that Demetrius Phalereus, and Andreas, and Aristeas; the
first, Demetrius, the most learned person of his age, and the
others, such as were intrusted with the guard of his body;
should take care of this matter: nor would he certainly have
been so desirous of learning our law, and the philosophy of
our nation, had he despised the men that made use of it, or
had he not indeed had them in great admiration.

5. Now this Apion was unacquainted with almost all the kings
of those Macedonians whom he pretends to have been his
progenitors, who were yet very well affected towards us; for
the third of those Ptolemies, who was called Euergetes, when
he had gotten possession of all Syria by force, did not offer
his thank-offerings to the Egyptian gods for his victory, but
came to Jerusalem, and according to our own laws offered
many sacrifices to God, and dedicated to him such gifts as
were suitable to such a victory: and as for Ptolemy
Philometer and his wife Cleopatra, they committed their
whole kingdom to the Jews, when Onias and Dositheus, both
Jews, whose names are laughed at by Apion, were the
generals of their whole army. But certainly, instead of
reproaching them, he ought to admire their actions, and
return them thanks for saving Alexandria, whose citizen he
pretends to be; for when these Alexandrians were making war
with Cleopatra the queen, and were in danger of being
utterly ruined, these Jews brought them to terms of
agreement, and freed them from the miseries of a civil war.
"But then (says Apion) Onias brought a small army afterward
upon the city at the time when Thorruns the Roman
ambassador was there present." Yes, do I venture to say, and