Shortly after the catastrophe of Cleomenes, the governor
of
Coele-Syria, who was an Aetolian by birth, resolved to hold
treasonable parley with Antiochus and put the cities of that
province into his hands.
He was induced to take this step
partly by the contempt with which Ptolemy's
shameful debauchery and general conduct had
inspired him; and partly by distrust of the
king's ministers, which he had learned to entertain in the course of the recent attempt of Antiochus upon
Coele-Syria: for in that campaign he had rendered signal
service to Ptolemy, and yet, far from receiving any thanks for
it, he had been summoned to
Alexandria and barely escaped
losing his life. The advances which he now made to Antiochus
were gladly received, and the affair was soon in the course of
being rapidly completed.
But I must make my readers acquainted with the position
of the royal family of
Syria as I have already done with that
of
Egypt; and in order to do so, I will go back to the
succession of Antiochus to the throne, and give a summary of
events from that point to the beginning of the war of which I
am to speak.
Antiochus was the younger son of Seleucus Callinicus; and
on the death of his father, and the succession
in right of seniority of his brother Seleucus to
the throne, he at first removed to upper
Asia and lived there.
But Seleucus having been
treacherously assassinated after crossing Mount Taurus with his army, as I have already related,
he succeeded to the throne himself; and made
Achaeus governor of
Asia on this side Taurus,
Molon and his brother Alexander guardians of
his dominions in upper
Asia,—Molon acting as Satrap of Media,
his brother of
Persia.