Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/142

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ANT—ANT

Alexander's empire. Polysperclion succeeding Antipater in the regency, to the exclusion of Cassander his son, Antigonus resolved to set himself up as lord of all Asia. On account of the great power of Eumenes, he greatly desired to gain him over to his interest; but that faithful commander, effecting his escape from Nora, raised an army, and was appointed the royal general in Asia. He defeated Antigonus in several engagements, but was at last delivered up to him through treachery, and put to death Upon this the governor of Upper Asia yielded to Antigonus, The latter now seized upon all the treasures at Susa, and directed his march towards Babylon, of which Seleucus was governor. Seleucus fled to Ptolemy, and entered into a league with him, together with Lysimachus and Cassander, in order to check the exorbitant power of Antigonus (315 B.C.) Notwithstanding this Antigonus made a successful attempt upon Syria and Phoenicia, though these provinces were soon after recovered by Ptolemy, who defeated his son Demetrius, while he himself was employed against Cassander in Asia Minor They were again taken by Antigonus, who, flushed with success, sent an expedition against the Nabathtean Arabs dwell ing in the deserts adjacent to Judaea. In the first enter prise his troops were cut to pieces by the Arabs; but his son commanded the second, and was more successful. Demetrius then expelled Seleucus from Babylon; and, success attending his arms wherever he went, the con federates had to make a treaty with Antigonus, stipulating that he should remain in possession of all Asia, but that the Greek cities should retain their liberty. This agree ment was soon violated, under the pretence that garrisons had been placed in some of these cities by Antigonus. At first Ptolemy made a successful descent into Asia Minor, and on several of the islands of the Archipelago; but he was at length totally defeated by Demetrius, in a naval engage ment off Salamis, in the island of Cyprus On gaining this victory Antigonus assumed the title of king, and bestowed the same upon his son; and from that time (306 B.C.) his reign in Asia, and that of Ptolemy in Egypt, and of the other generals of Alexander in their respective provinces, properly commence. Antigonus now prepared a large army, nnd a formidable fleet, the command of which he gave to Demetrius, and hastened to attack Ptolemy in his own dominions. His invasion of Egypt, however, proved a failure; a battle with Ptolemy at Mount Casius gained Antigonus no advantage, and, after a few other fruitless efforts, he was obliged to retire (306 B.C.) Demetrius Attempted the reduction of Rhodes; but, meeting with obstinate resistance, he was obliged to make a treaty upon the best terms that he could, in order to join his father in crushing a confederacy that had been formed between Cassander, Seleucus, and Lysimachus. Father and son ad vanced with their united forces into Phrygia, and met the enemy at Ipsus. A decisive battle was fought, in which Antigonus fell, in the 81st year of his age, 301 B.C., and with him fell the fortunes of his house.

ANTIGONUS (GONATAS), son of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and grandson of the former Antigonus, was born at Gouni in Thessaly about 319 B.C. On the death of his father in Asia, 283 B.C., he assumed the title of king of Mace donia, but did not obtain possession of the throne till 277, after it had been successively in the hands of Pyrrhus, Lysi machus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy Ceraunus. Antigonus repelled the invasion of the Gauls, and continued in undis puted possession of Macedonia till 273, when Pyrrhus returned from Italy and dethroned him. Pyrrhus fell, 272 B.C., at Argos, and Antigonus was again restored to power. The latter part of his reign was comparatively peaceful, and he gained the affection of his subjects by his mildness of disposition and his cultivation of the arts. He resisted the formation of the Achaean league, but did not resort to arms to enforce his opposition. He died, leaving his king dom in peace, in the 80th year of his age, and the 44th of his reign, 239 B.C.
ANTIGUA, one of the West Indian Islands, in the British Leeward group, situated 50 miles E. of St Christo pher, in lat. 17 6 N., and long. 61 45 W.; with an area of 108 square miles, and a circumference of about 50 miles. There is often a great scarcity of water in the island, which has also suffered severely from hurricanes; but it is on the whole healthy . and its soil is very fertile, producing large quantities of sugar, and usually enough of grain for home consumption, as well as some cotton and tobacco. Its high and rocky coast is much indented by bays and arms of the sea, several of which form excellent harbours; that of St John's, the capital, is safe and commodious, but is much inferior to English Harbour, which is capable of receiving vessels of the largest size. Goods to the value of 234,01 1, and including sugar, molasses, rum, and cotton, were exported in 1870, being an increase of 33,038 as com pared with 1869; the value of the imports, on the other hand, had increased during the same period from 174,357 to 164,178. In 1870, 422 ships of 25,228 tons entered, and 425 of 24,977 tons cleared the ports of the island. The government of Antigua is vested in a governor and executive and legislative councils, while four of the ten elective members of the general legislative council of the Leeward Islands are chosen from, and by, the legislative council of Antigua, in addition to one non-elective member nominated from the same body by the Queen. In 1870 the revenue amounted to 41,136, the expenditure to 31,315, and the public debt to 52,195. The chief source of revenue is the import duty, which amounted to about 20,000 in the same year. Antigua was discovered in 1493 by Columbus, who is said to have named it after a church in Seville, called Santa Maria la Antigua. It however remained uninhabited until 1632, when a body of English settlers took possession of it, and in 1663 another settlement of the same nation was effected under the direction of Lord Willoughby, to whom the entire island was granted by Charles II. It was ravaged by the French in 1666, but was soon after reconquered by the British, and was formally restored to them by the treaty of Breda. Since then it has been a British possession. Population in 1871, 35,157.
ANTILEGOMENA (avnAeyoyuera, contradicted or dis puted), an epithet applied by the early Christian writers to denote those bocks of the New Testament which, although sometimes publicly read in the churches, were not for a considerable time admitted to be genuine, or received into the canon of Scripture. These books are so denominated in contradistinction to the Homologoumena, or universally acknowledged writings. The following is a catalogue of tie,Antilegomena: the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of St James, the Second Epistle of St Peter, the Second and Third Epistles of St John, the Epistle of St Jude, the Apo calypse, or Revelation of St John. The earliest notice which we have of this distinction is contained in the Eccle siastical History of Eusebius (iii. 25), who flourished A.D. 270-340; but the meaning of the passage is by no means clear, and it has accordingly given rise to considerable controversy.
ANTILLES, a name that is usually, although by no means uniformly, applied to the whole of the West Indian Islands, with the exception of the Bahamas; it has also, on the one hand, been employed to designate smaller portions of the same group, and, on the other, it has been extended so as to comprehend the whole archipelago, inclusive of the Bahamas. The traditional derivation of the word Antilles itself from Antilla, a continent supposed