40

Chaptsb.

ttRST.

CHRONOLOGY,

lon, Nabonaflar, Scc. reigned 209 years, which is iiy years a-piece. The ten kings of Perfia; Cyrus, Cambyfes, 8cc. reigned208 years, which is almoft 21 years a-piece. The fixteen fuc-ceflors of Alexander tlie Great, and of his brother and fon inSyria; Seleucus, Antiochus Soter, &c. reigned 244 ( 2 ) years,after the breaking of that monarchy into various kingdoms,which is 1 5^ years a-piece. The eleven kings of Egypt; Pto-lomaeus Lagi, &c. reigned 277 years, countedfrom the famepe-riod, which is 25 years a-piece ( 3 ). The eight in Macedonia;Gaffander, Lee. reigned 138 years, which is 17^ years a-piece( 4 ).The thirty kings of England ; William the Conqueror, WilliamRufus, Lee. reigned 648 years, which is 21^ years a-piece. Thefirft twenty-four kings of France; Pharamundus, Lee. reigned458 years, which is 19 years a-piece: the next twenty-fourkings of France; Ludovicus Balbus, Lee. 451 years, which is18| years a-piece. The next fi-fteen, Philip Valefius^ Lee. 315years, which is 21 years a-piece. And ali the fixty-three kingsof France, 1224 years, which is 7 9^ years a-piece. Genera-■tions from father to fon, may be reckoned one with another atabout Z3 or 34 years a-piece, or about three generations to anhundred years : but if the reckoning proceed by the eldeft fons,they are Ihorter, fo that three of them may be reckoned at about75 or 8 q years: and the reign s of kings are ftill ihorter; be-icaufe kings are lucceeded not only by their eldeft fons, but fome-

times

kingdom of Judah, and only 15 in that of Ifrael. They were 20 in the kingdom of Judah, and 19in Ifrael, reckoning the ufurper Zimri; whom Eufebius, indeed, on account of the fliortnefs ofhis reign of feven days omits : but in the prefent enquiry, account is to be taken of the fhorteft,as well as of thelongeft reigns. The 20 kings of Judah, after Solomon, reigned juft 400 years.The 19 of Ifrael only 268. Hence the mean length of the reign, for the kings of Judah, was20years: for the kings of Ifrael only 14 years.

(') From the beginning of Seleucus Nicanor to the extinflion of the Syrian kingdom byPompey, the interval was 246 years; and the number of princes in fucceffion was 22 ; or rathe-r-2Z, counting Tigranes for one. (See Petavius Doft. Temp. lib. 10. c. 47.) The laft of thefe, An-tiochus Afiaticus, had a very fltort reign; of not more than three years, or perhaps not threeyears complete. Sir Ifaac Newton feeins to throw this laft prince out of the lift, and to confiderthe kingdom of Syria as Corning to an end, at the time of the conqueftof Tigranes by Lucullus.For this reafon he might Ihorten the whole interval by two years: and finding this AntiochusAfiaticus called by Appian, the 17th prince of the Seleucid race, he might imagine there hadbeen but 16 kings b e fore him ; not confidering that Appian, fpeaking of the defcendants of Se-leucus, does not reckon three princes who were not of that defeent: and feems to have omittedAntiochus and Philip, the fons of Grypus, the two immediate fucceflors of Antiochus Eufebes:ferhe fpcaks of Antiochus Eufebes as himfelf fpoiled of his kingdom by Tigranes. So that five

princes,