HECATEUS, a native of Abdera, in Thrace, who was a contemporary of Alexander the Great, and lived at the court of Ptolemy, son of Lagus king of Egypt (B. C. 323-283). He had there an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the Jewish nation; for, after the battle of Gaza, where Ptolemy defeated Demetrius Poliorcetes, the whole of Palestine came into the possession of the king of Egypt; and a large body of Jews, charmed by the humanity and moderation of Ptolemy, went along with him into Egypt, and, amongst others, the high-priest Hezekiah. From him it would appear that Hecateus received such minute information respecting the customs and habits of his countrymen, that he was induced to write a detailed history of the Jews. Both Josephus (Ap. i. 22, ii. 4) and Eusebius have preserved passages which are of great value, as confirming the accounts which we have elsewhere received of that people. In this work he described the nature and position of the country of Palestine, and gave an account of their fastnesses, Jerusalem, the temple, with the remarkable customs of the people and priests. In later times it has become a matter of dispute whether we ought to consider this work as the genuine production of Hecateus. Scaliger regarded it as spurious, following the opinion of Herennius Philo, as quoted by Origen (Contr. Cels. lib. i.); but we think that Sainte Croix (Exam. Crit. des Hist. d'Alexandre, p. 558) has completely proved that it is the work of the author whose name it bears. (See Hecatei Abderite Philosophi et Histor. Eclogæ, Gr. et Lat. by Scaliger, Alton, 1730.)