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Intertestamental

Lysimachus

Macedonian King of Thrace. Lysimachus (c. 361-281 B.C.) was a member of Alexander's Companion cavalry who particularly distinguished himself in India. Following Alexander's death he became governor of Thrace. After Perdiccas had rejected the hand of Antipater's daughter Nicaea, Lysimachus married her and in 315 he joined the coalition of Ptolemy, S...

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Ptolemy IV Philopator

Ptolemy IV Philopator: king of the Ptolemaic Empire, ruled from 222 to 204....

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Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator

Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator was an Egyptian king of the Ptolemaic period. His reign is controversial, and it is possible that he did not reign at all, but was only granted royal dignity posthumously....

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Ptolemy XII Auletes

Information about Ptolemy XII Auletes ('the flutist'): king of the Ptolemaic Empire, ruled from 80 to 58 and from 55 to 51....

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Antiochus I Soter

Son of Seleucus I & co-regent of eastern provinces (Armenia, Mesopotamia & Persia) from 292-281 BCE. No sooner had he inherited control of the western provinces (281 BCE), than Gallic invasions of Asia Minor forced him to form an alliance with his rival Antigonus II of Macedonia....

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Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Since the third son of Antiochus III was not in direct line for the Seleucid throne, he was sent to Rome as a hostage after his father's defeat by the Romans (189 BCE) . Fourteen years later (175 BCE) his older brother, Seleucus IV, secured his release shortly before being murdered by his own chief minister. Antiochus avenged his brother's death &a...

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Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, 106-47 BC

Shakespeare portrays - with gentle comedy - Pompey as the font of all military wisdom. Cicero - who generally supported Pompey but whose private letters are venomous about his failings - could still claim, when civil war began, that he would die for him. When the poet Lucan wrote his great epic of the Civil Wars in the age of Nero, Pompey had becom...

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Hasmonean Revolt

Hasmonean Revolt Against Seleucid Rule. We know little about life in Israel during the period of about 300 years between the time of the return from Babylon and the time of the taking over of the country by the Seleucids. We do know that religious observance was so important that they would not even defend themselves when attacked on the Sabbath (t...

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The Rise of Herod the Great (51 - 37 BCE)

In 49 BCE, in Rome, a civil war erupted between Pompey and Julius Caesar. At first, Hyrcanus II and Antipater supported Pompey, as most from the east did, but quickly switched allegiances, when it was discovered that Caesar and his allies had been victorious over Pompey, who had fled to Egypt but who was murdered in 48 BCE in Egypt. In gratitude fo...

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History of the Intertestamental Period

Following the conquests of Alexander the Great and his early death in 323 B.C., his empire was divided by four of his generals. Israel initially fell under the rule of Seleucus, who held authority over Syria, but soon passed to Ptolemy, who had gained authority over Egypt. This period under the "Ptolemies" from 301 to 198 B.C. was generally one of ...

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