The Death of Antiochus Epiphanes
1At about that time, it so happened, Antiochus had beaten a disorderly retreat from the region of Persia. 2He had gone into the city known as Persepolis and tried to rob its temples and take control of the city. At this the population rushed to take up arms in defense, and his men were routed; so it came about that Antiochus, put to flight by the inhabitants, made a shameful withdrawal. 3While he was in the vicinity of Ecbatana, word reached him of the fate of Nicanor and of Timothy’s forces. 4Swept away by rage, he meant to make the Jews pay for the harm done him by those who had put him to flight. So he ordered his charioteer to drive on without a break until the journey was done — while the judgment from heaven was riding with him all the time. For this is what he had said in his arrogance: “When I get there, I will make Jerusalem a mass grave for the Jews.” 5But the Lord who watches over all, the God of Israel, struck him with an incurable, unseen blow. No sooner had he finished speaking than a pain in his bowels beyond all remedy seized him, with bitter torments in his inner organs — 6and that was entirely just, for he had tormented other people’s bowels with many outlandish tortures. 7Yet he in no way gave up his insolence; he was more full of arrogance than ever, breathing fire in his fury against the Jews and ordering the pace to be quickened. Then he happened to fall out of his chariot as it hurtled along, and the fall was so violent that every limb of his body was racked. 8He who only a short while before had thought, in his more than human boastfulness, that he could give orders to the waves of the sea, and had imagined he could weigh the mountain heights in a scale, was now brought down to the ground and carried in a litter, and so made the power of God plain to everyone. 9Worms came boiling up out of the impious man’s body; his flesh fell to pieces while he was still alive, amid anguish and pain; and the whole army was sickened by the stench of his decay. 10The man who shortly before had thought he could touch the stars of heaven no one could now carry, so unbearable was the burden of his stench. 11Then at last, shattered, he began to let go of most of his arrogance and to come to understanding under the divine scourge, as his pains grew sharper every moment. 12And when he could no longer bear even his own stench, he said, “It is right to submit to God, and for a mortal not to think himself God’s equal.” 13Then the vile man began to make vows to the Master, who was not going to have mercy on him any longer, declaring 14that he would declare free the holy city, which he had been hurrying to raze to the ground and turn into a mass grave; 15that the Jews, whom he had resolved not even to grant burial, but to throw out with their children for the birds and the wild beasts to eat, he would make every one of them equal to the Athenians; 16that the holy temple he had formerly plundered he would adorn with the most splendid offerings; that he would give back all the sacred vessels many times over; and that he would pay out of his own revenues the contributions required for the sacrifices; 17and besides all this, that he himself would become a Jew and would visit every inhabited place to proclaim the might of God.
The Letter of Antiochus to the Jews
18But his sufferings would not let up at all, for God’s just judgment had come upon him; so, despairing of his own condition, he wrote to the Jews the letter set out below, which takes the form of a petition. It reads as follows: 19“To the Jews, his worthy citizens: warmest greetings, good health, and prosperity from Antiochus, king and commander. 20If you are well, you and your children, and your affairs are as you would wish them, then, as one whose hope is in heaven, 21I remember with affection the respect and goodwill you have shown me. On my way back from the region of Persia I fell into a grievous illness, and I considered it necessary to take thought for the common security of all — 22not that I despair of my condition; I have every hope of overcoming the illness. 23But I observed that my father also, whenever he marched off on campaign into the upper regions, designated his successor, 24so that if anything unexpected turned out or unwelcome news arrived, the people of the country would not be thrown into confusion, since they would know to whom the government had been left. 25Moreover, I have taken into account that the potentates on our borders and the neighbors of the kingdom are watching for their opportunity and waiting to see what will happen. I have therefore proclaimed my son Antiochus as king. I often entrusted and commended him to most of you when I hastened off to the upper satrapies; and to him I have written what is set down below. 26I urge and ask you, then, remembering my benefactions to you both as a community and individually, to preserve, each of you, the goodwill you now have toward me and my son. 27For I am confident that he will follow my intentions and deal with you in fairness and kindness.” 28So this murderer and blasphemer, after suffering the very worst, as he had made others suffer, ended his life in the most pitiful way, among the mountains of a foreign land. 29Philip, who had been brought up with him, took charge of the body; then, distrusting Antiochus’s son, he went over to Ptolemy Philometor in Egypt.
