Difference between revisions of "Ionia"

<p> It has been suggested that in 1 [[Maccabees]] 8:8, for the existing reading χώραν τὴν Ι᾿νδικὴν καὶ Μήδειαν , "India and Media." should be read χ .τ . Ι᾿ωνίαν καὶ Μυσίαν, "Ionia and Mysia," on the ground that to include India and Media within the domain of. [[Antiochus]] III is to contradict directly the voice of history, which confines that monarch's possessions to this side the [[Taurus]] range (Livy, Hist. 37:56; 38:38). (See [[India]]). </p> <p> This alteration is purely conjectural, as there is no MS. authority for it; and it is not easy to see, supposing it to be the correct reading, how the error in the text could have arisen. Michaelis supposes that, by a mistake on the part of the translator, מדו was read for מסי, and הדו or הנדו for הנטי, and that the nations intended are the Mysians and the Ε᾿νετοί (Homr, II. 2, 580) of Paphlagonia; but this is still more improbable than the former conjecture; and, besides, not only was Paphlagonia not within the domain of Antiochus but the Enetians did not at the time exist (Strabo, 12:8). Perhaps the conjectural emendation above mentioned may be adopted on the ground of its internal probability, as the only alternative seems to be to suppose gross geographical and historical ignorance on the part of the author. It is followed by Luther (who puts "Ionien" in the text), Drusius, Grotius, Houbigant, etc. Adopting the reading Ionia, the district referred to is that bordering on the AEgean Sea from Phocaea to Miletus. Its original inhabitants were Greeks, but in later times a large [[Jewish]] element was found in the population (Josephus, Ant. 16, 2, 3). Ionia, with its islands, was celebrated for its twelve, afterwards thirteen cities; five of which — Ephesus, Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and [[Samos]] are conspicuous in the N.T. (See [[Asia Minor]]). Under the [[Roman]] dominion the name [[Ionia]] remained, but its towns were distributed politically under other provinces. [[Ptolemy]] ranks them in Asia Proper, while [[Strabo]] (14, 631), Pliny (I. N. 5, 31), and Mela (1, 17) speak of Ionia as a distinct territory. In the account which [[Josephus]] gives (Ant. 16, 2, 3) of the appeal of the [[Jews]] in Ionia to [[Agrippa]] for exemption from certain oppressions to which they were exposed, the ancient name of the country is retained. He speaks of πολὺ πλῆθος Ι᾿ουδαίων as inhabiting its cities. (See [[Javan]]). </p>