The battle of Ipsus, besides securing to Ptolemy Soter the dominion of Palestine, Phœnicia, and Cœlesyria, elevated Seleucus to the command of an Empire greater than any other held by the successors of Alexander. He assumed the title of “king of Syria,” and his dominion, in the words of the prophet Daniel (Dan. xi. 5), was _a great dominion_, extending from the Euxine to the confines of Arabia, and from the Hindokush to the Mediterranean. His Eastern capital he founded on the banks of the Tigris, and called _Seleucia_, after his own name. For his western metropolis he selected a spot admirably situated both for military and commercial purposes[10], on the left bank of the river Orontes, just where “the chain of Lebanon running northwards, and the chain of Taurus running eastwards, are brought to an abrupt meeting[11].” Here he founded a city with much display in the year B.C. 300, and called it _Antioch_, after the name of his father Antiochus. Convinced, like the Egyptian monarchs, of the loyalty of the Jews, he began to invite many of them to his new capital and other cities in Asia Minor, assuring them of the same privileges which they enjoyed under Ptolemy in Alexandria. This invitation was readily embraced by many of the Jews, who settled down in Antioch, were governed by their own ethnarch, and were admitted to the same advantages as the Greeks[12]. Ptolemy Philadelphus succeeded his father Ptolemy Soter, B.C. 283. In pursuance of the policy of the previous reign, he distinguished himself by uniform kindness to the Jewish nation, ransoming many who had been sold as slaves, and inviting many to settle in Egypt. A liberal patron of literature and science, he established a famous library at Alexandria, and spared no pains in procuring books to be deposited therein. He is also represented to have caused the Hebrew Scriptures to be translated into Greek, and thus to have originated the celebrated Version called the _Septuagint_, from the tradition that 72 persons were engaged in the translation, which obtained a wide circulation, and was extensively read. The same monarch conferred costly presents on the Temple at Jerusalem, consisting of a table for the shewbread of marvellous workmanship, cisterns of gold, bowls, and other vessels for the public and private use of the priests[13]. CHAPTER III. _PTOLEMY EUERGETES AND PTOLEMY PHILOPATOR._ B.C. 247–222. ON the death of Philadelphus, Ptolemy Euergetes succeeded to the Egyptian throne. The new king considerably extended the privileges of the Jews, and bestowed many presents upon their Temple. During his reign an incident occurred, which illustrates in a striking manner at once the condition of Judæa at this time, and the influence of individual members of the chosen nation.