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[99]
Yet did that Antiochus, who was also called Dionysius, become an
origin of troubles again. This man was the brother of Demetrius, and the
last of the race of the Seleucidse. 1
Alexander was afraid of him, when he was marching against the Arabians;
so he cut a deep trench between Antipatris, which was near the mountains,
and the shores of Joppa; he also erected a high wall before the trench,
and built wooden towers, in order to hinder any sudden approaches. But
still he was not able to exclude Antiochus, for he burnt the towers, and
filled up the trenches, and marched on with his army. And as he looked
upon taking his revenge on Alexander, for endeavoring to stop him, as a
thing of less consequence, he marched directly against the Arabians, whose
king retired into such parts of the country as were fittest for engaging
the enemy, and then on the sudden made his horse turn back, which were
in number ten thousand, and fell upon Antiochus's army while they were
in disorder, and a terrible battle ensued. Antiochus's troops, so long
as he was alive, fought it out, although a mighty slaughter was made among
them by the Arabians; but when he fell, for he was in the forefront, in
the utmost danger, in rallying his troops, they all gave ground, and the
greatest part of his army were destroyed, either in the action or the flight;
and for the rest, who fled to the village of Cana, it happened that they
were all consumed by want of necessaries, a few only excepted.
1 Josephus here calls this Antiochus the last of the Seleucidae, although there remained still a shadow of another king of that family, Antiochus Asiaticus, or Commagenus, who reigned, or rather lay hid, till Pompey quite turned him out, as Dean Aldrich here notes from Appian and Justin.
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