e country called Sycamine, and there
set his army on shore. This army of his, in the whole horse and foot
together, were about thirty thousand, with which he marched near to
Ptolemais, and there pitched his camp. But when the people of Ptolemais
neither received his ambassadors, nor would hear what they had to say,
he was under a very great concern.

4. But when Zoilus and the people of Gaza came to him, and desired his
assistance, because their country was laid waste by the Jews, and by
Alexander, Alexander raised the siege, for fear of Ptolemy: and when
he had drawn off his army into his own country, he used a stratagem
afterwards, by privately inviting Cleopatra to come against Ptolemy,
but publicly pretending to desire a league of friendship and mutual
assistance with him; and promising to give him four hundred talents of
silver, he desired that, by way of requital, he would take off Zoilus
the tyrant, and give his country to the Jews. And then indeed Ptolemy,
with pleasure, made such a league of friendship with Alexander, and
subdued Zoilus; but when he afterwards heard that he had privily sent
to Cleopatra his mother, he broke the league with him, which yet he
had confirmed with an oath, and fell upon him, and besieged Ptolemais,
because it would not receive him. However, leaving his generals, with
some part of his forces, to go on with the siege, he went himself
immediately with the rest to lay Judea waste; and when Alexander
understood this to be Ptolemy's intention, he also got together about
fifty thousand soldiers out of his own country; nay, as some writers
have said, eighty thousand [33] He then took his army, and went to meet
Ptolemy; but Ptolemy fell upon Asochis, a city of Galilee, and took
it by force on the sabbath day, and there he took about ten thousand
slaves, and a great deal of other prey.

5. He then tried to take Sepphoris, which was a city not far from that
which was destroyed, but lost many of his men; yet did he then go to
fight with Alexander; which Alexander met him at the river Jordan, near
a certain place called Saphoth, [not far from the river Jordan,] and
pitched his camp near to the enemy. He had however eight thousand in
the first rank, which he styled Hecatontomachi, having shields of brass.
Those in the first rank of Ptolemy's soldiers also had shields covered
with brass. But Ptolemy's soldiers in other respects were inferior to
those of Alexander, and therefore were more fearful