nothing more than a local rising, like many
a previous one which had lasted but a short time and had been promptly
suppressed. But when it was perceived that the native dynasties had
taken a hold upon the country, and had carried on a successful contest
with Persia, in spite of the immense disproportion in their respective
resources; when not only the bravest soldiers of Asia, but the best
generals of Greece, had miserably failed in their attacks on the
frontier of the Delta, Phoenicia and Syria began to think whether what
was possible in Africa might not also be possible in Asia. From that
time forward, whenever a satrap or vassal prince meditated revolt, it
was to Egypt that he turned as a natural ally, and from Egypt he sought
the means to carry out his project; however needy the Pharaoh of that
day might be, he was always able to procure for such a suitor sufficient
money, munitions of war, ships, and men to enable him to make war
against the empire. The attempt made by Ochus failed, as all previous
attempts had done: the two adventurers who commanded the forces of
Nectanebo, the Athenian Diophantes and Lamius of Sparta, inflicted a
disastrous defeat on the imperial troops, and forced them to beat a
hasty retreat. This defeat was all the more serious in its consequences
because of the magnitude of the efforts which had been made: the king
himself was in command of the troops, and had been obliged to turn his
back precipitately on the foe. The Syrian provinces, which had been in
an unsettled condition ever since the invasion under Tachos, flew to
arms; nine petty kings of Cyprus, including Evagoras II., nephew of the
famous prince of that name, refused to pay tribute, and Artabazus
roused Asia Minor to rebellion. The Phoenicians still hesitated; but
the insolence of their satrap, the rapacity of the generals who had
been repulsed from Egypt, and the lack of discipline in the Persian
army forced them to a decision. In a convention summoned at Tripoli, the
representatives of the Phoenician cities conferred on Tennes, King
of Sidon, the perilous honour of conducting the operations of the
confederate army, and his first act was to destroy the royal villa
in the Lebanon, and his next to burn the provisions which had been
accumulated in various ports in view of the Egyptian war (351-350 B.C.).

[Illustration: 305.jpg evagoras ii. of salamis]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a coin in the _Cabinet des
Medailles_.