Rome turns Antiochus back from Egypt
As Antiochus closed in on Alexandria, a Roman envoy drew a circle in the sand around him and demanded an answer before he stepped out of it. Humiliated, Antiochus withdrew and took out his fury on Jerusalem.
For ships of Kittim will come against him. Therefore he will be grieved, and will return, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and will take action. He will even return, and have regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.
Daniel 11:30 (World English Bible)
Antiochus had invaded Egypt a second time and was close to taking it. Rome, fresh from conquering Macedonia, sent the envoy Gaius Popillius Laenas with the Senate's order to leave Egypt. When Antiochus asked for time to consult his advisers, Popillius drew a circle around him with his staff and told him to decide before stepping out of it. Antiochus gave in.
Daniel had foretold that “ships of Kittim” would come against the king of the north, and that he would turn back in anger “against the holy covenant” (Daniel 11:30). Kittim first meant Cyprus, then the lands of the west; the Roman envoys came by sea, and the early Greek translation of Daniel simply renders the word “Romans.”
Places
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
- Antiquities 12.5.2–3 — Antiochus is driven out of Egypt by the Romans
Dating notes
Ussher: 168 BC, the conventional date as well. Polybius and Livy both tell the story; it happened at Eleusis, a suburb of Alexandria.