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488
[Whiston sect. 1] [sect. 1] NOW when Alexander, king of Macedon, had put an end to the dominion
of the Persians, and had settled the affairs in Judea after the forementioned
manner, he ended his life. And as his government fell among many, Antigonus
obtained Asia, Seleucus Babylon; and of the other nations which were there,
Lysimachus governed the Hellespont, and Cassander possessed Macedonia;
as did Ptolemy the son of Lagus seize upon Egypt. And while these princes
ambitiously strove one against another, every one for his own principality,
it came to pass that there were continual wars, and those lasting wars
too; and the cities were sufferers, and lost a great many of their inhabitants
in these times of distress, insomuch that all Syria, by the means of Ptolemy
the son of Lagus, underwent the reverse of that denomination of Savior,
which he then had. He also seized upon Jerusalem, and for that end made
use of deceit and treachery; for as he came into the city on a sabbath
day, as if he would offer sacrifices 489
he, without any trouble, gained the city, while the Jews did not oppose
him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy; and he gained it thus,
because they were free from suspicion of him, and because on that day they
were at rest and quietness; and when he had gained it, he ruled over it
in a cruel manner. Nay, Agatharchides of Cnidus, who wrote the acts of
Alexander's successors, reproaches us with superstition, as if we, by it,
had lost our liberty; where he says thus: "There is a nation called
the nation of the Jews, who inhabit a city strong and great, named Jerusalem.
These men took no care, but let it come into the hands of Ptolemy, as not
willing to take arms, and thereby they submitted to be under a hard master,
by reason of their unseasonable superstition." This is what Agatharchides
relates of our nation. But when Ptolemy had taken a great many captives,
both from the mountainous parts of Judea, and from the places about Jerusalem
and Samaria, and the places near Mount Gerizzim, he led them all into Egypt,
490 and
settled them there. And as he knew that the people of Jerusalem were most
faithful in the observation of oaths and covenants; and this from the answer
they made to Alexander, when he sent an embassage to them, after he had
beaten Darius in battle; so he distributed many of them into garrisons,
and at Alexandria gave them equal privileges of citizens with the Macedonians
themselves; and required of them to take their oaths, that they would keep
their fidelity to the posterity of those who committed these places to
their care. Nay, there were not a few other Jews who, of their own accord,
went into Egypt, as invited by the goodness of the soil, and by the liberality
of Ptolemy. However, there were disoders among their posterity, with relation
to the Samaritans, on account of their resolution to preserve that conduct
of life which was delivered to them by their forefathers, and they thereupon
contended one with another, while those of Jerusalem said that their temple
was holy, and resolved to send their sacrifices thither; but the Samaritans
were resolved that they should be sent to Mount Gerizzim.
Ch. 2
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