JUDEA.

THE JEWS at this time were ruled by the sacerdotal and royal family of the Maccabees, under the title of the Asmonean dynasty, but they were in the last stages of their independent existence. When Pompey came to Jerusalem to settle the affairs of Judea, he restored Hyrcanus with the title of Prince of the Jews, and conferred the government of the country on Antipater, an Idumean proselyte, 63 years B. C.

§ In the civil wars between Cæsar and Pompey, the former sent Aristobulus, whom Pompey had carried captive to Rome, into Judea, to engage the Jews in his (Cæsar's) cause, but he was poisoned by his enemies. At the same time Pompey ordered his son Alexander to be beheaded.

20. After one other revolution in the person of Hyrcanus, the family of the Herodians was seated on the throne of Judea. Herod, called the Great, son of Antipater, was declared king of that country, by a decree of the Roman senate, 37 years B. C. His reign was splendid, but distinguished by a singular degree of profligacy.

§ Some time after his establishment on the throne, Herod, in order to please Mariamne, the daughter of Hyrcanus, whom he had married, appointed her brother, Aristobulus, High Priest; but perceiving that he was much beloved by the Jews, he caused him to be drowned while bathing. After the battle of Actium he went to Rhodes to meet Augustus, who confirmed his title of king of Judea. Upon his return he condemned to death his wife, Mariamne, and her mother, Alexandra.

From this hour his life was a continual scene of misery and ferocity. At the instigation of his third son, he sentenced to death Aristobulus and Alexander, his children by Mariamne, and the next year Antipater himself experienced the same fate. His last moments also were stained with the blood of the children of Bethlehem and the neighbourhood, whom he ordered to be slain, in the hope that the Infant Jesus Christ would fall among them.

EGYPT.

21. The family of the Lagidæ, continued to rule EGYPT Alexander II. was on the throne at the commencement of this period. Cleopatra was the last sovereign. The intermediate Sovereigns were Ptolemy Auletes, Berenice, and Ptolemy Dionysius, who reigned for a time jointly with Cleopatra.

With the death of this queen ended the family of the Lagidæ, after having ruled in Egypt about 294 years. Egypt was now reduced to a Roman province, and governed by a Prætor sent thither from Rome, 30 years B. C.

Ptolemy Dionysius was 13 years old at the time of his father's death, by whose will he was nominated to the succession, on condition of his marrying his sister Cleopatra, then 17 years of age. The Romans were appointed guardians of these children. Cleopatra married her brother, and they reigned jointly, till, dissatisfied with the Roman ministry, she retired to Syria and Palestine, where she raised an army, and advanced under the walls of Pelusium, to give battle to the ministers of her husband.

At this moment, as we have before learned, Pompey, vanquished at Pharsalia, took refuge in Alexandria, and was assassinated by order of Ptolemy. Julius Cæsar, pursuing his rival, arrived soon afterwards, and endeavoured to compromise the differences between the king and the queen. For a short time they were reconciled; but Ptolemy, renewing the war not long afterwards, was defeated and drowned in the Nile.

Cleopatra then married her youngest brother, a boy of eleven years of age, and already affianced to his sister Arsinoe. Him, however, she soon poisoned, 43 B. C.; and assumed the sole government. After the arrival of Mark Antony in Egypt, and his captivation by Cleopatra, her character became still more remarkable for corruption. The beauties of her person were incomparable; and in polite learning, in brilliancy of wit, and in tunefulness of voice in her conversation, she was as irresistible as in her personal charms. These qualities, joined to an extreme profligacy of manners, rendered her one of the most dangerous foes to virtue that ever lived.

When summoned to present herself before Antony for the firsttime, her appearance was so splendid and fascinating, that the Roman warrior rather adored than judged her. Every decoration was employed to heighten the most consummate loveliness of features, and gracefulness of motion. Holding Antony in the chains of a base passion, she ruled him at her pleasure.

The profusion of riches displayed at her feasts was astonishing. Antony holding the wealth of plundered provinces, with his utmost efforts could not equal the queen in the sumptuousness of her entertainments. It was at one of these feasts that the incident mentioned by Pliny occurred.

Cleopatra, having laid a considerable wager that she could expend more than 50,000l. upon one repast, caused one of the pearls that she wore in her ears, which was valued at the above named sum, to be dissolved in an acid, and then swallowed it. She was then preparing to melt the other in a similar manner, but some one had the address to divert her from her design.

After the battle of Actium, Octavius used every effort to secure the person of the queen, and to effect the death of Antony, by her means. He promised her his protection and friendship if she would kill him This she peremptorily refused to do, but consented to deliver his person and the kingdom of Egypt into the enemy's hand.

Antony, who had before meanly sought his life of Octavius, opening his eyes to his danger, and to the perfidy of Cleopatra, at first made some faint and ineffectual attempt at resistance, and then in his

fury attempted to avenge himself of the queen. She, however, eluded his purpose by taking flight to a monument, which she had erected for her safety, and gave out a report that she had killed her · self.

Upon this news, Antony forgot his resentment-his former affection rushed into his heart, and his cup of calamity was full. He resolved to follow her example, and die a Roman death. At the moment he had fallen upon his sword, the news of the queen's death was contradicted, and Antony, weltering in his blood, and stil breathing, consented to be carried to see the queen.

After being pulled up to the top of the monument where Cleopatra was, by means of ropes let down and fastened to him, a scene of anguish and affection was presented which can scarcely be conceived. Suffice it to say, he died in her arms, bedewed with her tears, and almost stifled with her caresses.

The queen, though at length taken by Octavius, and apparently secured by the strict guard which he placed over her, found an opportunity of poisoning herself by means of an asp, which she applied to her arm, the sting of which instantly threw her into a fatal lethargy. In such a miserable end were these victims of guilt involved.

PARTHIA.

22. Under the Arsacidæ, PARTHIA continued to enjoy some consequence during this period. Its principal sovereigns were Phraates III. Orodes I. and Phraates IV.

§ Orodes I. was no sooner on the throne, than he was attacked by Crassus, the Roman consul, to whom Syria was allotted in the partition of the provinces of the empire between him, Cæsar, and Pompey, 53 B. C. The Parthian armies were commanded by Surena, a general of extraordinary wisdom and valour. Crassus being led by the king of Edessa into a barren country, his army was completely defeated, and himself taken and killed.

Orodes, jealous of Surena's glory, caused him to be put to death soon after, and entrusted the command of his army to Pacorus, his own son, who made great conquests in several countries, but who was soon after defeated and killed by Ventidias, the Roman general. Orodes, overwhelmed with grief, became insane; but having recovered in some degree, he associated his eldest son Phraates his partner in the throne.

The infamous wretch first attempted to poison his father, but that only curing him of the dropsy, he stifled the old man in bed, and murdered all his brothers. When Augustus came into Asia, he obliged Phraates to restore the ensigns taken from Crassus, and afterwards from Antony, and to deliver four of his sons as hostages. Divine Providence punished him in a remarkable manner, as he was killed by a conspiracy of his concubine and his own son, 13 A. C.

Distinguished Characters in Period X.

1. Lucretius, a Roman didactic poet.

1

2. Julius Cæsar, a successful warrior and elegant writer. 3. Cicero, the prince of Roman orators and philosophers. 4. Catullus, a Roman epigrammatic poet.

5. Sallust, the first philosophical Roman historian. 6. Varro, the most learned of the Romans.

7. Cornelius Nepos, an eminent Roman historian. 8. Virgil, the prince of Roman poets.

9. Horace, the greatest of the Roman lyric poets.

§ 1. Lucretius was early sent to Athens, where he studied philosophy. He embraced the tenets of Epicurus. In his poem of the Nature of Things, he is the advocate of atheism and impiety, and earnestly endeavours to establish the mortality of the soul. His masterly genius and unaffected elegance are, however, every where con spicuous.

He wrote Latin better than any man ever did before him, and had he lived in the polished age of Augustus, he would have been no mean rival of Virgil. He wrote his poem while he laboured under a delirium, occasioned by a philtre, administered by means of the jea lousy of his wife or mistress. He died, some say he destroyed him self, in his 44th year, about 54 B. C.

2. Julius Cæsar was the son of Caius Cæsar, who was descended from Julius, the son of Æneas; in his 16th year he lost his father; and Sylla, aware of his ambition, endeavoured to remove him; his friends, however, interceded, and obtained his life; but Sylla warned them to be upon their guard against that loose-girt boy, alluding to Cæsar's manner of wearing his tunic, or coat, loosely girded; "for ir him," said he, "are many Mariuses."

He procured many friends by his eloquence, and obtained the office of high priest; after passing through different dignities, he was sent governor into Spain; and, upon his return, being elected consul, he entered into an agreement with Pompey and Crassus, that nothing should be done in the state without their joint concurrence. After his consulship, he had the province of Gaul assigned him; which, with wonderful conduct and bravery, he subdued in 10 years, carrying the terror of his arms also into Germany and Britain, till then unknown to the Romans.

Pompey now became jealous of his power, and induced the senate to order him to lay down his command; upon which, he crossed the river Rubicon, the boundary of his province, and led his army towards Rome, Pompey and all the friends of liberty fleeing before him.

Having subdued Italy in sixty days, Cæsar entered Rome, and seized upon the money in the public treasury: he then went to Spain, where he conquered the partisans of Pompey under Petreius, Afranius, and Varro; and, at his return, was created dictator, and soon after consul. Leaving Rome, and going in search of Pompey, the two hostile generals engaged on the plains of Pharsalia; the army of Cæsar amounted only to 23,000 men, while that of Pompey

amounted to 45,000; but the superior generalship of the former prevailed, and he was victorious.

Making a generous use of his victory, he followed Pompey into Egypt, where he heard of his murder, and making the country tributary to his power, he hastened to suppress the remainder of Pompey's party in Africa and Spain. Triumphing over all his enemies, he was created perpetual dictator, received the names of imperator and father of his country, and governed the people with justice. His engrossing all the powers of the state, and ruling with absolute authority, created general disgust; a conspiracy was therefore formed against him, by more than sixty senators, the chief of whom were Brutus and Cassius. He was stabbed in the senate house, on the 15th of March, B. C. 44, in the 56th year of his age; he at first attempted to make some resistance, but seeing Brutus, his intimate friend. among the conspirators, he submitted to his fate, and covered with 23 wounds, fell at the foot of Pompey's statue.

Cæsar is perhaps the most distinguished character in history. His talents in war and literature were equally great. Amidst his military enterprises he found time to be the author of many works, none of which remain except seven books of commentaries, or memoirs of his wars; these are much admired for their elegance, as well as correctness of style. He spoke in public with the same spirit with which he fought, and had he devoted himself to the bar, would doubtless have rivalled Cicero.

3. Marcus Tullius Cicero was the father of Latin eloquence, and the greatest orator that Rome ever produced. He was the son of a Roman knight, and having displayed promising abilities, his father rocured for him the most celebrated masters of his time. He served one campaign under Sylla, and returning to Rome, appeared as a leader at the bar, where the greatness of his genius, and his superior eloquence, soon raised him to notice.

Having passed through the lower honours of the state, he was made consul in his 43d year. Catiline, a profligate noble, with many dissolute and desperate Romans, conspired against their country; but all their projects were baffled by his extreme vigilance; Catiline was defeated in the field; and Cicero, at Rome, punished the rest of the conspirators with death.

He received the thanks of the people, and was styled the father of his country and the second founder of Rome; but his refusal to agree to the arbitrary measures of Cæsar and Pompey, caused him to be exiled; he did not bear his banishment with fortitude; and was overjoyed when, after 16 month's absence, he was restored with honour to his country. After much hesitation, he espoused the cause of Pompey against Cæsar; and when the latter was victorious at Pharsalia, Cicero was reconciled to him, and treated with great humanity; but as a true republican, he approved of Cæsar's murder, and thus incurred the hatred of Antony, who wished to succeed in power.

Octavius, afterwards called Augustus Cæsar, Antony, and Lepidus, having formed a third triumvirate, agreed on a proscription of their