Euer'getes (Ertpyirrjg, a benefactor; see Jose- phus, War, iii, 9, 8 ; Diod. Sic. xi, 26 ; Xenoph. Anab. vii, 6, 38 ; sometimes Anglicized Evergetes), a com- mon surname and title of honor (comp. Plato, Gorg. p. 506 C, and Stallb. ad loc.) in Greek states, conferred at Athens by a public vote (Demosth. p. 475), and so notorious as to pass into a proverb (Luke xxii, 25). It was bestowed bj-- states upon those who had confer- red benefits upon them, and was taken by several kings. See Ptolemy ; Antiochus.
A king is mentioned by this title in the 2d prologue to Ecclesiasticus, wherein the translator states that, having gone into Egypt in the 38th year of king Euer- getes, and been there some time, he found this book by his grandfather ('Ei' yap r(p oyooqj icai rpiaKOGTO) ith irri Tot) El'spyirov jiaaiXewg irapaytvi^Qtli; il(j A'iyvTT- Tov, Kai (TvyxpoviaaQ, tiipov ov jMKpaQ TraiCiiac d<p6- (1(0(0)'). There can be no question that a king of ' E^ypt is here meant; for, though a king of Syria could ' be intended ])y this title, Alexander I, Antiochus Vll, ] and Demetrius III being shown bj' their coins to have ; been styled Euergetes, no one of them reigned more than a few j-ears. It is more probable, on jjrimd facie grounds, that an Egyptian Euergetes is here spoken of, if the same discrepancy should not be found. Two of the Ptolemies bore tiiis title: Ptolemy III, always known as Euergetes, who reigned twenty-five years, B.C. 247-222, and Ptolemy VII (or IX), Euergetes II, more commonly called Phj'scon, who liegan to reign jointly with his brother Ptolemy VI (or VII), Philome- tor, B.C. 170, and became sole king in B.C. 146, dying in his fifty-f(uirth ,vear, reckoned from the fonner date, and the twenty-ninth year of his sole reign, B.C. 117 (Fynes Clinton, Fasti' Hellenic!, iii, 382, 383,386, 399; Lepsius, Kijnigsbuch, Sj'noptische Tafeln, p. 9). A
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groat (lifTiculty lias arisen in the attempt to decide which of tliese kings is intended. E-vfcrytliing hinges upon tlie manner in which the reigns were reclioned. Tliere is no satisfactory evidence for supposing that Euergetes I counted liis regnal years from a time be- fore his accession ; tlie evidence of the inscription at Adule, that Fynes Clinton adduces in favor of as high a date as the '27th year, is wholly inconclusive (p. 382, 383) ; besides, the 27th year is far short of the 38th. To ascertain the official reckoning of the years of Eu- ergetes II, during the latter part of his rule, and thus to determine from what date he then counted his reg- nal j'cars, we have only to examine the demotic pap3-ii of his reign. From these Dr. Young collected a list of dates which appeared thirty years ago in his posthu- mous Rudiments of an Egyptian Dictionai-y. These dates are year 29, 34, 45, 4G, 47 or 43, 52, 53 (p. 27-31). It is thus proved incontestably that Physcon counted his years from the commencement of his joint reign with riiilometor, without anj" separate reckoning from his accession as sole king of Egj'pt. The hieroglj'phic inscriptions, as we would expect, follow the same reck- oning. Thus one of the Apis tablets gives the dates of tlie 28th, 31st, 51st, and 52d years of this king (Lep- sius. The 22J Egy^jlian Royal Dynasty, transl. by Dr. Bell, p. 41). AVe must not pass by the idea of Jahn (^Einkittmg , ii, 930 sq.), that the o8th year refei's to the translator's age instead of a king's reign. It would be better to suppose an a;ra. Three seem possible, the Suva, of the .Seleucidffi, tliat of Simon the Maccabee, used in Palestine, and the ajra of Dionysius used in Egypt. The sera of the Seleucidae began B.C. 312, and its 38th j-car is therefore too early for the reign of Euergetes I ; the aara of Simon the Maccabee began B.C. 143, or a little later, and its 38th year is too late for the reign of Euergetes II. The rora of Dionysius commenced B.C. 285 (Lepsius, Koniysbuch, 1. c), and its 38th year was therefore the last of Ptolenn- II, Euergetes I coming to the throne in the next year. The construction that does not allow the 3'ear of the reign of Euergetes to be intended, and thus necessi- tates some such explanation, is certainlj' tlie more cor- rect; but as Dr. Davidson, who has laboriously col- lected upon this question much criticism which we have shown to be needless, observes, we need not here look for correct grammar (//orne's Introd. 1856, ii, 102G-1028). With tliis admission tlie usual reading cannot be doubted, and the date mentioned would be B.C. 133. Other evidence for the time of the compo- sition of Ecclesiasticus, which, of course, can be ap- proximatively inferred from that of the translation, is rather in favor of the second than the first Euergetes. — Kitto, s. V. See Ecclesiasticus ; Jesus, Son of SiitAcir.
Eugemciis, a Greek theologian, lived in the first half of the latli century. He began public life as an instructor in rhetoric, but his learning and eloquence soon procured him the first positions in the Clnircli, and towards 143G he was made archbishop of Ephosus. Two years later he accompanied the cmjieror (John Palffiologus) to the Council of Florence. Here he not only represented his own diocese, liut acted also for the patriarchs of Antiocli and of Jerusalem. A zealous defender of tlie Greek Church and adversarj' of the Ponian, Eugenicus was the onh' one wlio, at the close of the council, refused to recognise the pretensions of the pope and to sign the acts of the council. On his return to Constantinople the people received liim with great entliusiasm. Even upon his death-licd in 1447, he solemnly adjured George the Scholastic to continue the strife against the Latins. The numerous writ- ings of Eugenicus are of a polemical nature, directed against tlie Latin Ciiurch and those prelates of the Greek Church who were favorable to tlie- former. Many have never been published, but they are record- ed l)y Fabricius. Wc make mention lierc only of his printed works : Letter to tlie Emperor Palmoloyus,