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COINAGE OF ANTIOCHUS VIII OF SYRIA. 203In 111 B.C.Grypus returned from his refuge in AsiaMinor with a newly- levied mercenary army, andrecovered the northern part of his former dominions,including Antioch. This sudden revulsion on the partof the Syrians can only be ascribed to dissatisfactionwith the ruleof Philopator during the three years ofhis complete success. We are told that althoughactive and courageous he was a great drinker andhopelessly frivolous. He spent much of his time withmimes and conjurors, and had a childish interest iningenious mechanical toys. He was evidently one ofthose princes who are not bad leaders in war, but failutterly when tried by the touchstone of peace. Therehad been no clear advantage won for the realm byevicting Grypus in order to enthrone his half-brother.But Grypus, though he had recovered Antioch andthe valley of the Lower Orontes, and evidently Ciliciaalso, was wholly unable to expel Philopator from thesouth. The latter held his own in Phoenicia and CoeleSyria, and from 110 B.C. to 96 B.C. they warred againsteach other with no definite triumph for either side.For great part of these fourteen years the hostilitieswere of a trifling sort both kings were exhausted,and as Josephus observes, 9 they were " like athletes,who having failed to bring each other down by strength,are yet ashamed to retire, and protract their matchwith long breathing times and rests ". The period ismainly notable in Seleucid history as that in whichthe royal power over the great cities slipped awayto win support the brothers granted "autonomy",Grypus to Seleucia in 108 B.C., Philopator to Sidon in9 Jewish Antiquities, xiii, 327.