He conquered the greatest part of Greece, of which some cities implored the aid of Rome; and Annibal, who had taken refuge at his court, encouraged him to make war against Italy. He was glad to find himself supported by the abilities of such a general; but his measures were dilatory, and not agreeable to the advice of Annibal, and he was conquered and obliged to retire beyond mount Taurus, and pay a yearly fine of 2000 talents to the Romans. His revenues being unable to pay the fine, he attempted to plunder the temple of Belus in Susiana, which so incensed the inhabitants, that they killed him with his followers, 187 years before the christian era. In his character of king, Antiochus was humane and liberal, the patron of learning, and the friend of merit; and he published an edict, ordering his subjects never to obey except his commands were consistent with the laws of the country. He had three sons, Seleucus Philopater, Antiochus Epiphanes, and Demetrius. The first succeeded him, and the two others were kept as hostages by the Romans. _Justin_, bks. 31 & 32.――_Strabo_, bk. 16.――_Livy_, bk. 34, ch. 59. ――_Florus_, bk. 2, ch. 1.――_Appian_, _Syrian Wars_.――――The fourth Antiochus, surnamed _Epiphanes_ or _Illustrious_, was king of Syria, after the death of his brother Seleucus, and reigned 11 years. He destroyed Jerusalem, and was so cruel to the Jews, that they called him _Epimanes_, or _Furious_, and not _Epiphanes_. He attempted to plunder Persepolis without effect. He was of a voracious appetite, and fond of childish diversions; he used for his pleasure to empty bags of money into the streets, to see the people’s eagerness to gather it; he bathed in the public baths with the populace, and was fond of perfuming himself to excess. He invited all the Greeks he could at Antioch, and waited upon them as a servant, and danced with such indecency among the stage players, that even the most dissipate and shameless blushed at the sight. _Polybius._――_Justin_, bk. 34, ch. 3.――――The fifth, surnamed _Eupator_, succeeded his father Epiphanes on the throne of Syria, 164 B.C. He made a peace with the Jews, and in the second year of his reign was assassinated by his uncle Demetrius, who said that the crown was lawfully his own, and that it had been seized from his father. _Justin_, bk. 34. ――_Josephus_, bk. 12.――――The sixth king of Syria was surnamed _Entheus_ or _Noble_. His father, Alexander Bala, entrusted him to the care of Malcus, an Arabian; and he received the crown from Tryphon, in opposition to his brother Demetrius, whom the people hated. Before he had been a year on the throne, Tryphon murdered him, 143 B.C., and reigned in his place for three years. _Josephus_, bk. 13.――――The seventh, called _Sidetes_, reigned nine years. In the beginning of his reign he was afraid of Tryphon, and concealed himself, but he soon obtained the means of destroying his enemy. He