another, the Ethiopian elephants trembled at the very smell of the
Indian elephants, and shrunk from engaging with beasts so much larger
than themselves. On the charge, the left wing of each army was routed,
as was often the case among the Greeks, when, from too great a trust in
the shield, every soldier kept moving to the right, and thus left the
left wing uncovered. But before the end of the day the invading army was
defeated; and, though some of the Egyptian officers treacherously left
their posts, and carried their troops over to Antiochus, yet the Syrian
army was wholly routed, and Arsinoe enjoyed the knowledge and the praise
of having been the chief cause of her husband's success. The king in
gratitude sacrificed to the gods the unusual offering of four elephants.

By this victory Philopator regained Coele-Syria, and there he spent
three months; he then made a hasty, and, if we judge his reasons
rightly, we must add, a disgraceful treaty with the enemy, that he might
the sooner get back to his life of ease. Before going home he passed
through Jerusalem, where he gave thanks and sacrificed to the Hebrew
god in the temple of the Jews; and, being struck with the beauty of the
building, asked to be shown into the inner room, in which were kept
the ark of the covenant, Aaron's rod that budded, and the golden pot of
manna, with the tables of the covenant. The priests told him of their
law, by which every stranger, every Jew, and every priest but the high
priest, was forbidden to pass beyond the second veil; but Philopator
roughly answered that he was not bound by the Jewish laws, and ordered
them to lead him into the holy of holies.

The city was thrown into alarm by this unheard-of wickedness; the
streets were filled with men and women in despair; the air was rent
with shrieks and cries, and the priests prayed to Javeh to guard his own
temple from the stain. The king's mind, however, was not to be changed;
the refusal of the priests only strengthened his wish, and all struggle
was useless while the court of the temple was filled with Greek
soldiers. But, says the Jewish historian, the prayer of the priests was
heard; the king fell to the ground in a fit, like a reed broken by the
wind, and was carried out speechless by his friends and generals.

On his return to Egypt, he showed his hatred of the nation by his
treatment of the Jews in Alexandria. He made a law that they should lose
the rank of Macedonians, and be enro