy.29 3Â However that may be, when Ptolemaeus had taken Oropus by siege, he gave it back to the Boeotians and made captive the troops of Cassander.30 Thereafter, having received the people of Eretria and Carystus into the alliance, he moved into Attica, where Demetrius of Phalerum was governing the city. 4Â At first the Athenians kept sending secretly to Antigonus, begging him to free the city; but then, taking courage when Ptolemaeus drew near the city, they forced Demetrius to make a truce and to send envoys to Antigonus about an alliance. 5Â Ptolemaeus, moving from Attica into Boeotia, took the Cadmea, drove out the garrison, and freed Thebes. After this he advanced into Phocis Â p51Â where he won over most of the cities and from all of these expelled the garrisons of Cassander. He also marched against Locris; and, since the Opuntians belonged to the party of Cassander, he began a siege and made continuous attacks.31
79 1Â In that same summer32 the people of CyrenÃª revolted from Ptolemy, invested the citadel, and seemed on the point of immediately casting out the garrison; and, when envoys came from Alexandria and bade them cease from their sedition, they killed them and continued the attack on the citadel with greater vigour. 2Â Enraged at them, Ptolemy dispatched Agis as general with a land army and also sent a fleet to take part in the war, placing Epaenetus in command. 3Â Agis attacked the rebels with vigour and took the city by storm. Those who were guilty of the sedition he bound and sent to Alexandria; and then, after depriving the others of their arms and arranging the affairs of the city in whatever way seemed best to himself, he returned to Egypt.
4Â But Ptolemy, now that the matter of CyrenÃª had been disposed of according to his wishes, crossed over with an army from Egypt into Cyprus against those of the kings who refused to obey him. Finding that Pygmalion was negotiating with Antigonus, he put him to death; and he arrested Praxippus, king of Lapithia and ruler of Cerynia,33 whom he suspected of Â p53Â being ill disposed toward himself, and also Stasioecus,34 ruler of Marion, destroying the city and transporting the inhabitants to Paphos.35 5Â After accomplishing these things, he appointed Nicocreon36 as general of Cyprus, giving him both the cities and the revenues of the kings who had been driven out; 6Â but he himself with his army, sailing toward Upper Syria, as it is called, captured and sacked Poseidium and Potami Caron.37 Sailing without delay to Cilicia, he took Malus and sold as booty those who were captured there. He also plundered the neighbouring territory and, after sating his army with spoil, sailed back to Cyprus. 7Â His playing up to the soldiers in this way was designed to evoke enthusiasm in face of the encounters that were approaching.
80 1Â Now Antigonus' son Demetrius was staying on in CoelÃª Syria lying in wait for the Egyptian armies.38 But when he heard of the capture of the cities, he left Pithon as general in charge of the region, giving him the elephants and the heavy-armed units of the army; and he himself, taking the cavalry and the light-armed units, moved rapidly toward Cilicia to give aid to those who were in danger. 2Â Arriving after the opportunity had passed and finding that the enemy had sailed away, he went rapidly Â p55Â back to his camp, having lost most of his horses during the march; for in six days' march towards Malus39 he covered twenty-four stages, with the result that on account of the excessive hardship not one of his sutlers or of his grooms kept up the pace.
3Â Ptolemy, since his undertakings had turned out as he wished, now sailed away to Egypt; but after a little while, spurred on by Seleucus because of his hostility toward Antigonus, he decided to make a campaign into CoelÃª Syria and take the field against the army of Demetrius. 4Â He therefore gathered together his forces from all sides and marched from Alexandria to Pelusium with eighteen thousand foot and four thousand horse. Of his army some were Macedonians and some were mercenaries, but a great number were Egyptians, of whom some carried the missiles and the other baggage but some were armed and serviceable for battle. 5Â Marching through the desert from Pelusium, he camped near the enemy at Old Gaza in Syria.40 Demetrius, who had likewise summoned his soldiers to Old Gaza from their winter quarters41 on all sides, awaited the approach of his opponents.
81 1Â Although his friends were urging him not to take the field against so great a general and a superior force, Demetrius paid no heed to them but confidently prepared for the conflict even though he was very young and was about to engage in so great a battle Â p57Â apart from his father.42 2Â When he had called together an assembly under arms and, anxious and agitated, had taken his position on a raised platform, the crowd shouted with a single voice, bidding him be of good courage; and then, before the herald bade the shouting men cease their tumult, they all became silent. 3Â For, because he had just been placed in command, neither soldiers nor civilians had for him any ill will such as usually develops against generals of long standing when at a particular time many minor irritations are combined in a single mass grievance; for the multitude becomes exacting when it remains under the same authority, and every group that is not preferred welcomes change. Since his father was already an old man, the hopes of the kingdom, centring upon his succession, were bringing him the command and at the same time the goodwill of the multitude. 4Â Moreover, he was outstanding both in beauty and in stature, and also when clad in royal armour he had great distinction and struck men with awe, whereby he created great expectations in the multitude. Furthermore, there was in him a certain gentleness becoming to a youthful king, which won for him the devotion of all, so that even those outside the ranks ran together to hear him, feeling sympathetic anxiety on account of his youth and the critical struggle that impended. 5Â For he was about to fight a decisive battle not only against more numerous forces, but also against generals who were almost the greatest, Ptolemy and Seleucus. Indeed, these generals, who had taken part with Alexander in all his wars and had Â p59Â often led armies independently, were unconquered up to this time. 6Â At all events, Demetrius, after encouraging the crowd with words suitable to the occasion and promising to give gifts to them as they were deserved and to yield the booty to the soldiers, drew up his army for the battle.
82 1Â On the left wing, where he himself was going to take part in the battle, he placed first the two hundred selected horsemen of his guard, among whom were all his other friends and, in particular, Pithon, who had campaigned with Alexander and had been made by Antigonus co-general and partner in the whole undertaking.43 2Â As an advanced guard he drew up three troops of cavalry and the same number as guards on the flank, and in addition to these and stationed separately outside the wing, three troops of Tarentines;44 thus those that were drawn up about his person amounted to five hundred horsemen armed with the lance and oneÂ hundred Tarentines. 3Â Next he posted those of the cavalry who were called the Companions, eight hundred in number, and after them no less than fifteen hundred horsemen of all kinds. In front of the whole wing he stationed thirty of his elephants, and he filled the intervals between them with units of light-armed men, of whom aÂ thousand were javelin-throwers and archers and five hundred were Persian slingers. 4Â In this fashion then he formed the left wing, with which he intended to decide the battle. Next to it he drew up the infantry phalanx composed of eleven thousand men, of whom two thousand were Macedonians, Â p61Â one thousand were Lycians and Pamphylians, and eight thousand were mercenaries. On the right wing he drew up the rest of his cavalry, fifteen hundred men commanded by Andronicus. This officer was ordered to hold his line back at an angle and avoid fighting, awaiting the outcome of the conflict fought by Demetrius. The thirteen other elephants he stationed in front of the phalanx of the infantry with the normal complement of light troops in the intervals. In this manner, then, Demetrius arrayed his army.
83 1Â Ptolemy and Seleucus at first made strong the left part of their line, not knowing the intention of the enemy; but when they learned from scouts the formation he had adopted, they quickly reformed their army in such a way that their right wing should have the greatest strength and power and be matched against those arrayed with Demetrius on his left. They drew up on this wing the three thousand strongest of their cavalry, along with whom they themselves had decided to fight. 2Â In front of this position they placed the men who were to handle the spiked devices45 made of iron and connected by chains that they had prepared against the onset of the elephants; for when this contrivance had been stretched out, it was easy to prevent the beasts Â p63Â from moving forward. 3Â In front of this wing they also stationed their light-armed units, ordering the javelin-men and archers to shoot without ceasing at the elephants and at those who were mounted upon them. When they had made their right wing strong in this manner and had drawn up the rest of their army as circumstances permitted, they advanced upon the enemy with a great shout.
Their opponents also advanced; and first there was a cavalry action on the extreme wings between the troops of the advance guards in which the men of Demetrius had much the better of it. 4Â But after a little, when Ptolemy and Seleucus had ridden around the wing and charged upon them more heavily with cavalry drawn up in depth, there was severe fighting because of the zeal of both sides. 5Â In the first charge, indeed, the fighting was with spears, most of which were shattered, and many of the antagonists were wounded; then, rallying again, the men rushed into battle at sword's point, and, as they were locked in close combat, many were slain on each side. The very commanders, endangering themselves in front of all, encouraged those under their command to withstand the danger stoutly; and the horsemen upon the wings, all of whom had been selected for bravery, vied with each other since as witnesses of their valour they had their generals, who were sharing the struggle with them.
84 1Â After the cavalry battle had continued for a long time on equal terms, the elephants, urged on into the combat by their Indian mahouts, advanced for a certain distance in a way to inspire terror, just as if no one were going to withstand them. When, Â p65Â however, they came up to the barrier of spikes, the host of javelin-throwers and archers, who were sending their missiles unremittingly, began to wound severely the elephants themselves and those who were mounted upon them; 2Â and while the mahouts were forcing the beasts forward and were using their goads, some of the elephants were pierced by the cleverly devised spikes and, tormented by their wounds46 and by the concentrated efforts of the attackers, began to cause disorder. 3Â For on smooth and yielding ground these beasts display in direct onset a might that is irresistible, but on terrain that is rough and difficult their strength is completely useless because of the tenderness of their feet. 4Â Thus, too, on this occasion, since Ptolemy shrewdly foresaw what would result from the setting up of the spikes, he rendered the power of the elephant unavailing.47 5Â The final outcome was that, after most of the mahouts had been shot down, all the elephants were captured. When this happened, most of Demetrius' horsemen were panic-stricken and rushed into flight; and he himself was left with aÂ few and then, since no one heeded him when he begged them each to stand and not desert him, was forced to leave the field with the rest. 6Â Now as far as Gaza most of the cavalry who were following with him listened to orders and remained in formation, so that no one of those who were pursuing at random lightly risked attacking; for the plain was open and yielding, and favourable to men who wished of the withdraw in formation. 7Â There followed also those of the infantry who preferred to Â p67Â leave their lines and, abandoning their heavy arms, save themselves by travelling light. But as Demetrius was passing Gaza at about sunset, some of the cavalry dropped out and entered the city since they wished to carry away their baggage. 8Â Then, when the gates were opened and a large number of pack animals were gathered together and when each man tried to lead out his own beasts first, there arose such confusion around the gates that when the troops of Ptolemy came up no one was able to close the gates in time. Hence the enemy dashed within the walls, and the city came into the possession of Ptolemy.
85 1Â After the battle had ended in this fashion, Demetrius reached Azotus about the middle of the night, covering two hundred and seventy stades.48 Thence he sent a herald about the burial of the dead since he was very anxious at any cost to honour those who had perished with the funeral that was their due; 2Â for it happened that most of his friends had fallen, the most distinguished of whom were Pithon, who had shared the command on equal terms with himself, and Boeotus, who for a long time had lived with his father Antigonus and had shared in all his state secrets. 3Â In the battle there had fallen more than five hundred men,49 the majority of whom were cavalry and men of distinction; and more than eight thousand had been captured. Ptolemy and Seleucus permitted the recovery of the dead, and they returned to Demetrius without ransom the royal baggage, which had been captured, and those of the prisoners who had been accustomed to be in attendance at the Â p69Â court; for, they said, it was not about these that they were at variance with Antigonus but because, although he and they had made war in command, first against Perdiccas and later again Eumenes, he had not turned over to his companions their share of the captured territory, and again because, after making a compact of friendship with Seleucus, he had nevertheless taken away from him his satrapy of Babylonia contrary to all right. 4Â Ptolemy sent the captured soldiers off into Egypt, ordering them to be distributed among the nomes; but he himself, after giving a magnificent burial to all those of his own men who had died in the battle, went with his forces against the cities of Phoenicia, besieging some of them and winning others by persuasion. 5Â But Demetrius, since he did not have a sufficiently strong army, sent a messenger to his father, asking him to aid him as quickly as possible. He himself, moving to Tripolis in Phoenicia, summoned the soldiers from Cilicia and also those of his other men who were guarding cities or strongholds far removed from the enemy.
86 1Â Ptolemy, after he had gained control of the open country, first won Sidon to his side; and then, camping near Tyre, he summoned Andronicus,50 the commander of the garrison, to surrender the city, and he promised to give him gifts and abundant honours. 2Â Andronicus, however, said that he would in no wise betray the trust that had been placed in him by Antigonus and Demetrius, and he vilely insulted Ptolemy. Later, when his soldiers mutinied and he was expelled from the city and fell into the hands of Ptolemy, he expected to receive punishment both Â p71Â for the insults and for his unwillingness to surrender Tyre. But in truth Ptolemy bore no malice; on the contrary, he gave him gifts and kept him in his court, making him one of his friends and advancing him in honour. 3Â For indeed, that prince was exceptionally gentle and forgiving and inclined toward deeds of kindness. It was this very thing that most increased his power and made many men desire to share his friendship.51 4Â For example, when Seleucus had been driven from Babylonia, he received him with friendship;52 and he used to share his own prosperity with him and with his other friends. 5Â Therefore on this occasion also, when Seleucus asked him to give him soldiers for an expedition into Babylonia, he readily consented; and in addition, he promised to aid him in every way until he should regain the satrapy that had formerly been his.
Such was the situation of affairs in Asia.53
87 1Â In Europe,54 Antigonus' admiral Telesphorus, who was tarrying near Corinth, when he saw Ptolemaeus preferred to himself and entrusted with all affairs throughout Greece, charged Antigonus with this, sold what ships he had, enlisted such of the soldiers as volunteered to join his cause, and organized an enterprise of his own. 2Â Entering Elis as if still preserving his friendship for Antigonus, he fortified the citadel and enslaved the city. He even plundered the sacred precinct at Olympia and, after collecting more than five hundred talents of silver, began hiring mercenaries. 3Â In this manner then, Telesphorus, Â p73Â because he was jealous of the advancement of Ptolemaeus, betrayed the friendship of Antigonus. Ptolemaeus, the general of Antigonus, had been placed in charge of affairs throughout Greece; and he, on hearing of the revolt of Telesphorus, the capture of the city of the Eleans, and the plundering of the wealth of Olympia, moved into the Peloponnesus with an army. When he had come into Elis and levelled the citadel that had been fortified, he gave the Eleans back their freedom and restored the treasure to the god. Then by winning Telesphorus' consent he recovered CyllenÃª, which the latter had garrisoned, and restored it to the Eleans.
88 1Â While this was happening, the Epirotes, their king Aeacides being dead, gave the kingship to Alcetas,55 who had been banished by his father Arymbus and who was hostile to Cassander. 2Â For this reason, Lyciscus,56 who had been placed as general over Acarnania by Cassander, entered Epirus with an army, hoping to remove Alcetas easily from his throne while the affairs of the kingdom were still in disorder. 3Â While Lyciscus was in camp before Cassopia, Alcetas sent his sons Alexander and Teucer to the cities, ordering them to levy as many soldiers as possible; and he himself, taking the field with what force he had, came near the enemy and awaited the return of his sons. 4Â However, since Â p75Â the forces of Lyciscus were at hand and were far superior in number, the Epirotes were frightened and went over to the enemy;57 and Alcetas, deserted, fled for refuge to Eurymenae, a city of Epirus. 5Â While he was being besieged there, Alexander came up bringing reinforcements to his father. AÂ violent battle took place in which many of the soldiers were slain, among whom were certain others of the followers of Lyciscus and in particular the general Micythus and Lysander, an Athenian who had been put in charge of Leucas by Cassander. 6Â But afterwards, when Deinias58 brought reinforcements to the defeated army, there was another battle, in which Alexander and Teucer were defeated and fled with their father to a certain stronghold, while Lyciscus took Eurymenae, plundered it, and destroyed it.
89 1Â At this time Cassander, who had heard of the defeat of his forces but did not know of the victory that had followed, moved into Epirus in haste to assist Lyciscus. On finding that the latter had gained the upper hand, he made terms and established friendship with Alcetas; and then, taking a part of his army, he moved to the Adriatic to lay siege to Apollonia because the people of that city had driven out his garrison and gone over to the Illyrians. 2Â Those in the city, however, were not frightened, but summoned aid from their other allies and drew up their army before the walls. In a battle, which was hard fought and long, the people of Apollonia, who were superior in number, forced their opponents Â p77Â to flee; and Cassander, who had lost many soldiers, since he did not have an adequate army with him and saw that the winter was at hand,59 returned into Macedonia. 3Â After his departure, the Leucadians, receiving help from the Corcyraeans, drove out Cassander's garrison. For some time the Epirotes continued to be ruled by Alcetas; but then, since he was treating the common people too harshly, they murdered him and two of his sons, Esioneus and Nisus, who were children.60
90 1Â In Asia,61 after the defeat of Demetrius at Gaza in Syria, Seleucus, receiving from Ptolemy no more than eight hundred foot soldiers and about two hundred horse,62 set out for Babylon. He was so puffed up with great expectations that, even if he had had no army whatever, he would have made the expedition into the interior with his friends and his own slaves; for he assumed that the Babylonians, on account of the goodwill that had previously existed, would promptly join him, and that Antigonus, by withdrawing to a great distance with his army, had given him a suitable opportunity for his own enterprises. 2Â While such was his own enthusiasm, those of his friends who accompanied were no little disheartened when they saw that the men who were making the campaign with them were very few and that the enemy against whom they were going possessed large armies ready for service, magnificent resources, and a host of allies. 3Â When Seleucus saw that they were terror-stricken, he encouraged Â p79Â them, saying that men who had campaigned with Alexander and had been advanced by him because of their prowess ought not to rely solely on armed force and wealth when confronting difficult situations, but upon experience and skill, the means whereby Alexander himself had accomplished his great and universally admired deeds. He added that they ought also to believe the oracles of the gods which had foretold that the end of his campaign would be worthy of his purpose; 4Â for, when he had consulted the oracle in Branchidae, the god had greeted him as King Seleucus, and Alexander standing beside him in a dream had given him a clear sign of the future leadership that was destined to fall to him in the course of time.63 5Â Moreover, he pointed out that everything that is good and admired among men is gained through toil and danger. But he also sought the favour of his fellow soldiers and put himself on an equality with them all in such a way that each man respected him and willingly accepted the risk of the daring venture.
91 1Â When in his advance he entered Mesopotamia, he persuaded some of the Macedonians who were settled at Carae64 to join his forces, and compelled the rest. When he pushed into Babylonia, most of the inhabitants came to meet him, and, declaring themselves on his side, promised to aid him as he saw fit; 2Â for, when he had been for four years satrap of that country, he had shown himself generous to all, winning the goodwill of the common people and long in advance securing men who would assist him if an opportunity should ever be given to him to make Â p81Â a bid for supreme power. 3Â He was joined also by Polyarchus, who had been placed in command of a certain district, with more than aÂ thousand soldiers. When those who remained loyal to Antigonus saw that the impulse of the people could not be checked, they took refuge together in the citadel, of which Diphilus had been appointed commander. 4Â But Seleucus, by laying siege to the citadel and taking it by storm, recovered the persons of all his friends and slaves who had been placed there under guard by the order of Antigonus after Seleucus' own departure from Babylon into Egypt. 5Â When he had finished this, he enlisted soldiers, and, having brought up horses, he distributed them to those who were able to handle them. Associating with all on friendly terms and raising high hopes in all, he kept his fellow adventurers ready and eager under every condition. In this way, then, Seleucus regained Babylonia.
92 1Â But when Nicanor, the general in Media, gathered about him from Media and Persia and the neighbouring lands more than ten thousand foot soldiers and about seven thousand horse, Seleucus set out at full speed to oppose the enemy. 2Â He himself had in all more than three thousand foot and four hundred horse. He crossed the Tigris River; and, on hearing that the enemy were aÂ few days' march distant, he hid his soldiers in the adjacent marshes, intending to make his attack a surprise. 3Â When Nicanor arrived at the Tigris River and did not find the enemy, he camped at one of the royal stations, Â p83Â believing that they had fled to a greater distance than was the case. When night was come and the army of Nicanor was keeping a perfunctory and negligent guard, Seleucus fell on them suddenly, causing great confusion and panic; 4Â for it happened that when the Persians had joined battle, their satrap Evager65 fell together with some of the other leaders. When this occurred, most of the soldiers went over to Seleucus, in part because they were frightened at the danger but in part because they were offended by the conduct of Antigonus. 5Â Nicanor, who was left with only aÂ few men and feared lest he be delivered over to the enemy, took flight with his friends through the desert. But Seleucus, now that he had gained control of a large army and was comporting himself in a way gracious to all, easily won over SusianÃª, Media, and some of the adjacent lands; and he wrote to Ptolemy and his other friends about his achievements, already possessing a king's stature and a reputation worthy of royal power.
93 1Â Meanwhile Ptolemy remained in CoelÃª Syria after having conquered Antigonus' son Demetrius in a great battle.66 On hearing that Demetrius had returned from Cilicia and was encamped in Upper Syria, he chose from the friends who were with him Cilles the Macedonian; 2Â and, giving him an adequate army, he ordered him to drive Demetrius completely out of Syria or to entrap and crush him.67 While Cilles was on the way, Demetrius, hearing from spies that he Â p85Â was carelessly encamped at Myus,68 left his baggage behind and with his soldiers in light equipment made a forced march; then, falling suddenly upon the enemy during the early morning watch,69 he captured the army without a battle and took the general himself prisoner.70 By achieving such a success he believed that he had wiped out the defeat. 3Â Nevertheless, assuming that Ptolemy would march against him with all his army, he went into camp, using as the outworks of his defence swamps and marshes. He also wrote to his father about the success that had been gained, urging him either to send an army as soon as possible or to cross over into Syria himself. 4Â Antigonus chanced to be in Celaenae in Phrygia; and, on receiving the letter, he rejoiced greatly that his son, young as he was, seemed to have got out of his difficulties by himself and to have shown himself worthy to be a king. He himself with his army set out from Phrygia, crossed the Taurus, and within aÂ few days joined Demetrius. 5Â Ptolemy, however, on hearing of the arrival of Antigonus, called together his leaders and friends and took counsel with them whether it was better to remain and reach a final decision in Syria or to withdraw to Egypt and carry on the war from there as he had formerly done against Perdiccas.71 6Â Now all advised him not to risk a battle against an army that was many times stronger and had a larger number of elephants as well as against an unconquered general; for, they said, it would Â p87Â be much easier for him to settle the war in Egypt where he had plenty of supplies and could trust to the difficulty of the terrain. 7Â Deciding, therefore, to leave Syria, he razed the most noteworthy of the cities that he had captured: AkÃª in Phoenician Syria, and IoppÃª, Samaria, and Gaza in Syria; then he himself, taking the army and what of the booty it was possible to drive or carry, returned into Egypt.72
94 1Â Now that Antigonus without a fight had gained possession of all Syria and Phoenicia, he desired to make a campaign against the land of the Arabs who are called Nabataeans.73 Deciding that this people was hostile to his interests, he selected one of his friends, Athenaeus, gave him four thousand light foot-soldiers and six hundred horsemen fitted for speed, and ordered him to set upon the barbarians suddenly and cut off all their cattle as booty.
2Â For the sake of those who do not know, it will be useful to state in some detail the customs of these Arabs, by following which, it is believed, they preserve their liberty. They live in the open air, claiming as native land a wilderness that has neither rivers nor abundant springs from which it is possible for a hostile army to obtain water. 3Â It is their custom neither to plant grain, set out any fruit-bearing tree, use wine, nor construct any house; and if anyone is found acting contrary to this, death is his penalty.74 Â p89Â 4Â They follow this custom because they believe that those who possess these things are, in order to retain the use of them, easily compelled by the powerful to do their bidding. Some of them raise camels, others sheep, pasturing them in the desert. While there are many Arabian tribes who use the desert as pasture, the Nabataeans far surpass the others in wealth although they are not much more than ten thousand in number; 5Â for not aÂ few of them are accustomed to bring down to the sea frankincense and myrrh and the most valuable kinds of spices, which they procure from those who convey them from what is called Arabia Eudaemon.75 6Â They are exceptionally fond of freedom; and, whenever a strong force of enemies comes near, they take refuge in the desert, using this as a fortress;76 for it lacks water and cannot be crossed by others, but to them alone, since they have prepared subterranean reservoirs lined with stucco, it furnishes safety. 7Â As the earth in some places is clayey and in others is of soft stone, they make great excavations in it, the mouths of which they make very small, but by constantly increasing the width as they dig deeper, they finally make them of such size that each side has a length of one plethrum.77 8Â After filling these reservoirs with rain water, they close the openings, making them even with the rest of the ground, and they leave signs that are known to themselves but are unrecognizable by others. 9Â They water their cattle every other day, so that, if they flee through waterless places, they may not need a continuous Â p91Â supply of water. They themselves use as food flesh and milk and those of the plants that grow from the ground which are suitable for this purpose; 10Â for among them there grow the pepper and plenty of the soâcalled wild honey from trees,78 which they drink mixed with water. There are also other tribes of Arabs, some of whom even till the soil, mingling with the tribute-paying peoples, and have the same customs as the Syrians, except that they do not dwell in houses.
95 1Â It appears that such are the customs of the Arabs. But when the time draws near for the national gathering at which those who dwell round about are accustomed to meet, some to sell goods and others to purchase things that are needful to them, they travel to this meeting, leaving on a certain rock79 their possessions and their old men, also their women and their children. 2Â This place is exceedingly strong but unwalled, and it is distant two days' journey from the settled country.
After waiting for this season, Athenaeus set out for the rock with his army in light marching order. Covering the twenty-two hundred stades80 from the district of Idumaea in three days and the same number of nights, he escaped the attention of the Arabs and seized the rock at about midnight. 3Â Of those that were caught there, some he slew at once, some he took as prisoners, and others who were Â p93Â wounded he left behind; and of the frankincense and myrrh he gathered together the larger part, and about five hundred talents of silver. Delaying no longer than the early morning watch,81 he at once departed at top speed, expecting to be pursued by the barbarians. When he and his men had marched without pause for two hundred stades,82 they made camp, being tired and keeping a careless watch as if they believed that the enemy could not come before two or three days. 4Â But when the Arabs heard from those who had seen the expedition, they at once gathered together and, leaving the place of assembly, came to the rock; then, being informed by the wounded of what had taken place, they pursued the Greeks at top speed. 5Â While the men of Athenaeus were encamped with little thought of the enemy and because of their weariness were deep in sleep, some of their prisoners escaped secretly; and the Nabataeans, learning from them the condition of the enemy, attacked the camp at about the third watch, being no less than eight thousand in number. Most of the hostile troops they slaughtered where they lay; the rest they slew with their javelins as they awoke and sprang to arms. In the end all the foot-soldiers were slain, but of the horsemen about fifty escaped, and of these the larger part were wounded.
6Â And so Athenaeus, after being successful at first, later because of his own folly failed in this manner; for carelessness and indifference are, in general, Â p95Â wont to follow success. 7Â For this reason some rightly believe that it is easier to meet disaster with skill than very great success with discretion; for disaster, because of the fear of what is to follow, forces men to be careful, but success, because of the previous good fortune, tempts men to be careless about everything.
96 1Â When the Nabataeans had manfully punished the enemy they themselves returned to the rock with the property that they had recovered; but to Antigonus they wrote a letter in Syrian characters in which they accused Athenaeus and vindicated themselves. 2Â Antigonus replied to them, agreeing that they had been justified in defending themselves; but he found fault with Athenaeus, saying that he had made the attack contrary to the instructions that had been given. He did this, hiding his own intentions and desiring to delude the barbarians into a sense of security so that, by making an unexpected attack, he might accomplish his desire; for it was not easy without some deception to get the better of men who zealously pursued a nomadic life and possessed the desert as an inaccessible refuge. 3Â The Arabs were highly pleased because they seemed to have been relieved of great fears; yet they did not altogether trust the words of Antigonus, but, regarding their prospects as uncertain, they placed watchmen upon the hills from which it was easy to see from a distance the passes into Arabia, and they themselves, after having arranged their affairs in proper fashion, anxiously awaited the issue. 4Â But Antigonus when he had treated the barbarians as friends for some time and believed that they had been thoroughly deceived and thus had given him Â p97Â his opportunity against themselves, selected from his whole force four thousand foot-soldiers, who were lightly armed and well fitted by nature for rapid marching, and more than four thousand mounted men. He ordered them to carry several days' supply of food that would not require cooking, and, after placing his son Demetrius in command, he sent them off during the first watch, ordering him to punish the Arabs in whatever way he could.
97 1Â Demetrius, therefore, advanced for three days through regions with no roads, striving not to be observed by the barbarians; but the lookouts, having seen that a hostile force had entered, informed the Nabataeans by means of prearranged fire signals. The barbarians, having thus learned at once that the Greeks had come, sent their property to the rock and posted there a garrison that was strong enough since there was a single artificial approach; and they themselves divided their flocks and drove them into the desert, some into one place and some into another. 2Â Demetrius, on arriving at the rock and finding that the flocks had been removed, made repeated assaults upon the stronghold. Those within resisted stoutly, and easily had the upper hand because of the height of the place; and so on this day, after he had continued the struggle until evening, he recalled his soldiers by a trumpet call.
3Â On the next day, however, when he had advanced upon the rock, one of the barbarians called to him, saying: "King Demetrius, with what desire or under what compulsion do you war against us who live in the desert and in a land that has neither water nor grain nor wine nor any other thing whatever of those Â p99Â that pertain to the necessities of life among you? 4Â For we, since we are in no way willing to be slaves, have all taken refuge in a land that lacks all the things that are valued among other peoples and have chosen to live a life in the desert and one altogether like that of wild beasts, harming you not at all. We therefore beg both you and your father to do us no injury but, after receiving gifts from us, to withdraw your army and henceforth regard the Nabataeans as your friends. 5Â For neither can you, if you wish, remain here many days since you lack water and all the other necessary supplies, nor can you force us to live a different life; but you will have aÂ few captives, disheartened slaves who would not consent to live among strange ways." 6Â When words such as these had been spoken, Demetrius withdrew his army and ordered the Arabs to send an embassy about these matters. They sent their oldest men, who, repeating arguments similar to those previously uttered, persuaded him to receive as gifts the most precious of their products and to make terms with them.83
98Âº Demetrius received hostages and the gifts that had been agreed upon and departed from the rock. After marching for three hundred stades,84 he camped near the Dead Sea,85 the nature of which ought not to be passed over without remark. It lies along the middle of the satrapy of Idumaea, extending in length about five hundred stades and in width about sixty.86 Its water is very bitter and of exceedingly Â p101Â foul odour, so that it can support neither fish nor any of the other creatures usually found in water. Although great rivers whose waters are of exceptional sweetness flow into it, it prevails over these by reason of its foulness; and from its centre each year it sends forth a mass of solid asphalt, sometimes more than three plethra in area, sometimes a little less than one plethrum.87 When this happens the barbarians who live near habitually call the larger mass a bull and the smaller one a calf. When the asphalt is floating on the sea, its surface seems to those who see it from a distance just like an island. It appears that the ejection of the asphalt is indicated twenty days in advance,88 for on every side about the sea for a distance of many stades the odour of the asphalt spreads with a noisome exhalation, and all the silver, gold, and bronze in the region lose their proper colours. These, however, are restored as soon as all the asphalt has been ejected; but the neighbouring region is very torrid and ill smelling, which makes the inhabitants sickly in body and exceedingly short-lived. Yet the land is good for raising palm trees in whatever part it is crossed by serviceable rivers89 or is supplied with springs that can irrigate it. In a certain valley in this region there grows what is called balsam,90 from which there is a great income since nowhere else in the inhabited world is this plant Â p103Â found, and its use as a drug is very important to physicians.
99 1Â When the asphalt has been ejected, the people who live about the sea on both sides carry it off like plunder of war since they are hostile to each other, making the collection without boats in a peculiar fashion. They make ready large bundles of reeds and cast them into the sea. On these not more than three men take their places, two of whom row with oars, which are lashed on, but one carries a bow and repels any who sail against them from the other shore or who venture to interfere with them. 2Â When they have come near the asphalt they jump upon it with axes and, just as it were soft stone, they cut out pieces and load them on the raft, after which they sail back. If the raft comes to pieces and one of them who does not know how to swim falls off, he does not sink as he would in other waters, but stays afloat as well as do those who know. 3Â For this liquid by its nature supports heavy bodies that have the power of growth or of breathing, except for solid ones that seem to have a density like that of silver, gold, lead, and the like; and even these sink much more slowly than do these exact bodies if they are cast into other lakes. The barbarians who enjoy this source of income take the asphalt to Egypt and sell it for the embalming of the dead; for unless this is mixed with the other aromatic ingredients, the preservation of the bodies cannot be permanent.
100 1Â Antigonus, when Demetrius returned and made a detailed report of what he had done, rebuked Â p105Â him for the treaty with the Nabataeans, saying that he had made the barbarians much bolder by leaving them unpunished, since it would seem to them that they had gained pardon not through his kindness but through his inability to overcome them; but he praised him for examining the lake and apparently having found a source of revenue for the kingdom. In charge of this he placed Hieronymus,91 the writer of the history, 2Â and instructed him to prepare boats, collect all the asphalt, and bring it together in a certain place. But the result was not in accord with the expectations of Antigonus; for the Arabs, collecting to the number of six thousand and sailing up on their rafts of reeds against those on the boats, killed almost all of them with their arrows. 3Â As a result, Antigonus gave up this source of revenue because of the defeat he had suffered and because his mind was engaged with other and weightier matters. For there came to him at this time a dispatch-bearer with a letter from Nicanor, the general of Media and the upper satrapies. In this letter was written an account of Seleucus' march inland and of the disasters that had been suffered in connection with him.92 4Â Therefore Antigonus, worried about the upper satrapies,93 sent his son Demetrius with five thousand Macedonian and ten thousand mercenary foot-soldiers and four thousand horse; and he ordered him to go up as far as Babylon and then, after Â p107Â recovering the satrapy, to come down to the sea at full speed.
5Â So Demetrius, having set out from Damascus in Syria, carried out his father's orders with zeal. Patrocles, who had been established as general of Babylonia by Seleucus, hearing that the enemy was on the frontiers of Mesopotamia, did not dare await their arrival since he had few men at hand; but he gave orders to the civilians to leave the city, bidding some of them cross the Euphrates and take refuge in the desert and some of them pass over the Tigris and go into SusianÃª to Euteles94 and to the Red Sea;95 6Â and he himself with what soldiers he had, using river courses and canals as defences, kept moving about in the satrapy, watching the enemy and at the same time sending word into Media to Seleucus about what was taking place from time to time and urging him to send aid as soon as possible. 7Â When Demetrius on his arrival at Babylon found the city abandoned, he began to besiege the citadels. He took one of these and delivered it to his own soldiers for plundering; the other he besieged for aÂ few days and then, since the capture required time, left ArchelaÃ¼s, one of his friends, as general for the siege, giving him five thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry, while he himself, the time being close at hand at which he had been ordered to return, Â p109Â made the march down to the sea with the rest of his army.96
101 1Â While this was taking place, in Italy97 the Romans were charge on their war with the Samnites, and there were repeated raids through the country, sieges of cities, and encampments of armies in the field, for the two most war-like of the peoples of Italy were struggling as rivals for the supremacy and meeting in conflicts of every sort. 2Â Now the Roman consuls with part of the army had taken a position in the face of the encampments of the enemy and were awaiting an opportune time for battle while at the same time furnishing protection to the allied cities. 3Â With the rest of the army Quintus Fabius,98 who had been chosen dictator, captured the city of the Fregellani and made prisoners the chief men among those who were hostile to the Romans. These to the number of more than two hundred he took to Rome; and, bringing them into the Forum, he beat them with rods and beheaded them according to the ancestral custom.99 Soon afterwards, entering the hostile territory, he took by siege Calatia and the citadel of Nola; and he sold a large amount of spoil but allotted much of the land to his soldiers. The Â p111Â people, since matters were progressing according to their will, sent a colony to the island that is called Pontia.100
1 Theophrastus was archon inÂ 313/12Â B.C. In the Fasti Capitolini the consuls for 314Â B.C. are M.Â Poetelius Libo and C.Â Sulpicius Longus for the third time (CILÂ I, p130; cp.Â Livy, 9.24.1).
â¦
2 i.e.Â on the left as one enters the Euxine from the Bosporus. The city is called Callatis by Strabo, 7.5.12. The narrative is continued from chap.Â 69.
â¦
3 i.e.Â the Temple, or Sacred Place. The exact location is not known.
â¦
4 We do not know the outcome of the siege. InÂ 310Â B.C. the Callantians are still resisting Lysimachus although hard pressed (BookÂ 20.25.1).
â¦
5 Probably a nephew of Antigonus (Diogenes Laertius,Â 5.79; cp.Â Beloch, Griechische Geschichte, 4.1.122, noteÂ 3).
â¦
6 Alexander, son of Polyperchon, was dead, but his wife still held certain cities, cp.Â chap.Â 67.1â2.
â¦
7 This is probably the younger brother of Cassander, who, as one Alexander's cupbearers, was charged by Olympias with having given him poison (Justin, 12.14.6). After this campaign he returns to obscurity; aÂ son, Antipater, was king of Macedonia for 45Â days inÂ 281â280Â B.C. (Porphyrius, FGrH, 260.3.10).
â¦
8 He was exiled with his father by Philip but returned to power by aid of Olympias. After Alexander's death he supported Olympias and Polyperchon (chap.Â 11.2), his zeal finally turning his own people against him and leading to a second exile (chap.Â 36.2â4). He appears to have returned to Aetolia with Polyperchon inÂ 316Â B.C. (chap.Â 52.6).
â¦
9 Pausanias (1.11.4) tells us that this battle was fought at Oeniadae.
â¦
10 His son Pyrrhus, the later king of Epirus, was adopted and reared by Glaucias, king of Illyria, who seems to have been related to him in some way (Plutarch, Pyrrhus,Â 3; Justin, 17.3.16â19).
â¦
11 Continued in chap.Â 75.6.
â¦
12 He had been sent to Caria in the preceding year by Cassander (chap.Â 68.4â7).
â¦
13 For Medius cp.Â chap.Â 69.3 and note. Nothing is known of the earlier career of Docimus.
â¦
14 The nephew of Antigonus, cp.Â chap.Â 68.5.
â¦
15 At the northern end of Euboea.
â¦
16 The fleet from Athens was commanded by Thymochares (IG2, 2.1.682).
â¦
17 The narrative is continued in chap.Â 77.
â¦
18 Continued from chap.Â 72.9. Cp.Â Livy, 9.26â27.
â¦
19 But cp.Â the critical note.
The critical note to the Greek text (ÏÎ¿ÏÎ¸Î¿á¿¦Î½ÏÎµÏ Ïá¿¶Î½ ÎºÎ±Ïá½° ÎÎ±Î¼ÏÎ±Î½Î¯Î±Î½ ÏÏÎ»ÎµÏÎ½) reads:
ÎÎ±Î¼ÏÎ±Î½Î¯Î±Î½ Binneboessel: á¼¸ÏÎ±Î»Î¯Î±Î½Â MSS., Fischer (who calls the reading certe mendosum).
â¦
20 But cp.Â the critical note. No such battle as the one here described is recorded by Livy among the events of this year (Livy, 9.26â27).
The critical note to the Greek text (á¼Î½ÏÎµÏÏÏÎ±ÏÎ¿ÏÎµÎ´ÎµÏÏÎ±Î½ÏÎ¿ Î´á½² ÏÎ¿á¿Ï ÏÎ¿Î»ÎµÎ¼Î¯Î¿Î¹Ï ÏÎµÏá½¶ Î¤Î±ÏÎ±ÎºÎ¯Î½Î±Î½) reads:
Î¤Î±ÏÎ±ÎºÎ¯Î½Î±Î½ Burger: ÎÎ¯Î½Î½Î±Î½Â MSS., Fischer.
â¦
21 For this revolt cp.Â Livy, 9.26.5â7, where, however, the dictator and master-ofâhorse are called respectively C.Â Maenius and M.Â Folius. The account of Roman affairs is continued in chap.Â 101.
â¦
22 Polemon was archon inÂ 312/11Â B.C. In the Fasti Capitolini the consuls for 313Â B.C. are L.Â Papirius Cursor for the fifth time and C.Â Iunius Bubulcus Brutus for the second time (CILÂ I, p130; cp.Â Livy, 9.28.2). The events related in chaps.Â 77â80 still belong to the year 313Â B.C.
â¦
23 The narrative is continued from chap.Â 75.8.
â¦
24 i.e.Â "Deep," on the Euripus near Aulis.
â¦
25 AÂ town on the east coast of Boeotia, commanding the northern entrance of the Euripus (Strabo,Â 9.2.9).
â¦
26 AÂ son of Antipater and brother of Cassander (Plutarch, Demetrius,Â 31.5; cp.Â BookÂ 20.112; Pausanias,Â 1.15.1).
â¦
27 The winter ofÂ 313/12Â B.C.
â¦
28 Cp.Â chaps.Â 67.6; 70.7.
â¦
29 PhilipÂ V of Macedonia named Chalcis one of the "three fetters of Greece" (Polybius,Â 18.11; Livy, 32.37.3).
â¦
30 i.e.Â the troops left in Oropus by Cassander as a garrison, cp.Â chap.Â 77.6.
â¦
31 Opus was probably taken, but no statement to the effect survives in our sources. Diodorus returns to Greek affairs in chap.Â 87.
â¦
32 The summer ofÂ 313Â B.C.
â¦
33 It is quite probable that the name of the ruler of Cerynia has been lost from theÂ MSS. Lapithia and Cerynia are near the middle of the north coast of Cyprus.
â¦
34 Stasioecus, king of Marion on the west coast of Cyprus, had first supported Antigonus and then Ptolemy (chap.Â 62.6), and now seems to have turned against Ptolemy.
â¦
35 The text of this sentence is unsatisfactory, and a lacuna is suspected. Paphos is on the south-west coast of Cyprus.
â¦
36 Nicocreon, king of Salamis on the south coast of Cyprus, had been with Alexander at Tyre inÂ 332/31Â B.C. (Arrian, Anabasis, 2.22.2; Plutarch, Alexander, 29.2). After Alexander's death he supported Ptolemy (chap.Â 59.1). For his treachery and death inÂ 310Â B.C. cp.Â BookÂ 20.21.
â¦
37 See Leonard Woolley, AÂ Forgotten Kingdom, Penguin Books 1953, for Poseidium at the mouth of the Orontes. Potami Caron is unidentified.
â¦
38 Cp.Â chap.Â 69.
â¦
39 Cp.Â the critical note. The forced march must have been the one from his base in CoelÃª Syria toward Malus in Cilicia. The length of the stage or distance between posting stations on the Persian roads was not uniform. If we take 17Â miles as an average, the army covered some 400Â miles in 6Â days, but the distance seems actually to have been very much less.
The critical note to the Greek text (Î´Î¹ÎÏÎµÎ¹Î½Îµ Î³á½°Ï á¼Î¾ á¼¡Î¼ÎÏÎ±Î¹Ï á¼Ïá½¶ ÎÎ¬Î»Î¿Ï ) reads:
á¼Ïá½¶ Geer: á¼Ïá½¸.
â¦
40 According to Strabo (16.2.30), Alexander had destroyed Gaza; but the city clearly retained its importance at least as a fortress (Arrian, Anabasis, 2.26â27).
â¦
41 The winter ofÂ 313/12Â B.C.
â¦
42 In the late summer ofÂ 314Â B.C., when he was sent to Syria, he was 22Â years old (chap.Â 69.1). For the following battle cp.Â the brief accounts in Justin, 15.1.6â9, and Plutarch, Demetrius,Â 5.
â¦
43 Cp.Â chap.Â 69.1 and note.
â¦
44 Light cavalry armed with javelins. The origin of the name and the connection, if any, with Tarentum, are unknown. Cp.Â chap.Â 29.2.
â¦
45 As a military term ÏÎ¬ÏÎ±Î¾ elsewhere means either a pointed stake to be used in making a palisade or the palisade itself, and this passage is cited in L.Â S.Â J. as an example of the latter meaning. However, here it is certainly a device with upright spikes on which the elephants step (chap.Â 84). In the defence of Megalopolis, knowing that Polyperchon would send his elephants through a breach in the wall, Damis (who had served with Alexander and knew the nature of the elephant) studded many frames with sharp nails and, after placing them with their points upwards in the way the elephants would necessarily follow, covered them with loose earth (BookÂ 18.71.2â6). In the present battle, since the point of attack would not be known long in advance, a portable device was needed. Perhaps we should think of planks with spikes driven through them, connected by chains. Kromayer, referring to our passages, speaks of "Fuszangeln," i.e.Â caltrops or crowfeet (Kromayer and Veith, Heerwesen u.Â KriegsfÃ¼hrung,Â 141).
â¦
46 Cp.Â BookÂ 18.71.6, where ÏÎ»Î·Î³Î® is clearly used of the wounds caused by the spikes.
â¦
47 Or, reading á¼¡Â ÏÎ®ÏÏÏÎ¹Ï: "Thus on this occasion also, as Ptolemy shrewdly foresaw would happen, the wounds caused by the spikes rendered,Â etc."
â¦
48 â¢About 31Â miles.
â¦
49 Plutarch, Demetrius, 5.2, says that 5000Â men were slain.
â¦
50 Cp.Â chap.Â 69.1.
â¦
51 Cp.Â 18.28.5â6.
â¦
52 Cp.Â chap.Â 55.5.
â¦
53 Continued in chap.Â 90.1.
â¦
54 Continued from chap.Â 78. Telesphorus was probably a nephew of Antigonus (chap.Â 74.1), and Ptolemaeus certainly was (chap.Â 68.5).
â¦
55 Alcetas, an older brother of Aeacides, had been banished because of his unbridled passions (Pausanias, 1.11.5).
â¦
56 Lyciscus was placed in command of Epirus by Cassander inÂ 316Â B.C. (chap.Â 36.5), and of Acarnania inÂ 314Â B.C. (chap.Â 67.5); but inÂ 313Â B.C. he seems to have been replaced for a time by Philip (chap.Â 74.3).
â¦
57 According to Pausanias (1.11.5), Alcetas so angered the Epirotes by his cruelty that, immediately after his return, they rose against him and slew him.
â¦
58 Deinias, a general of Cassander, had taken TempÃª inÂ 317Â B.C. (chap.Â 35.3).
â¦
59 The winter ofÂ 312/11Â B.C.
â¦
60 But compare the note on chap.Â 88.4. The narrative is continued in chap.Â 105.
â¦
61 Continued from chap.Â 86.5.
â¦
62 Appian, Syrian Wars, 9.54, says 1000Â foot and 300Â horse.
â¦
63 Cp.Â also chap.Â 55.7, where we are told that the astrologers warned Antigonus to expect danger from Seleucus. Other signs and omens of Seleucus' future greatness are given by Appian, Syrian Wars, 9.56.
â¦
64 Probably the same as Carrhae, and not to be identified with the Carae of BookÂ 17.110.3; 19.12.1.
â¦
65 Possibly to be identified with the Evagoras who is mentioned in chap.Â 48.2 as satrap of Aria.
â¦
66 For the victory of Ptolemy at Gaza cp.Â chaps.Â 83Â ff.
â¦
67 Cp.Â Plutarch, Demetrius, 6.1â2.
â¦
68 Myus in Syria is otherwise unknown.
â¦
69 i.e.Â the last watch of the night.
â¦
70 This victory is minimized by Pausanias, 1.6.5. According to Plutarch (Demetrius,Â 6.3), Demetrius restored Cilles and his staff to Ptolemy alive, thus repaying Ptolemy for his generosity after Gaza (chap.Â 85.3).
â¦
71 Cp.Â BookÂ 18.33â35.
â¦
72 Cp.Â Pausanias, 1.6.5.
â¦
73 This was clearly a preliminary step to the invasion of Egypt itself which he already had in mind. Cambyses before invading Egypt made terms with the Arabs (Herodotus,Â 3.4â9). For these Arabs cp.Â Strabo,Â 16.4 passim (particularlyÂ Â§Â 26); and also Diodorus' own earlier description of them (BookÂ 2.48).
â¦
74 Cp.Â the description of the Rechabites in Jeremiah, 35.6â10.
â¦
75 i.e.Â Arabia the Fortunate (Arabia Felix), the south-western part of the peninsula (cp.Â BookÂ 2.49).
â¦
76 In BookÂ 2.48.5 Diodorus states that the kings of the Assyrians and of the Medes and Persians vainly sent large forces against these Arabs.
â¦
77 â¢About 100Â feet.
â¦
78 Perhaps the soâcalled tamarisk-manna, a sweet gum which exudes from the slender branches of Tamarix gallica when these have been punctured by a certain insect. This is thought by some to be the manna of ExodusÂ 16. Cp.Â Herodotus,Â 7.31.
â¦
79 This natural stronghold may be the later Petra.
â¦
80 About 250Â miles; but the number must be corrupt. In chap.Â 98.1 the distance from the rock to the Dead Sea, "which lies along the middle of Idumaea," is given as 300Â stades, â¢about 34Â miles.
â¦
81 i.e.Â the last watch of the night. If we follow theÂ MSS. and omit á¼ÏÎ¸Î¹Î½á¿Ï, we may translate: "Delaying no longer than a single watch, he departed at top speedÂ .Â .Â ."
â¦
82 â¢About 22Â½Â miles.
â¦
83 Cp.Â Plutarch, Demetrius,Â 7.1.
â¦
84 About 34Â miles, but cp.Â chap.Â 95.2, and note.
â¦
85 Literally, the Asphaltic Lake. The rest of this chapter repeats BookÂ 2.48.6â9, almost verbally.
â¦
86 â¢About 57Â½ and 7Â miles respectively. The actual length toâday is â¢about 47Â miles.
â¦
87 Here the plethrum is a surface measure of â¢about 10,000Â square feet. For such asphalt from lakes cp.Â Vitruvius, 8.3.8.
â¦
88 Twenty-two days in 2.48.8.
â¦
89 i.e.Â rivers that flow during the dry season. Toâday the Jordan is the only perennial stream of any size entering the sea. There are, however, aÂ number of oases about springs near the sea.
â¦
90 For the balsam cp.Â Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, 9.6.1â4; Pliny, Natural History, 12.111â123; Strabo, 16.2.41.
â¦
91 For Hieronymus cp.Â the Introduction to Vol.Â IX.
â¦
92 Cp.Â chaps.Â 90â92. For the campaign that follows cp.Â Plutarch, Demetrius, 7.2â3. It should, perhaps, be placed inÂ 311Â B.C.
â¦
93 Or, reading ÎºÎ±á½¶ ÏÎµÏá½¶ Ïá¿Ï ÎÎ·Î´Î¯Î±Ï ÎºÎ±á½¶ ÏÎµÏá½¶ Ïá¿¶Î½Â .Â .Â .: "worried both about Media and about the upper satrapies."
â¦
94 If the proper name is retained (cp.Â the critical note) we must suppose Euteles to be the commander established in SusianÃª by Seleucus (chap.Â 92.5).
The critical note to the Greek text (á¼ÏÎµÎ»Î¸Îµá¿Î½ Îµá¼°Ï Ïá½´Î½ Î£Î¿Ï ÏÎ¹Î±Î½á½´Î½ ÏÏá½¸Ï Îá½ÏÎµÎ»á¿) reads:
ÏÏá½¸Ï Îá½ÏÎµÎ»á¿ deleted by early editors, restored by Fischer.
â¦
95 i.e.Â the Persian Gulf.
â¦
96 Continued in chap.Â 105.
â¦
97 Continued from chap.Â 76.5. Cp.Â Livy,Â 9.28.
â¦
98 In Livy (9.28.1â6) it is a dictator named C.Â PoetiliusÂº who captured Fregellae, and either the same dictator or C.Â Junius Bubulcus, one of the consuls, who took Nola. For the dictatorship of Fabius two years earlier cp.Â chap.Â 72.6â7, and Livy,Â 9.24.1.
â¦
99 For punishment more maiorum cp.Â Suetonius, Nero,Â 49.2.
Thayer's Note: Better, see the comprehensive discussion in TAPA XXXIX.49â72.
â¦
100 The modern Ponza, one of the group of small islands off the west coast of Italy opposite the Circeian promontory. Cp.Â Livy, 9.28.7â8. Italian affairs are continued in chap.Â 105.5.
Page updated: 21Â AprÂ 18

Question: who led the raid on the nabataeans

Answer: Athenaeus

Question: who ordered the raid on the nabataeans

Answer: Antigonus

Question: how many cavalry did athenaeus have

Answer: 600

Question: who did athenaeus raid with 4000 infantry and 600 cavalry

Answer: Nabataeans

Question: how many infantry and cavalry did athenaeus have

Answer: 4000

Question: how many infantry did antigonus send to raid the nabataeans

Answer: 600 cavalry

Question: who did athenaeus raid

Answer: the Nabataeans

Question: how many infantry did athenaeus have to raid the nabataeans

Answer: 4000 infantry