high priest, and gave Antipater what principality he himself should
choose, leaving the determination to himself; so he made him procurator
of Judea. He also gave Hyrcanus leave to raise up the walls of his own
city, upon his asking that favor of him, for they had been demolished by
Pompey. And this grant he sent to the consuls to Rome, to be engraven in
the capitol. The decree of the senate was this that follows: 13 "Lucius
Valerius, the son of Lucius the praetor, referred this to the senate,
upon the Ides of December, in the temple of Concord. There were present
at the writing of this decree Lucius Coponius, the son of Lucius of the
Colline tribe, and Papirius of the Quirine tribe, concerning the affairs
which Alexander, the son of Jason, and Numenius, the son of Antiochus,
and Alexander, the son of Dositheus, ambassadors of the Jews, good and
worthy men, proposed, who came to renew that league of goodwill and
friendship with the Romans which was in being before. They also brought
a shield of gold, as a mark of confederacy, valued at fifty thousand
pieces of gold; and desired that letters might be given them, directed
both to the free cities and to the kings, that their country and their
havens might be at peace, and that no one among them might receive any
injury. It therefore pleased [the senate] to make a league of friendship
and good-will with them, and to bestow on them whatsoever they stood in
need of, and to accept of the shield which was brought by them. This was
done in the ninth year of Hyrcanus the high priest and ethnarch, in the
month Panemus." Hyrcanus also received honors from the people of Athens,
as having been useful to them on many occasions. And when they wrote to
him, they sent him this decree, as it here follows "Under the prutaneia
and priesthood of Dionysius, the son of Esculapius, on the fifth day of
the latter part of the month Panemus, this decree of the Athenians was
given to their commanders, when Agathocles was archon, and Eucles, the
son of Menander of Alimusia, was the scribe. In the month Munychion, on
the eleventh day of the prutaneia, a council of the presidents was held
in the theater. Dorotheus the high priest, and the fellow presidents
with him, put it to the vote of the people. Dionysius, the son of
Dionysius, gave the sentence. Since Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the
high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, continues to bear good-will to our
people in general, and to every one of our citizens in particular, and
treats them with all sorts of kindness; and when any of the Athenians
come to him, either as ambassadors, or on any occasion of their own, he
receives them in an obliging manner, and sees that they are conducted
back in safety, of which we have had several former testimonies; it is
now also decreed, at the report of Theodosius, the son of Theodorus, and
upon his putting the people in mind of the virtue of this man, and that
his purpose is to do us all the good that is in his power, to honor him
with a crown of gold, the usual reward according to the law, and to
erect his statue in brass in the temple of Demus and of the Graces; and
that this present of a crown shall be proclaimed publicly in the
theater, in the Dionysian shows, while the new tragedies are acting; and
in the Panathenean, and Eleusinian, and Gymnical shows also; and that
the commanders shall take care, while he continues in his friendship,
and preserves his good-will to us, to return all possible honor and
favor to the man for his affection and generosity; that by this
treatment it may appear how our people receive the good kindly, and
repay them a suitable reward; and he may be induced to proceed in his
affection towards us, by the honors we have already paid him. That
ambassadors be also chosen out of all the Athenians, who shall carry
this decree to him, and desire him to accept of the honors we do him,
and to endeavor always to be doing some good to our city." And this
shall suffice us to have spoken as to the honors that were paid by the
Romans and the people of Athens to Hyrcanus.
CHAPTER 9. How Antipater Committed The Care Of Galilee To Herod, And
That Of Jerusalem To Phasaelus; As Also How Herod Upon The Jews' Envy At
Antipater Was Accused Before Hyrcanus.
1. Now when Cæsar had settled the affairs of Syria, he sailed away. And
as soon as Antipater had conducted Cæsar out of Syria, he returned to
Judea. He then immediately raised up the wall which had been thrown down
by Pompey; and, by coming thither, he pacified that tumult which had
been in the country, and this by both threatening and advising them to
be quiet; for that if they would be of Hyrcanus's side, they would live
happily, and lead their lives without disturbance, and in the enjoyment
of their own possessions; but if they were addicted to the hopes of what
might come by innovation, and aimed to get wealth thereby, they should
have him a severe master instead of a gentle governor, and Hyrcanus a
tyrant instead of a king, and the Romans, together with Cæsar, their
bitter enemies instead of rulers, for that they would never bear him to
be set aside whom they had appointed to govern. And when Antipater had
said this to them, he himself settled the affairs of this country.
2. And seeing that Hyrcanus was of a slow and slothful temper, he made
Phasaelus, his eldest son, governor of Jerusalem, and of the places that
were about it, but committed Galilee to Herod, his next son, who was
then a very young man, for he was but fifteen years of age 14 But that
youth of his was no impediment to him; but as he was a youth of great
mind, he presently met with an opportunity of signalizing his courage;
for finding that there was one Hezekiah, a captain of a band of robbers,
who overran the neighboring parts of Syria with a great troop of them,
he seized him and slew him, as well as a great number of the other
robbers that were with him; for which action he was greatly beloved by
the Syrians; for when they were very desirous to have their country
freed from this nest of robbers, he purged it of them. So they sung
songs in his commendation in their villages and cities, as having
procured them peace, and the secure enjoyment of their possessions; and
on this account it was that he became known to Sextus Cæsar, who was a
relation of the great Cæsar, and was now president of Syria. Now
Phasaelus, Herod's brother, was moved with emulation at his actions, and
envied the fame he had thereby gotten, and became ambitious not to be
behindhand with him in deserving it. So he made the inhabitants of
Jerusalem bear him the greatest good-will while he held the city
himself, but did neither manage its affairs improperly, nor abuse his
authority therein. This conduct procured from the nation to Antipater
such respect as is due to kings, and such honors as he might partake of
if he were an absolute lord of the country. Yet did not this splendor of
his, as frequently happens, in the least diminish in him that kindness
and fidelity which he owed to Hyrcanus.
3. But now the principal men among the Jews, when they saw Antipater and
his sons to grow so much in the good-will the nation bare to them, and
in the revenues which they received out of Judea, and out of Hyrcanus's
own wealth, they became ill- disposed to him; for indeed Antipater had
contracted a friendship with the Roman emperors; and when he had
prevailed with Hyrcanus to send them money, he took it to himself, and
purloined the present intended, and sent it as if it were his own, and
not Hyrcanus's gift to them. Hyrcanus heard of this his management, but
took no care about it; nay, he rather was very glad of it. But the chief
men of the Jews were therefore in fear, because they saw that Herod was
a violent and bold man, and very desirous of acting tyrannically; so
they came to Hyrcanus, and now accused Antipater openly, and said to
him, "How long wilt thou be quiet under such actions as are now done? Or
dost thou not see that Antipater and his sons have already seized upon
the government, and that it is only the name of a king which is given
thee? But do not thou suffer these things to be hidden from thee, nor do
thou think to escape danger by being so careless of thyself and of thy
kingdom; for Antipater and his sons are not now stewards of thine
affairs: do not thou deceive thyself with such a notion; they are
evidently absolute lords; for Herod, Antipater's son, hath slain
Hezekiah, and those that were with him, and hath thereby transgressed
our law, which hath forbidden to slay any man, even though he were a
wicked man, unless he had been first condemned to suffer death by the
Sanhedrim 15 yet hath he been so insolent as to do this, and that
without any authority from thee."
4. Upon Hyrcanus hearing this, he complied with them. The mothers also
of those that had been slain by Herod raised his indignation; for those
women continued every day in the temple, persuading the king and the
people that Herod might undergo a trial before the Sanhedrim for what he
had done. Hyrcanus was so moved by these complaints, that he summoned
Herod to come to his trial for what was charged upon him. Accordingly he
came; but his father had persuaded him to come not like a private man,
but with a guard, for the security of his person; and that when he had
settled the affairs of Galilee in the best manner he could for his own
advantage, he should come to his trial, but still with a body of men
sufficient for his security on his journey, yet so that he should not
come with so great a force as might look like terrifying Hyrcanus, but
still such a one as might not expose him naked and unguarded [to his
enemies.] However, Sextus Cæsar, president of Syria, wrote to Hyrcanus,
and desired him to clear Herod, and dismiss him at his trial, and
threatened him beforehand if he did not do it. Which epistle of his was
the occasion of Hyrcanus delivering Herod from suffering any harm from
the Sanhedrim, for he loved him as his own son. But when Herod stood
before the Sanhedrim, with his body of men about him, he affrighted them
all, and no one of his former accusers durst after that bring any charge
against him, but there was a deep silence, and nobody knew what was to
be done. When affairs stood thus, one whose name was Sameas, 16 a
righteous man he was, and for that reason above all fear, rose up, and
said, "O you that are assessors with me, and O thou that art our king, I
neither have ever myself known such a case, nor do I suppose that any
one of you can name its parallel, that one who is called to take his
trial by us ever stood in such a manner before us; but every one,
whosoever he be, that comes to be tried by this Sanhedrim, presents
himself in a submissive manner, and like one that is in fear of himself,
and that endeavors to move us to compassion, with his hair dishevelled,
and in a black and mourning garment: but this admirable man Herod, who
is accused of murder, and called to answer so heavy an accusation,
stands here clothed in purple, and with the hair of his head finely
trimmed, and with his armed men about him, that if we shall condemn him
by our law, he may slay us, and by overbearing justice may himself
escape death. Yet do not I make this complaint against Herod himself; he
is to be sure more concerned for himself than for the laws; but my
complaint is against yourselves, and your king, who gave him a license
so to do. However, take you notice, that God is great, and that this
very man, whom you are going to absolve and dismiss, for the sake of
Hyrcanus, will one day punish both you and your king himself also." Nor
did Sameas mistake in any part of this prediction; for when Herod had
received the kingdom, he slew all the members of this Sanhedrim, and
Hyrcanus himself also, excepting Sameas, for he had a great honor for
him on account of his righteousness, and because, when the city was
afterward besieged by Herod and Sosius, he persuaded the people to admit
Herod into it; and told them that for their sins they would not be able
to escape his hands:—which things will be related by us in their proper
places.
5. But when Hyrcanus saw that the members of the Sanhedrim were ready to
pronounce the sentence of death upon Herod, he put off the trial to
another day, and sent privately to Herod, and advised him to fly out of
the city, for that by this means he might escape. So he retired to
Damascus, as though he fled from the king; and when he had been with
Sextus Cæsar, and had put his own affairs in a sure posture, he resolved
to do thus; that in case he were again summoned before the Sanhedrim to
take his trial, he would not obey that summons. Hereupon the members of
the Sanhedrim had great indignation at this posture of affairs, and
endeavored to persuade Hyrcanus that all these things were against him;
which state of matters he was not ignorant of; but his temper was so
unmanly, and so foolish, that he was able to do nothing at all. But when
Sextus had made Herod general of the army of Celesyria, for he sold him
that post for money, Hyrcanus was in fear lest Herod should make war
upon him; nor was the effect of what he feared long in coming upon him;
for Herod came and brought an army along with him to fight with
Hyrcanus, as being angry at the trial he had been summoned to undergo
before the Sanhedrim; but his father Antipater, and his brother
[Phasaelus], met him, and hindered him from assaulting Jerusalem. They
also pacified his vehement temper, and persuaded him to do no overt
action, but only to affright them with threatenings, and to proceed no
further against one who had given him the dignity he had: they also
desired him not only to be angry that he was summoned, and obliged to
come to his trial, but to remember withal how he was dismissed without
condemnation, and how he ought to give Hyrcanus thanks for the same; and
that he was not to regard only what was disagreeable to him, and be
unthankful for his deliverance. So they desired him to consider, that
since it is God that turns the scales of war, there is great uncertainty
in the issue of battles, and that therefore he ought of to expect the
victory when he should fight with his king, and him that had supported
him, and bestowed many benefits upon him, and had done nothing itself
very severe to him; for that his accusation, which was derived from evil
counselors, and not from himself, had rather the suspicion of some
severity, than any thing really severe in it. Herod was persuaded by
these arguments, and believed that it was sufficient for his future
hopes to have made a show of his strength before the nation, and done no
more to it—and in this state were the affairs of Judea at this time.
CHAPTER 10. The Honors That Were Paid The Jews; And The Leagues That
Were Made By The Romans And Other Nations, With Them.
1. Now when Cæsar was come to Rome, he was ready to sail into Africa to
fight against Scipio and Cato, when Hyrcanus sent ambassadors to him,
and by them desired that he would ratify that league of friendship and
mutual alliance which was between them, And it seems to me to be
necessary here to give an account of all the honors that the Romans and
their emperor paid to our nation, and of the leagues of mutual
assistance they have made with it, that all the rest of mankind may know
what regard the kings of Asia and Europe have had to us, and that they
have been abundantly satisfied of our courage and fidelity; for whereas
many will not believe what hath been written about us by the Persians
and Macedonians, because those writings are not every where to be met
with, nor do lie in public places, but among us ourselves, and certain
other barbarous nations, while there is no contradiction to be made
against the decrees of the Romans, for they are laid up in the public
places of the cities, and are extant still in the capitol, and engraven
upon pillars of brass; nay, besides this, Julius Cæsar made a pillar of
brass for the Jews at Alexandria, and declared publicly that they were
citizens of Alexandria. Out of these evidences will I demonstrate what I
say; and will now set down the decrees made both by the senate and by
Julius Cæsar, which relate to Hyrcanus and to our nation.
2. "Caius Julius Cæsar, imperator and high priest, and dictator the
second time, to the magistrates, senate, and people of Sidon, sendeth
greeting. If you be in health, it is well. I also and the army are well.
I have sent you a copy of that decree, registered on the tables, which
concerns Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of
the Jews, that it may be laid up among the public records; and I will
that it be openly proposed in a table of brass, both in Greek and in
Latin. It is as follows: I Julius Cæsar, imperator the second time, and
high priest, have made this decree, with the approbation of the senate.
Whereas Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander the Jew, hath demonstrated his
fidelity and diligence about our affairs, and this both now and in
former times, both in peace and in war, as many of our generals have
borne witness, and came to our assistance in the last Alexandrian war,
17 with fifteen hundred soldiers; and when he was sent by me to
Mithridates, showed himself superior in valor to all the rest of that
army;—for these reasons I will that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, and
his children, be ethnarchs of the Jews, and have the high priesthood of
the Jews for ever, according to the customs of their forefathers, and
that he and his sons be our confederates; and that besides this,
everyone of them be reckoned among our particular friends. I also ordain
that he and his children retain whatsoever privileges belong to the
office of high priest, or whatsoever favors have been hitherto granted
them; and if at any time hereafter there arise any questions about the
Jewish customs, I will that he determine the same. And I think it not
proper that they should be obliged to find us winter quarters, or that
any money should be required of them."
3. "The decrees of Caius Cæsar, consul, containing what hath been
granted and determined, are as follows: That Hyrcanus and his children
bear rule over the nation of the Jews, and have the profits of the
places to them bequeathed; and that he, as himself the high priest and
ethnarch of the Jews, defend those that are injured; and that
ambassadors be sent to Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest
of the Jews, that may discourse with him about a league of friendship
and mutual assistance; and that a table of brass, containing the
premises, be openly proposed in the capitol, and at Sidon, and Tyre, and
Askelon, and in the temple, engraven in Roman and Greek letters: that
this decree may also be communicated to the quaestors and praetors of
the several cities, and to the friends of the Jews; and that the
ambassadors may have presents made them; and that these decrees be sent
every where." 18
4. "Caius Cæsar, imperator, dictator, consul, hath granted, That out of
regard to the honor, and virtue, and kindness of the man, and for the
advantage of the senate, and of the people of Rome, Hyrcanus, the son of
Alexander, both he and his children, be high priests and priests of
Jerusalem, and of the Jewish nation, by the same right, and according to
the same laws, by which their progenitors have held the priesthood."
5. "Caius Cæsar, consul the fifth time, hath decreed, That the Jews
shall possess Jerusalem, and may encompass that city with walls; and
that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the
Jews, retain it in the manner he himself pleases; and that the Jews be
allowed to deduct out of their tribute, every second year the land is
let [in the Sabbatic period], a corus of that tribute; and that the
tribute they pay be not let to farm, nor that they pay always the same
tribute."
6. "Caius Cæsar, imperator the second time, hath ordained, That all the
country of the Jews, excepting Joppa, do pay a tribute yearly for the
city Jerusalem, excepting the seventh, which they call the sabbatical
year, because thereon they neither receive the fruits of their trees,
nor do they sow their land; and that they pay their tribute in Sidon on
the second year [of that sabbatical period], the fourth part of what was
sown: and besides this, they are to pay the same tithes to Hyrcanus and
his sons which they paid to their forefathers. And that no one, neither
president, nor lieutenant, nor ambassador, raise auxiliaries within the
bounds of Judea; nor may soldiers exact money of them for winter
quarters, or under any other pretense; but that they be free from all
sorts of injuries; and that whatsoever they shall hereafter have, and
are in possession of, or have bought, they shall retain them all. It is
also our pleasure that the city Joppa, which the Jews had originally,
when they made a league of friendship with the Romans, shall belong to
them, as it formerly did; and that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, and
his sons, have as tribute of that city from those that occupy the land
for the country, and for what they export every year to Sidon, twenty
thousand six hundred and seventy-five modii every year, the seventh
year, which they call the Sabbatic year, excepted, whereon they neither
plough, nor receive the product of their trees. It is also the pleasure
of the senate, that as to the villages which are in the great plain,
which Hyrcanus and his forefathers formerly possessed, Hyrcanus and the
Jews have them with the same privileges with which they formerly had
them also; and that the same original ordinances remain still in force
which concern the Jews with regard to their high priests; and that they
enjoy the same benefits which they have had formerly by the concession
of the people, and of the senate; and let them enjoy the like privileges
in Lydda. It is the pleasure also of the senate that Hyrcanus the
ethnarch, and the Jews, retain those places, countries, and villages
which belonged to the kings of Syria and Phoenicia, the confederates of
the Romans, and which they had bestowed on them as their free gifts. It
is also granted to Hyrcanus, and to his sons, and to the ambassadors by
them sent to us, that in the fights between single gladiators, and in
those with beasts, they shall sit among the senators to see those shows;
and that when they desire an audience, they shall be introduced into the
senate by the dictator, or by the general of the horse; and when they
have introduced them, their answers shall be returned them in ten days
at the furthest, after the decree of the senate is made about their
affairs."
7. "Caius Cæsar, imperator, dictator the fourth time, and consul the
fifth time, declared to be perpetual dictator, made this speech
concerning the rights and privileges of Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander,
the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews. Since those imperators that
have been in the provinces before me have borne witness to Hyrcanus, the
high priest of the Jews, and to the Jews themselves, and this before the
senate and people of Rome, when the people and senate returned their
thanks to them, it is good that we now also remember the same, and
provide that a requital be made to Hyrcanus, to the nation of the Jews,
and to the sons of Hyrcanus, by the senate and people of Rome, and that
suitably to what good-will they have shown us, and to the benefits they
have bestowed upon us."
8. "Julius Caius, praetor [consul] of Rome, to the magistrates, senate,
and people of the Parians, sendeth greeting. The Jews of Delos, and some
other Jews that sojourn there, in the presence of your ambassadors,
signified to us, that, by a decree of yours, you forbid them to make use
of the customs of their forefathers, and their way of sacred worship.
Now it does not please me that such decrees should be made against our
friends and confederates, whereby they are forbidden to live according
to their own customs, or to bring in contributions for common suppers
and holy festivals, while they are not forbidden so to do even at Rome
itself; for even Caius Cæsar, our imperator and consul, in that decree
wherein he forbade the Bacchanal rioters to meet in the city, did yet
permit these Jews, and these only, both to bring in their contributions,
and to make their common suppers. Accordingly, when I forbid other
Bacchanal rioters, I permit these Jews to gather themselves together,
according to the customs and laws of their forefathers, and to persist
therein. It will be therefore good for you, that if you have made any
decree against these our friends and confederates, to abrogate the same,
by reason of their virtue and kind disposition towards us."
9. Now after Caius was slain, when Marcus Antonius and Publius Dolabella
were consuls, they both assembled the senate, and introduced Hyrcanus's
ambassadors into it, and discoursed of what they desired, and made a
league of friendship with them. The senate also decreed to grant them
all they desired. I add the decree itself, that those who read the
present work may have ready by them a demonstration of the truth of what
we say. The decree was this:
10. "The decree of the senate, copied out of the treasury, from the
public tables belonging to the quaestors, when Quintus Rutilius and
Caius Cornelius were quaestors, and taken out of the second table of the
first class, on the third day before the Ides of April, in the temple of
Concord. There were present at the writing of this decree, Lucius
Calpurnius Piso of the Menenian tribe, Servius Papinins Potitus of the
Lemonian tribe, Caius Caninius Rebilius of the Terentine tribe, Publius
Tidetius, Lucius Apulinus, the son of Lucius, of the Sergian tribe,
Flavius, the son of Lucius, of the Lemonian tribe, Publius Platins, the
son of Publius, of the Papyrian tribe, Marcus Acilius, the son of
Marcus, of the Mecian tribe, Lucius Erucius, the son of Lucius, of the
Stellatine tribe, Mareils Quintus Plancillus, the son of Marcus, of the
Pollian tribe, and Publius Serius. Publius Dolabella and Marcus
Antonius, the consuls, made this reference to the senate, that as to
those things which, by the decree of the senate, Caius Cæsar had
adjudged about the Jews, and yet had not hitherto that decree been
brought into the treasury, it is our will, as it is also the desire of
Publius Dolabella and Marcus Antonius, our consuls, to have these
decrees put into the public tables, and brought to the city quaestors,
that they may take care to have them put upon the double tables. This
was done before the fifth of the Ides of February, in the temple of
Concord. Now the ambassadors from Hyrcanus the high priest were these:
Lysimachus, the son of Pausanias, Alexander, the son of Theodorus,
Patroclus, the son of Chereas, and Jonathan the son of Onias."
11. Hyrcanus sent also one of these ambassadors to Dolabella, who was
then the prefect of Asia, and desired him to dismiss the Jews from
military services, and to preserve to them the customs of their
forefathers, and to permit them to live according to them. And when
Dolabella had received Hyrcanus's letter, without any further
deliberation, he sent an epistle to all the Asiatics, and particularly
to the city of the Ephesians, the metropolis of Asia, about the Jews; a
copy of which epistle here follows:
12. "When Artermon was prytanis, on the first day of the month Leneon,
Dolabella, imperator, to the senate, and magistrates, and people of the
Ephesians, sendeth greeting. Alexander, the son of Theodorus, the
ambassador of Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and
ethnarch of the Jews, appeared before me, to show that his countrymen
could not go into their armies, because they are not allowed to bear
arms or to travel on the sabbath days, nor there to procure themselves
those sorts of food which they have been used to eat from the times of
their forefathers;—I do therefore grant them a freedom from going into
the army, as the former prefects have done, and permit them to use the
customs of their forefathers, in assembling together for sacred and
religious purposes, as their law requires, and for collecting oblations
necessary for sacrifices; and my will is, that you write this to the
several cities under your jurisdiction."
13. And these were the concessions that Dolabella made to our nation
when Hyrcanus sent an embassage to him. But Lucius the consul's decree
ran thus: "I have at my tribunal set these Jews, who are citizens of
Rome, and follow the Jewish religious rites, and yet live at Ephesus,
free from going into the army, on account of the superstition they are
under. This was done before the twelfth of the calends of October, when
Lucius Lentulus and Caius Marcellus were consuls, in the presence of
Titus Appius Balgus, the son of Titus, and lieutenant of the Horatian
tribe; of Titus Tongins, the son of Titus, of the Crustumine tribe; of
Quintus Resius, the son of Quintus; of Titus Pompeius Longinus, the son
of Titus; of Catus Servilius, the son of Caius, of the Terentine tribe;
of Bracchus the military tribune; of Publius Lucius Gallus, the son of
Publius, of the Veturian tribe; of Caius Sentins, the son of Caius, of
the Sabbatine tribe; of Titus Atilius Bulbus, the son of Titus,
lieutenant and vice-praetor to the magistrates, senate, and people of
the Ephesians, sendeth greeting. Lucius Lentulus the consul freed the
Jews that are in Asia from going into the armies, at my intercession for
them; and when I had made the same petition some time afterward to
Phanius the imperator, and to Lucius Antonius the vice-quaestor, I
obtained that privilege of them also; and my will is, that you take care
that no one give them any disturbance."
14. The decree of the Delians. "The answer of the praetors, when Beotus
was archon, on the twentieth day of the month Thargeleon. While Marcus
Piso the lieutenant lived in our city, who was also appointed over the
choice of the soldiers, he called us, and many other of the citizens,
and gave order, that if there be here any Jews who are Roman citizens,
no one is to give them any disturbance about going into the army,
because Cornelius Lentulus, the consul, freed the Jews from going into
the army, on account of the superstition they are under;—you are
therefore obliged to submit to the praetor." And the like decree was
made by the Sardians about us also.
15. "Caius Phanius, the son of Caius, imperator and consul, to the
magistrates of Cos, sendeth greeting. I would have you know that the
ambassadors of the Jews have been with me, and desired they might have
those decrees which the senate had made about them; which decrees are
here subjoined. My will is, that you have a regard to and take care of
these men, according to the senate's decree, that they may be safely
conveyed home through your country."
16. The declaration of Lucius Lentulus the consul: "I have dismissed
those Jews who are Roman citizens, and who appear to me to have their
religious rites, and to observe the laws of the Jews at Ephesus, on
account of the superstition they are under. This act was done before the
thirteenth of the calends of October."
17. "Lucius Antonius, the son of Marcus, vice-quaestor, and vice-
praetor, to the magistrates, senate, and people of the Sardians, sendeth
greeting. Those Jews that are our fellow citizens of Rome came to me,
and demonstrated that they had an assembly of their own, according to
the laws of their forefathers, and this from the beginning, as also a
place of their own, wherein they determined their suits and
controversies with one another. Upon their petition therefore to me,
that these might be lawful for them, I gave order that these their
privileges be preserved, and they be permitted to do accordingly."
18. The declaration of Marcus Publius, the son of Spurius, and of
Marcus, the son of Marcus, and of Lucius, the son of Publius: "We went
to the proconsul, and informed him of what Dositheus, the son of
Cleopatrida of Alexandria, desired, that, if he thought good, he would
dismiss those Jews who were Roman citizens, and were wont to observe the
rites of the Jewish religion, on account of the superstition they were
under. Accordingly, he did dismiss them. This was done before the
thirteenth of the calends of October."
19. "In the month Quntius, when Lucius Lentulus and Caius Mercellus were
consuls; and there were present Titus Appius Balbus, the son of Titus,
lieutenant of the Horatian tribe, Titus Tongius of the Crustumine tribe,
Quintus Resius, the son of Quintus, Titus Pompeius, the son of Titus,
Cornelius Longinus, Caius Servilius Bracchus, the son of Caius, a
military tribune, of the Terentine tribe, Publius Clusius Gallus, the
son of Publius, of the Veturian tribe, Caius Teutius, the son of Caius,
a milital tribune, of the EmilJan tribe, Sextus Atilius Serranus, the
son of Sextus, of the Esquiline tribe, Caius Pompeius, the son of Caius,
of the Sabbatine tribe, Titus Appius Menander, the son of Titus, Publius
Servilius Strabo, the son of Publius, Lucius Paccius Capito, the son of
Lucius, of the Colline tribe, Aulus Furius Tertius, the son of Aulus,
and Appius Menus. In the presence of these it was that Lentulus
pronounced this decree: I have before the tribunal dismissed those Jews
that are Roman citizens, and are accustomed to observe the sacred rites
of the Jews at Ephesus, on account of the superstition they are under."
20. "The magistrates of the Laodiceans to Caius Rubilius, the son of
Caius, the consul, sendeth greeting. Sopater, the ambassador of Hyrcanus
the high priest, hath delivered us an epistle from thee, whereby he lets
us know that certain ambassadors were come from Hyrcanus, the high
priest of the Jews, and brought an epistle written concerning their
nation, wherein they desire that the Jews may be allowed to observe
their Sabbaths, and other sacred rites, according to the laws of their
forefathers, and that they may be under no command, because they are our
friends and confederates, and that nobody may injure them in our
provinces. Now although the Trallians there present contradicted them,
and were not pleased with these decrees, yet didst thou give order that
they should be observed, and informedst us that thou hadst been desired
to write this to us about them. We therefore, in obedience to the
injunctions we have received from thee, have received the epistle which
thou sentest us, and have laid it up by itself among our public records.
And as to the other things about which thou didst send to us, we will
take care that no complaint be made against us."
21. "Publius Servilius, the son of Publius, of the Galban tribe, the
proconsul, to the magistrates, senate, and people of the Milesians,
sendeth greeting. Prytanes, the son of Hermes, a citizen of yours, came
to me when I was at Tralles, and held a court there, and informed me
that you used the Jews in a way different from my opinion, and forbade
them to celebrate their Sabbaths, and to perform the Sacred rites
received from their forefathers, and to manage the fruits of the land,
according to their ancient custom; and that he had himself been the
promulger of your decree, according as your laws require: I would
therefore have you know, that upon hearing the pleadings on both sides,
I gave sentence that the Jews should not be prohibited to make use of
their own customs."
22. The decree of those of Pergamus. "When Cratippus was prytanis, on
the first day of the month Desius, the decree of the praetors was this:
Since the Romans, following the conduct of their ancestors, undertake
dangers for the common safety of all mankind, and are ambitious to
settle their confederates and friends in happiness, and in firm peace,
and since the nation of the Jews, and their high priest Hyrcanus, sent
as ambassadors to them, Strato, the son of Theodatus, and Apollonius,
the son of Alexander, and Eneas, the son of Antipater, and Aristobulus,
the son of Amyntas, and Sosipater, the son of Philip, worthy and good
men, who gave a particular account of their affairs, the senate
thereupon made a decree about what they had desired of them, that
Antiochus the king, the son of Antiochus, should do no injury to the
Jews, the confederates of the Romans; and that the fortresses, and the
havens, and the country, and whatsoever else he had taken from them,
should be restored to them; and that it may be lawful for them to export
their goods out of their own havens; and that no king nor people may
have leave to export any goods, either out of the country of Judea, or
out of their havens, without paying customs, but only Ptolemy, the king
of Alexandria, because he is our confederate and friend; and that,
according to their desire, the garrison that is in Joppa may be ejected.
Now Lucius Pettius, one of our senators, a worthy and good man, gave
order that we should take care that these things should be done
according to the senate's decree; and that we should take care also that
their ambassadors might return home in safety. Accordingly, we admitted
Theodorus into our senate and assembly, and took the epistle out his
hands, as well as the decree of the senate. And as he discoursed with
great zeal about the Jews, and described Hyrcanus's virtue and
generosity, and how he was a benefactor to all men in common, and
particularly to every body that comes to him, we laid up the epistle in
our public records; and made a decree ourselves, that since we also are
in confederacy with the Romans, we would do every thing we could for the
Jews, according to the senate's decree. Theodorus also, who brought the
epistle, desired of our praetors, that they would send Hyrcanus a copy
of that decree, as also ambassadors to signify to him the affection of
our people to him, and to exhort them to preserve and augment their
friendship for us, and be ready to bestow other benefits upon us, as
justly expecting to receive proper requitals from us; and desiring them
to remember that our ancestors 19 were friendly to the Jews even in the
days of Abraham, who was the father of all the Hebrews, as we have
[also] found it set down in our public records."
23. The decree of those of Halicarnassus. "When Memnon, the son of
Orestidas by descent, but by adoption of Euonymus, was priest, on the ——
day of the month Aristerion, the decree of the people, upon the
representation of Marcus Alexander, was this: Since we have ever a great
regard to piety towards God, and to holiness; and since we aim to follow
the people of the Romans, who are the benefactors of all men, and what
they have written to us about a league of friendship and mutual
assistance between the Jews and our city, and that their sacred offices
and accustomed festivals and assemblies may be observed by them; we have
decreed, that as many men and women of the Jews as are willing so to do,
may celebrate their Sabbaths, and perform their holy offices, according
to Jewish laws; and may make their proseuchae at the sea-side, according
to the customs of their forefathers; and if any one, whether he be a
magistrate or private person, hindereth them from so doing, he shall be
liable to a fine, to be applied to the uses of the city."
24. The decree of the Sardians. "This decree was made by the senate and
people, upon the representation of the praetors: Whereas those Jews who
are fellow citizens, and live with us in this city, have ever had great
benefits heaped upon them by the people, and have come now into the
senate, and desired of the people, that upon the restitution of their
law and their liberty, by the senate and people of Rome, they may
assemble together, according to their ancient legal custom, and that we
will not bring any suit against them about it; and that a place may be
given them where they may have their congregations, with their wives and
children, and may offer, as did their forefathers, their prayers and
sacrifices to God. Now the senate and people have decreed to permit them
to assemble together on the days formerly appointed, and to act
according to their own laws; and that such a place be set apart for them
by the praetors, for the building and inhabiting the same, as they shall
esteem fit for that purpose; and that those that take care of the
provision for the city, shall take care that such sorts of food as they
esteem fit for their eating may be imported into the city."
25. The decree of the Ephesians. "When Menophilus was prytanis, on the
first day of the month Artemisius, this decree was made by the people:
Nicanor, the son of Euphemus, pronounced it, upon the representation of
the praetors. Since the Jews that dwell in this city have petitioned
Marcus Julius Pompeius, the son of Brutus, the proconsul, that they
might be allowed to observe their Sabbaths, and to act in all things
according to the customs of their forefathers, without impediment from
any body, the praetor hath granted their petition. Accordingly, it was
decreed by the senate and people, that in this affair that concerned the
Romans, no one of them should be hindered from keeping the sabbath day,
nor be fined for so doing, but that they may be allowed to do all things
according to their own laws."
26. Now there are many such decrees of the senate and imperators of the
Romans 20 and those different from these before us, which have been made
in favor of Hyrcanus, and of our nation; as also, there have been more
decrees of the cities, and rescripts of the praetors, to such epistles
as concerned our rights and privileges; and certainly such as are not
ill-disposed to what we write may believe that they are all to this
purpose, and that by the specimens which we have inserted; for since we
have produced evident marks that may still be seen of the friendship we
have had with the Romans, and demonstrated that those marks are engraven
upon columns and tables of brass in the capitol, that axe still in
being, and preserved to this day, we have omitted to set them all down,
as needless and disagreeable; for I cannot suppose any one so perverse
as not to believe the friendship we have had with the Romans, while they
have demonstrated the same by such a great number of their decrees
relating to us; nor will they doubt of our fidelity as to the rest of
those decrees, since we have shown the same in those we have produced,
And thus have we sufficiently explained that friendship and confederacy
we at those times had with the Romans.
CHAPTER 11. How Marcus, Succeeded Sextus When He Had Been Slain By
Bassus's Treachery; And How, After The Death Of Cæsar, Cassius Came Into
Syria, And Distressed Judea; As Also How Malichus Slew Antipater And Was
Himself Slain By Herod.
1. Now it so fell out, that about this very time the affairs of Syria
were in great disorder, and this on the occasion following: Cecilius
Bassus, one of Pompey's party, laid a treacherous design against Sextus
Cæsar, and slew him, and then took his army, and got the management of
public affairs into his own hand; so there arose a great war about
Apamia, while Cæsar's generals came against him with an army of horsemen
and footmen; to these Antipater also sent succors, and his sons with
them, as calling to mind the kindnesses they had received from Cæsar,
and on that account he thought it but just to require punishment for
him, and to take vengeance on the man that had murdered him. And as the
war was drawn out into a great length, Marcus 21 came from Rome to take
Sextus's government upon him. But Cæsar was slain by Cassius and Brutus
in the senate-house, after he had retained the government three years
and six months. This fact however, is related elsewhere.
2. As the war that arose upon the death of Cæsar was now begun, and the
principal men were all gone, some one way, and some another, to raise
armies, Cassius came from Rome into Syria, in order to receive the [army
that lay in the] camp at Apamia; and having raised the siege, he brought
over both Bassus and Marcus to his party. He then went over the cities,
and got together weapons and soldiers, and laid great taxes upon those
cities; and he chiefly oppressed Judea, and exacted of it seven hundred
talents: but Antipater, when he saw the state to be in so great
consternation and disorder, he divided the collection of that sum, and
appointed his two sons to gather it; and so that part of it was to be
exacted by Malichus, who was ill- disposed to him, and part by others.
And because Herod did exact what is required of him from Galilee before
others, he was in the greatest favor with Cassius; for he thought it a
part of prudence to cultivate a friendship with the Romans, and to gain
their goodwill at the expense of others; whereas the curators of the
other cities, with their citizens, were sold for slaves; and Cassius
reduced four cities into a state of slavery, the two most potent of
which were Gophna and Emmaus; and, besides these, Lydia and Thamna. Nay,
Cassius was so very angry at Malichus, that he had killed him, [for he
assaulted him,] had not Hyrcanus, by the means of Antipater, sent him a
hundred talents of his own, and thereby pacified his anger against him.
3. But after Cassius was gone out of Judea, Malichus laid snares for
Antipater, as thinking that his death would-be the preservation of
Hyrcanus's government; but his design was not unknown to Antipater,
which when he perceived, he retired beyond Jordan, and got together an
army, partly of Arabs, and partly of his own countrymen. However,
Malichus, being one of great cunning, denied that he had laid any snares
for him, and made his defense with an oath, both to himself and his
sons; and said that while Phasaelus had a garrison in Jerusalem, and
Herod had the weapons of war in his custody, he could never have a
thought of any such thing. So Antipater, perceiving the distress that
Malichus was in, was reconciled to him, and made an agreement with him:
this was when Marcus was president of Syria; who yet perceiving that
this Malichus was making a disturbance in Judea, proceeded so far that
he had almost killed him; but still, at the intercession of Antipater,
he saved him.
4. However, Antipater little thought that by saving Malichus he had
saved his own murderer; for now Cassius and Marcus had got together an
army, and intrusted the entire care of it with Herod, and made him
general of the forces of Celesyria, and gave him a fleet of ships, and
an army of horsemen and footmen; and promised him, that after the war
was over they would make him king of Judea; for a war was already begun
between Antony and the younger Cæsar: but as Malichus was most afraid of
Antipater, he took him out of the way; and by the offer of money,
persuaded the butler of Hyrcanus, with whom they were both to feast, to
kill him by poison. This being done, and he having armed men with him,
settled the affairs of the city. But when Antipater's sons, Herod and
Phasaelus, were acquainted with this conspiracy against their father,
and had indignation at it, Malichus denied all, and utterly renounced
any knowledge of the murder. And thus died Antipater, a man that had
distinguished himself for piety and justice, and love to his country.
And whereas one of his sons, Herod, resolved immediately to revenge
their father's death, and was coming upon Malichus with an army for that
purpose, the elder of his sons, Phasaelus, thought it best rather to get
this man into their hands by policy, lest they should appear to begin a
civil war in the country; so he accepted of Malichus's defense for
himself, and pretended to believe him that he had had no hand in the
violent death of Antipater his father, but erected a fine monument for
him. Herod also went to Samaria; and when he found them in great
distress, he revived their spirits, and composed their differences.
5. However, a little after this, Herod, upon the approach of a festival,
came with his soldiers into the city; whereupon Malichus was affrighted,
and persuaded Hyrcanus not to permit him to come into the city. Hyrcanus
complied; and, for a pretense of excluding him, alleged, that a rout of
strangers ought not to be admitted when the multitude were purifying
themselves. But Herod had little regard to the messengers that were sent
to him, and entered the city in the night time, and affrighted Malichus;
yet did he remit nothing of his former dissimulation, but wept for
Antipater, and bewailed him as a friend of his with a loud voice; but
Herod and his friends though, it proper not openly to contradict
Malichus's hypocrisy, but to give him tokens of mutual friendship, in
order to prevent his suspicion of them.
6. However, Herod sent to Cassius, and informed him of the murder of his
father; who knowing what sort of man Malichus was as to his morals, sent
him back word that he should revenge his father's death; and also sent
privately to the commanders of his army at Tyre, with orders to assist
Herod in the execution of a very just design of his. Now when Cassius
had taken Laodicea, they all went together to him, and carried him
garlands and money; and Herod thought that Malichus might be punished
while he was there; but he was somewhat apprehensive of the thing, and
designed to make some great attempt, and because his son was then a
hostage at Tyre, he went to that city, and resolved to steal him away
privately, and to march thence into Judea; and as Cassius was in haste
to march against Antony, he thought to bring the country to revolt, and
to procure the government for himself. But Providence opposed his
counsels; and Herod being a shrewd man, and perceiving what his
intention was, he sent thither beforehand a servant, in appearance
indeed to get a supper ready, for he had said before that he would feast
them all there, but in reality to the commanders of the army, whom he
persuaded to go out against Malichus, with their daggers. So they went
out and met the man near the city, upon the sea-shore, and there stabbed
him. Whereupon Hyrcanus was so astonished at what had happened, that his
speech failed him; and when, after some difficulty, he had recovered
himself, he asked Herod what the matter could be, and who it was that
slew Malichus; and when he said that it was done by the command of
Cassius, he commended the action; for that Malichus was a very wicked
man, and one that conspired against his own country. And this was the
punishment that was inflicted on Malichus for what he wickedly did to
Antipater.
7. But when Cassius was marched out of Syria, disturbances arose in
Judea; for Felix, who was left at Jerusalem with an army, made a sudden
attempt against Phasaelus, and the people themselves rose in arms; but
Herod went to Fabius, the prefect of Damascus, and was desirous to run
to his brother's assistance, but was hindered by a distemper that seized
upon him, till Phasaelus by himself had been too hard for Felix, and had
shut him up in the tower, and there, on certain conditions, dismissed
him. Phasaelus also complained of Hyrcanus, that although he had
received a great many benefits from them, yet did he support their
enemies; for Malichus's brother had made many places to revolt, and kept
garrisons in them, and particularly Masada, the strongest fortress of
them all. In the mean time, Herod was recovered of his disease, and came
and took from Felix all the places he had gotten; and, upon certain
conditions, dismissed him also.
CHAPTER 12. Herod Ejects Antigonus, The Son Of Aristobulus Out Of Judea,
And Gains The Friendship Of Antony, Who Was Now Come Into Syria, By
Sending Him Much Money; On Which Account He Would Not Admit Of Those
That Would Have Accused Herod: And What It Was That Antony Wrote To The
Tyrians In Behalf.
1. Now 22 Ptolemy, the son of Menneus, brought back into Judea
Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, who had already raised an army, and
had, by money, made Fabius to be his friend, add this because he was of
kin to him. Marion also gave him assistance. He had been left by Cassius
to tyrannize over Tyre; for this Cassius was a man that seized on Syria,
and then kept it under, in the way of a tyrant. Marion also marched into
Galilee, which lay in his neighborhood, and took three of his
fortresses, and put garrisons into them to keep them. But when Herod
came, he took all from him; but the Tyrian garrison he dismissed in a
very civil manner; nay, to some of the soldiers he made presents out of
the good-will he bare to that city. When he had despatched these
affairs, and was gone to meet Antigonus, he joined battle with him, and
beat him, and drove him out of Judea presently, when he was just come
into its borders. But when he was come to Jerusalem, Hyrcanus and the
people put garlands about his head; for he had already contracted an
affinity with the family of Hyrcanus by having espoused a descendant of
his, and for that reason Herod took the greater care of him, as being to
marry the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, add the
granddaughter of Hyrcanus, by which wife he became the father of three
male and two female children. He had also married before this another
wife, out of a lower family of his own nation, whose name was Doris, by
whom he had his eldest son Antipater.
2. Now Antonius and Cæsar had beaten Cassius near Philippi, as others
have related; but after the victory, Cæsar went into Gaul, [Italy,] and
Antony marched for Asia, who, when he was arrived at Bithynia, he had
ambassadors that met him from all parts. The principal men also of the
Jews came thither, to accuse Phasaelus and Herod; and they said that
Hyrcanus had indeed the appearance of reigning, but that these men had
all the power: but Antony paid great respect to Herod, who was come to
him to make his defense against his accusers, on which account his
adversaries could not so much as obtain a hearing; which favor Herod had
gained of Antony by money. But still, when Antony was come to Ephesus,
Hyrcanus the high priest, and our nation, sent an embassage to him,
which carried a crown of gold with them, and desired that he would write
to the governors of the provinces, to set those Jews free who had been
carried captive by Cassius, and this without their having fought against
him, and to restore them that country, which, in the days of Cassius,
had been taken from them. Antony thought the Jews' desires were just,
and wrote immediately to Hyrcanus, and to the Jews. He also sent, at the
same time, a decree to the Tyrians; the contents of which were to the
same purpose.
3. "Marcus Antonius, imperator, to Hyrcanus the high priest and ethnarch
of the Jews, sendeth greeting. It you be in health, it is well; I am
also in health, with the army. Lysimachus, the son of Pausanias, and
Josephus, the son of Menneus, and Alexander, the son of Theodorus, your
ambassadors, met me at Ephesus, and have renewed the embassage which
they had formerly been upon at Rome, and have diligently acquitted
themselves of the present embassage, which thou and thy nation have
intrusted to them, and have fully declared the goodwill thou hast for
us. I am therefore satisfied, both by your actions and your words, that
you are well-disposed to us; and I understand that your conduct of life
is constant and religious: so I reckon upon you as our own. But when
those that were adversaries to you, and to the Roman people, abstained
neither from cities nor temples, and did not observe the agreement they
had confirmed by oath, it was not only on account of our contest with
them, but on account of all mankind in common, that we have taken
vengeance on those who have been the authors of great injustice towards
men, and of great wickedness towards the gods; for the sake of which we
suppose it was that the sun turned away his light from us, 23 as
unwilling to view the horrid crime they were guilty of in the case of
Cæsar. We have also overcome their conspiracies, which threatened the
gods themselves, which Macedonia received, as it is a climate peculiarly
proper for impious and insolent attempts; and we have overcome that
confused rout of men, half mad with spite against us, which they got
together at Philippi in Macedonia, when they seized on the places that
were proper for their purpose, and, as it were, walled them round with
mountains to the very sea, and where the passage was open only through a
single gate. This victory we gained, because the gods had condemned
those men for their wicked enterprises. Now Brutus, when he had fled as
far as Philippi, was shut up by us, and became a partaker of the same
perdition with Cassius; and now these have received their punishment, we
suppose that we may enjoy peace for the time to come, and that Asia may
be at rest from war. We therefore make that peace which God hath given
us common to our confederates also, insomuch that the body of Asia is
now recovered out of that distemper it was under by the means of our
victory. I, therefore, bearing in mind both thee and your nation, shall
take care of what may be for your advantage. I have also sent epistles
in writing to the several cities, that if any persons, whether free-men
or bond-men, have been sold under the spear by Caius Cassius, or his
subordinate officers, they may be set free. And I will that you kindly
make use of the favors which I and Dolabella have granted you. I also
forbid the Tyrians to use any violence with you; and for what places of
the Jews they now possess, I order them to restore them. I have withal
accepted of the crown which thou sentest me."
4. "Marcus Antonius, imperator, to the magistrates, senate, and people
of Tyre, sendeth greeting. The ambassadors of Hyrcanus, the high priest
and ethnarch [of the Jews], appeared before me at Ephesus, and told me
that you are in possession of part of their country, which you entered
upon under the government of our adversaries. Since, therefore, we have
undertaken a war for the obtaining the government, and have taken care
to do what was agreeable to piety and justice, and have brought to
punishment those that had neither any remembrance of the kindnesses they
had received, nor have kept their oaths, I will that you be at peace
with those that are our confederates; as also, that what you have taken
by the means of our adversaries shall not be reckoned your own, but be
returned to those from whom you took them; for none of them took their
provinces or their armies by the gift of the senate, but they seized
them by force, and bestowed them by violence upon such as became useful
to them in their unjust proceedings. Since, therefore, those men have
received the punishment due to them, we desire that our confederates may
retain whatsoever it was that they formerly possessed without
disturbance, and that you restore all the places which belong to
Hyrcanus, the ethnarch of the Jews, which you have had, though it were
but one day before Caius Cassius began an unjustifiable war against us,
and entered into our province; nor do you use any force against him, in
order to weaken him, that he may not be able to dispose of that which is
his own; but if you have any contest with him about your respective
rights, it shall be lawful for you to plead your cause when we come upon
the places concerned, for we shall alike preserve the rights and hear
all the causes of our confederates."
5. "Marcus Antonius, imperator, to the magistrates, senate, and people
of Tyre, sendeth greeting. I have sent you my decree, of which I will
that ye take care that it be engraven on the public tables, in Roman and
Greek letters, and that it stand engraven in the most illustrious
places, that it may be read by all. Marcus Antonius, imperator, one of
the triumvirate over the public affairs, made this declaration: Since
Caius Cassius, in this revolt he hath made, hath pillaged that province
which belonged not to him, and was held by garrisons there encamped,
while they were our confederates, and hath spoiled that nation of the
Jews that was in friendship with the Roman people, as in war; and since
we have overcome his madness by arms, we now correct by our decrees and
judicial determinations what he hath laid waste, that those things may
be restored to our confederates. And as for what hath been sold of the
Jewish possessions, whether they be bodies or possessions, let them be
released; the bodies into that state of freedom they were originally in,
and the possessions to their former owners. I also will that he who
shall not comply with this decree of mine shall be punished for his
disobedience; and if such a one be caught, I will take care that the
offenders suffer condign punishment."
6. The same thing did Antony write to the Sidonians, and the
Antiochians, and the Aradians. We have produced these decrees,
therefore, as marks for futurity of the truth of what we have said, that
the Romans had a great concern about our nation.
CHAPTER 13. How Antony Made Herod And Phasaelus Tetrarchs, After They
Had Been Accused To No Purpose; And How The Parthians When They Brought
Antigonus Into Judea Took Hyrcanus And Phasaelus Captives. Herod's
Flight; And What Afflictions Hyrcanus And Phasaelus Endured.
1. When after this Antony came into Syria, Cleopatra met him in Cilicia,
and brought him to fall in love with her. And there came now also a
hundred of the most potent of the Jews to accuse Herod and those about
him, and set the men of the greatest eloquence among them to speak. But
Messala contradicted them, on behalf of the young men, and all this in
the presence of Hyrcanus, who was Herod's father-in-law 24 already. When
Antony had heard both sides at Daphne, he asked Hyrcanus who they were
that governed the nation best. He replied, Herod and his friends.
Hereupon Antony, by reason of the old hospitable friendship he had made
with his father [Antipater], at that time when he was with Gabinius, he
made both Herod and Phasaelus tetrarchs, and committed the public
affairs of the Jews to them, and wrote letters to that purpose. He also
bound fifteen of their adversaries, and was going to kill them, but that
Herod obtained their pardon.
2. Yet did not these men continue quiet when they were come back, but a
thousand of the Jews came to Tyre to meet him there, whither the report
was that he would come. But Antony was corrupted by the money which
Herod and his brother had given him; and so he gave order to the
governor of the place to punish the Jewish ambassadors, who were for
making innovations, and to settle the government upon Herod; but Herod
went out hastily to them, and Hyrcanus was with him, [for they stood
upon the shore before the city,] and he charged them to go their ways,
because great mischief would befall them if they went on with their
accusation. But they did not acquiesce; whereupon the Romans ran upon
them with their daggers, and slew some, and wounded more of them, and
the rest fled away and went home, and lay still in great consternation.
And when the people made a clamor against Herod, Antony was so provoked
at it, that he slew the prisoners.
3. Now, in the second year, Pacorus, the king of Parthia's son, and
Barzapharnes, a commander of the Parthians, possessed themselves of
Syria. Ptolemy, the son of Menneus, also was now dead, and Lysanias his
son took his government, and made a league of friendship with Antigonus,
the son of Aristobulus; and in order to obtain it, made use of that
commander, who had great interest in him. Now Antigonus had promised to
give the Parthians a thousand talents, and five hundred women, upon
condition they would take the government away from Hyrcanus, and bestow
it upon him, and withal kill Herod. And although he did not give them
what he had promised, yet did the Parthians make an expedition into
Judea on that account, and carried Antigonus with them. Pacorus went
along the maritime parts, but the commander Barzapharnes through the
midland. Now the Tyrians excluded Pacorus, but the Sidonians and those
of Ptolemais received him. However, Pacorus sent a troop of horsemen
into Judea, to take a view of the state of the country, and to assist
Antigonus; and sent also the king's butler, of the same name with
himself. So when the Jews that dwelt about Mount Carmel came to
Antigonus, and were ready to march with him into Judea, Antigonus hoped
to get some part of the country by their assistance. The place is called
Drymi; and when some others came and met them, the men privately fell
upon Jerusalem; and when some more were come to them, they got together
in great numbers, and came against the king's palace, and besieged it.
But as Phasaelus's and Herod's party came to the other's assistance, and
a battle happened between them in the market-place, the young men beat
their enemies, and pursued them into the temple, and sent some armed men
into the adjoining houses to keep them in, who yet being destitute of
such as should support them, were burnt, and the houses with them, by
the people who rose up against them. But Herod was revenged on these
seditious adversaries of his a little afterward for this injury they had
offered him, when he fought with them, and slew a great number of them.
4. But while there were daily skirmishes, the enemy waited for the
coming of the multitude out of the country to Pentecost, a feast of ours
so called; and when that day was come, many ten thousands of the people
were gathered together about the temple, some in armor, and some
without. Now those that came guarded both the temple and the city,
excepting what belonged to the palace, which Herod guarded with a few of
his soldiers; and Phasaelus had the charge of the wall, while Herod,
with a body of his men, sallied out upon the enemy, who lay in the
suburbs, and fought courageously, and put many ten thousands to flight,
some flying into the city, and some into the temple, and some into the
outer fortifications, for some such fortifications there were in that
place. Phasaelus came also to his assistance; yet was Pacorus, the
general of the Parthians, at the desire of Antigonus, admitted into the
city, with a few of his horsemen, under pretence indeed as if he would
still the sedition, but in reality to assist Antigonus in obtaining the
government. And when Phasaelus met him, and received him kindly, Pacorus
persuaded him to go himself as ambassador to Barzapharnes, which was
done fraudulently. Accordingly, Phasaelus, suspecting no harm, complied
with his proposal, while Herod did not give his consent to what was
done, because of the perfidiousness of these barbarians, but desired
Phasaelus rather to fight those that were come into the city.
5. So both Hyrcanus and Phasaelus went on the embassage; but Pacorus
left with Herod two hundred horsemen, and ten men, who were called the
freemen, and conducted the others on their journey; and when they were
in Galilee, the governors of the cities there met them in their arms.
Barzapharnes also received them at the first with cheerfulness, and made
them presents, though he afterward conspired against them; and
Phasaelus, with his horsemen, were conducted to the sea-side. But when
they heard that Antigonus had promised to give the Parthians a thousand
talents, and five hundred women, to assist him against them, they soon
had a suspicion of the barbarians. Moreover, there was one who informed
them that snares were laid for them by night, while a guard came about
them secretly; and they had then been seized upon, had not they waited
for the seizure of Herod by the Parthians that were about Jerusalem,
lest, upon the slaughter of Hyrcanus and Phasaelus, he should have an
intimation of it, and escape out of their hands. And these were the
circumstances they were now in; and they saw who they were that guarded
them. Some persons indeed would have persuaded Phasaelus to fly away
immediately on horseback, and not stay any longer; and there was one
Ophellius, who, above all the rest, was earnest with him to do so; for
he had heard of this treachery from Saramalla, the richest of all the
Syrians at that time, who also promised to provide him ships to carry
him off; for the sea was just by them. But he had no mind to desert
Hyrcanus, nor bring his brother into danger; but he went to
Barzapharnes, and told him he did not act justly when he made such a
contrivance against them; for that if he wanted money, he would give him
more than Antigonus; and besides, that it was a horrible thing to slay
those that came to him upon the security of their oaths, and that when
they had done them no injury. But the barbarian swore to him that there
was no truth in any of his suspicions, but that he was troubled with
nothing but false proposals, and then went away to Pacorus.
6. But as soon as he was gone away, some men came and bound Hyrcanus and
Phasaelus, while Phasaelus greatly reproached the Parthians for their
perjury; However, that butler who was sent against Herod had it in
command to get him without the walls of the city, and seize upon him;
but messengers had been sent by Phasaelus to inform Herod of the
perfidiousness of the Parthians. And when he knew that the enemy had
seized upon them, he went to Pacorus, and to the most potent of the
Parthians, as to the lord of the rest, who, although they knew the whole
matter, dissembled with him in a deceitful way; and said that he ought
to go out with them before the walls, and meet those which were bringing
him his letters, for that they were not taken by his adversaries, but
were coming to give him an account of the good success Phasaelus had
had. Herod did not give credit to what they said; for he had heard that
his brother was seized upon by others also; and the daughter of
Hyrcanus, whose daughter he had espoused, was his monitor also [not to
credit them], which made him still more suspicious of the Parthians; for
although other people did not give heed to her, yet did he believe her
as a woman of very great wisdom.
7. Now while the Parthians were in consultation what was fit to be done;
for they did not think it proper to make an open attempt upon a person
of his character; and while they put off the determination to the next
day, Herod was under great disturbance of mind, and rather inclining to
believe the reports he heard about his brother and the Parthians, than
to give heed to what was said on the other side, he determined, that
when the evening came on, he would make use of it for his flight, and
not make any longer delay, as if the dangers from the enemy were not yet
certain. He therefore removed with the armed men whom he had with him;
and set his wives upon the beasts, as also his mother, and sister, and
her whom he was about to marry, [Mariamne,] the daughter of Alexander,
the son of Aristobulus, with her mother, the daughter of Hyrcanus, and
his youngest brother, and all their servants, and the rest of the
multitude that was with him, and without the enemy's privity pursued his
way to Idumea. Nor could any enemy of his who then saw him in this case
be so hardhearted, but would have commiserated his fortune, while the
women drew along their infant children and left their own country, and
their friends in prison, with tears in their eyes, and sad lamentations,
and in expectation of nothing but what was of a melancholy nature.
8. But for Herod himself, he raised his mind above the miserable state
he was in, and was of good courage in the midst of his misfortunes; and
as he passed along, he bid them every one to be of good cheer, and not
to give themselves up to sorrow, because that would hinder them in their
flight, which was now the only hope of safety that they had.
Accordingly, they tried to bear with patience the calamity they were
under, as he exhorted them to do; yet was he once almost going to kill
himself, upon the overthrow of a waggon, and the danger his mother was
then in of being killed; and this on two accounts, because of his great
concern for her, and because he was afraid lest, by this delay, the
enemy should overtake him in the pursuit: but as he was drawing his
sword, and going to kill himself therewith, those that were present
restrained him, and being so many in number, were too hard for him; and
told him that he ought not to desert them, and leave them a prey to
their enemies, for that it was not the part of a brave man to free
himself from the distresses he was in, and to overlook his friends that
were in the same distresses also. So he was compelled to let that horrid
attempt alone, partly out of shame at what they said to him, and partly
out of regard to the great number of those that would not permit him to
do what he intended. So he encouraged his mother, and took all the care
of her the time would allow, and proceeded on the way he proposed to go
with the utmost haste, and that was to the fortress of Masada. And as he
had many skirmishes with such of the Parthians as attacked him and
pursued him, he was conqueror in them all.
9. Nor indeed was he free from the Jews all along as he was in his
flight; for by that time he was gotten sixty furlongs out of the city,
and was upon the road, they fell upon him, and fought hand to hand with
him, whom he also put to flight, and overcame, not like one that was in
distress and in necessity, but like one that was excellently prepared
for war, and had what he wanted in great plenty. And in this very place
where he overcame the Jews it was that he some time afterward build a
most excellent palace, and a city round about it, and called it
Herodium. And when he was come to Idumea, at a place called Thressa, his
brother Joseph met him, and he then held a council to take advice about
all his affairs, and what was fit to be done in his circumstances, since
he had a great multitude that followed him, besides his mercenary
soldiers, and the place Masada, whither he proposed to fly, was too
small to contain so great a multitude; so he sent away the greater part
of his company, being above nine thousand, and bid them go, some one
way, and some another, and so save themselves in Idumea, and gave them
what would buy them provisions in their journey. But he took with him
those that were the least encumbered, and were most intimate with him,
and came to the fortress, and placed there his wives and his followers,
being eight hundred in number, there being in the place a sufficient
quantity of corn and water, and other necessaries, and went directly for
Petra, in Arabia. But when it was day, the Parthians plundered all
Jerusalem, and the palace, and abstained from nothing but Hyrcanus's
money, which was three hundred talents. A great deal of Herod's money
escaped, and principally all that the man had been so provident as to
send into Idumea beforehand; nor indeed did what was in the city suffice
the Parthians, but they went out into the country, and plundered it, and
demolished the city Marissa.
10. And thus was Antigonus brought back into Judea by the king of the
Parthians, and received Hyrcanus and Phasaelus for his prisoners; but he
was greatly cast down because the women had escaped, whom he intended to
have given the enemy, as having promised they should have them, with the
money, for their reward: but being afraid that Hyrcanus, who was under
the guard of the Parthians, might have his kingdom restored to him by
the multitude, he cut off his ears, and thereby took care that the high
priesthood should never come to him any more, because he was maimed,
while the law required that this dignity should belong to none but such
as had all their members entire 25 But now one cannot but here admire
the fortitude of Phasaelus, who, perceiving that he was to be put to
death, did not think death any terrible thing at all; but to die thus by
the means of his enemy, this he thought a most pitiable and dishonorable
thing; and therefore, since he had not his hands at liberty, but the
bonds he was in prevented him from killing himself thereby, he dashed
his head against a great stone, and thereby took away his own life,
which he thought to be the best thing he could do in such a distress as
he was in, and thereby put it out of the power of the enemy to bring him
to any death he pleased. It is also reported, that when he had made a
great wound in his head, Antigonus sent physicians to cure it, and, by
ordering them to infuse poison into the wound, killed him. However,
Phasaelus hearing, before he was quite dead, by a certain woman, that
his brother Herod had escaped the enemy, underwent his death cheerfully,
since he now left behind him one who would revenge his death, and who
was able to inflict punishment on his enemies.
CHAPTER 14. How Herod Got Away From The King Of Arabia And Made Haste To
Go Into Egypt And Thence Went Away In Haste Also To Rome; And How, By
Promising A Great Deal Of Money To Antony He Obtained Of The Senate And
Of Cæsar To Be Made King Of The Jews.
1. As for Herod, the great miseries he was in did not discourage him,
but made him sharp in discovering surprising undertakings; for he went
to Malchus, king of Arabia, whom he had formerly been very kind to, in
order to receive somewhat by way of requital, now he was in more than
ordinary want of it, and desired he would let him have some money,
either by way of loan, or as his free gift, on account of the many
benefits he had received from him; for not knowing what was become of
his brother, he was in haste to redeem him out of the hand of his
enemies, as willing to give three hundred talents for the price of his
redemption. He also took with him the son of Phasaelus, who was a child
of but seven years of age, for this very reason, that he might be a
hostage for the repayment of the money. But there came messengers from
Malchus to meet him, by whom he was desired to be gone, for that the
Parthians had laid a charge upon him not to entertain Herod. This was
only a pretense which he made use of, that he might not be obliged to
repay him what he owed him; and this he was further induced to by the
principal men among the Arabians, that they might cheat him of what sums
they had received from [his father] Antipater, and which he had
committed to their fidelity. He made answer, that he did not intend to
be troublesome to them by his coning thither, but that he desired only
to discourse with them about certain affairs that were to him of the
greatest importance.
2. Hereupon he resolved to go away, and did go very prudently the road
to Egypt; and then it was that he lodged in a certain temple; for he had
left a great many of his followers there. On the next day he came to
Rhinocolura, and there it was that he heard what was befallen his
brother. Though Malehus soon repented of what he had done, and came
running after Herod; but with no manner of success, for he was gotten a
very great way off, and made haste into the road to Pelusium; and when
the stationary ships that lay there hindered him from sailing to
Alexandria, he went to their captains, by whose assistance, and that out
of much reverence of and great regard to him, he was conducted into the
city [Alexandria], and was retained there by Cleopatra; yet was she not
able to prevail with him to stay there, because he was making haste to
Rome, even though the weather was stormy, and he was informed that the
affairs of Italy were very tumultuous, and in great disorder.
3. So he set sail from thence to Pamphylia, and falling into a violent
storm, he had much ado to escape to Rhodes, with the loss of the ship's
burden; and there it was that two of his friends, Sappinas and
Ptolemeus, met with him; and as he found that city very much damaged in
the war against Cassius, though he were in necessity himself, he
neglected not to do it a kindness, but did what he could to recover it
to its former state. He also built there a three-decked ship, and set
sail thence, with his friends, for Italy, and came to the port of
Brundusium; and when he was come from thence to Rome, he first related
to Antony what had befallen him in Judea, and how Phasaelus his brother
was seized on by the Parthians, and put to death by them, and how
Hyrcanus was detained captive by them, and how they had made Antigonus
king, who had promised them a sum of money, no less than a thousand
talents, with five hundred women, who were to be of the principal
families, and of the Jewish stock; and that he had carried off the women
by night; and that, by undergoing a great many hardships, he had escaped
the hands of his enemies; as also, that his own relations were in danger
of being besieged and taken, and that he had sailed through a storm, and
contemned all these terrible dangers of it, in order to come, as soon as
possible, to him, who was his hope and only succor at this time.
4. This account made Antony commiserate the change that had happened in
Herod's condition; 26 and reasoning with himself that this was a common
case among those that are placed in such great dignities, and that they
are liable to the mutations that come from fortune, he was very ready to
give him the assistance he desired, and this because he called to mind
the friendship he had had with Antipater because Herod offered him money
to make him king, as he had formerly given it him to make him tetrarch,
and chiefly because of his hatred to Antigonus; for he took him to be a
seditious person, and an enemy to the Romans. Cæsar was also the
forwarder to raise Herod's dignity, and to give him his assistance in
what he desired, on account of the toils of war which he had himself
undergone with Antipater his father in Egypt, and of the hospitality he
had treated him withal, and the kindness he had always showed him, as
also to gratify Antony, who was very zealous for Herod. So a senate was
convocated; and Messala first, and then Atratinus, introduced Herod into
it, and enlarged upon the benefits they had received from his father,
and put them in mind of the good-will he had borne to the Romans. At the
same time, they accused Antigonus, and declared him an enemy, not only
because of his former opposition to them, but that he had now overlooked
the Romans, and taken the government from the Parthians. Upon this the
senate was irritated; and Antony informed them further, that it was for
their advantage in the Parthian war that Herod should be king. This
seemed good to all the senators; and so they made a decree accordingly.
5. And this was the principal instance of Antony's affection for Herod,
that he not only procured him a kingdom which he did not expect, [for he
did not come with an intention to ask the kingdom for himself, which he
did not suppose the Romans would grant him, who used to bestow it on
some of the royal family, but intended to desire it for his wife's
brother, who was grandson by his father to Aristobulus, and to Hyrcanus
by his mother,] but that he procured it for him so suddenly, that he
obtained what he did not expect, and departed out of Italy in so few
days as seven in all. This young man [the grandson] Herod afterward took
care to have slain, as we shall show in its proper place. But when the
senate was dissolved, Antony and Cæsar went out of the senate house with
Herod between them, and with the consuls and other magistrates before
them, in order to offer sacrifices, and to lay up their decrees in the
capitol. Antony also feasted Herod the first day of his reign. And thus
did this man receive the kingdom, having obtained it on the hundred and
eighty-fourth olympiad, when Caius Domitius Calvinus was consul the
second time, and Caius Asinius Pollio [the first time].
6. All this while Antigonus besieged those that were in Masada, who had
plenty of all other necessaries, but were only in want of water 27
insomuch that on this occasion Joseph, Herod's brother, was contriving
to run away from it, with two hundred of his dependents, to the
Arabians; for he had heard that Malchus repented of the offenses he had
been guilty of with regard to Herod; but God, by sending rain in the
night time, prevented his going away, for their cisterns were thereby
filled, and he was under no necessity of running away on that account;
but they were now of good courage, and the more so, because the sending
that plenty of water which they had been in want of seemed a mark of
Divine Providence; so they made a sally, and fought hand to hand with
Antigonus's soldiers, [with some openly, with some privately,] and
destroyed a great number of them. At the same time Ventidius, the
general of the Romans, was sent out of Syria, to drive the Parthians out
of it, and marched after them into Judea, in pretense indeed to succor
Joseph; but in reality the whole affair was no more than a stratagem, in
order to get money of Antigonus; so they pitched their camp very near to
Jerusalem, and stripped Antigonus of a great deal of money, and then he
retired himself with the greater part of the army; but, that the
wickedness he had been guilty of might be found out, he left Silo there,
with a certain part of his soldiers, with whom also Antigonus cultivated
an acquaintance, that he might cause him no disturbance, and was still
in hopes that the Parthians would come again and defend him.
CHAPTER 15. How Herod Sailed Out Of Italy To Judea, And Fought With
Antigonus And What Other Things Happened In Judea About That Time.
1. By this time Herod had sailed out of Italy to Ptolemais, and had
gotten together no small army, both of strangers and of his own
countrymen, and marched through Galilee against Antignus. Silo also, and
Ventidius, came and assisted him, being persuaded by Dellius, who was
sent by Antony to assist in bringing back Herod. Now for Ventidius, he
was employed in composing the disturbances that had been made in the
cities by the means of the Parthians; and for Silo, he was in Judea
indeed, but corrupted by Antigonus. However, as Herod went along his
army increased every day, and all Galilee, with some small exception,
joined him; but as he was to those that were in Masada, [for he was
obliged to endeavor to save those that were in that fortress now they
were besieged, because they were his relations,] Joppa was a hinderance
to him, for it was necessary for him to take that place first, it being
a city at variance with him, that no strong hold might be left in his
enemies' hands behind him when he should go to Jerusalem. And when Silo
made this a pretense for rising up from Jerusalem, and was thereupon
pursued by the Jews, Herod fell upon them with a small body of men, and
both put the Jews to flight and saved Silo, when he was very poorly able
to defend himself; but when Herod had taken Joppa, he made haste to set
free those of his family that were in Masada. Now of the people of the
country, some joined him because of the friendship they had had with his
father, and some because of the splendid appearance he made, and others
by way of requital for the benefits they had received from both of them;
but the greatest number came to him in hopes of getting somewhat from
him afterward, if he were once firmly settled in the kingdom.
2. Herod had now a strong army; and as he marched on, Antigonus laid
snares and ambushes in the passes and places most proper for them; but
in truth he thereby did little or no damage to the enemy. So Herod
received those of his family out of Masada, and the fortress Ressa, and
then went on for Jerusalem. The soldiery also that was with Silo
accompanied him all along, as did many of the citizens, being afraid of
his power; and as soon as he had pitched his camp on the west side of
the city, the soldiers that were set to guard that part shot their
arrows and threw their darts at him; and when some sallied out in a
crowd, and came to fight hand to hand with the first ranks of Herod's
army, he gave orders that they should, in the first place, make
proclamation about the wall, that he came for the good of the people,
and for the preservation of the city, and not to bear any old grudge at
even his most open enemies, but ready to forget the offenses which his
greatest adversaries had done him. But Antigonus, by way of reply to
what Herod had caused to be proclaimed, and this before the Romans, and
before Silo also, said that they would not do justly, if they gave the
kingdom to Herod, who was no more than a private man, and an Idumean,
i.e. a half Jew, 28 whereas they ought to bestow it on one of the royal
family, as their custom was; for that in case they at present bear an
ill-will to him, and had resolved to deprive him of the kingdom, as
having received it from the Parthians, yet were there many others of his
family that might by their law take it, and these such as had no way
offended the Romans; and being of the sacerdotal family, it would be an
unworthy thing to put them by. Now while they said thus one to another,
and fell to reproaching one another on both sides, Antigonus permitted
his own men that were upon the wall to defend themselves, who using
their bows, and showing great alacrity against their enemies, easily
drove them away from the towers.
3. And now it was that Silo discovered that he had taken bribes; for he
set a good number of his soldiers to complain aloud of the want of
provisions they were in, and to require money to buy them food; and that
it was fit to let them go into places proper for winter quarters, since
the places near the city were a desert, by reason that Antigonus's
soldiers had carried all away; so he set the army upon removing, and
endeavored to march away; but Herod pressed Silo not to depart, and
exhorted Silo's captains and soldiers not to desert him, when Cæsar, and
Antony, and the senate had sent him thither, for that he would provide
them plenty of all the things they wanted, and easily procure them a
great abundance of what they required; after which entreaty, he
immediately went out into the country, and left not the least pretense
to Silo for his departure; for he brought an unexpected quantity of
provisions, and sent to those friends of his who inhabited about Samaria
to bring down corn, and wine, and oil, and cattle, and all other
provisions, to Jericho, that those might be no want of a supply for the
soldiers for the time to come. Antigonus was sensible of this, and sent
presently over the country such as might restrain and lie in ambush for
those that went out for provisions. So these men obeyed the orders of
Antigonus, and got together a great number of armed men about Jericho,
and sat upon the mountains, and watched those that brought the
provisions. However, Herod was not idle in the mean time, for he took
ten bands of soldiers, of whom five were of the Romans, and five of the
Jews, with some mercenaries among them, and with some few horsemen, and
came to Jericho; and as they found the city deserted, but that five
hundred of them had settled themselves on the tops of the hills, with
their wives and children, those he took and sent away; but the Romans
fell upon the city, and plundered it, and found the houses full of all
sorts of good things. So the king left a garrison at Jericho, and came
back again, and sent the Roman army to take their winter quarters in the
countries that were come over to him, Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria.
And so much did Antigonus gain of Silo for the bribes he gave him, that
part of the army should be quartered at Lydda, in order to please
Antony. So the Romans laid their weapons aside, and lived in plenty of
all things.
4. But Herod was not pleased with lying still, but sent out his brother
Joseph against Idumea with two thousand armed footmen, and four hundred
horsemen, while he himself came to Samaria, and left his mother and his
other relations there, for they were already gone out of Masada, and
went into Galilee, to take certain places which were held by the
garrisons of Antigonus; and he passed on to Sepphoris, as God sent a
snow, while Antigonus's garrisons withdrew themselves, and had great
plenty of provisions. He also went thence, and resolved to destroy those
robbers that dwelt in the caves, and did much mischief in the country;
so he sent a troop of horsemen, and three companies of armed footmen,
against them. They were very near to a village called Arbela; and on the
fortieth day after, he came himself with his whole army: and as the
enemy sallied out boldly upon him, the left wing of his army gave way;
but he appearing with a body of men, put those to flight who were
already conquerors, and recalled his men that ran away. He also pressed
upon his enemies, and pursued them as far as the river Jordan, though
they ran away by different roads. So he brought over to him all Galilee,
excepting those that dwelt in the caves, and distributed money to every
one of his soldiers, giving them a hundred and fifty drachmae apiece,
and much more to their captains, and sent them into winter quarters; at
which time Silo came to him, and his commanders with him, because
Antigonus would not give them provisions any longer, for he supplied
them for no more than one month; nay, he had sent to all the country
about, and ordered them to carry off the provisions that were there, and
retire to the mountains, that the Romans might have no provisions to
live upon, and so might perish by famine. But Herod committed the care
of that matter to Pheroras, his youngest brother, and ordered him to
repair Alexandrium also. Accordingly, he quickly made the soldiers
abound with great plenty of provisions, and rebuilt Alexandrium, which
had been before desolate.
5. About this time it was that Antony continued some time at Athens, and
that Ventidius, who was now in Syria, sent for Silo, and commanded him
to assist Herod, in the first place, to finish the present war, and then
to send for their confederates for the war they were themselves engaged
in; but as for Herod, he went in haste against the robbers that were in
the caves, and sent Silo away to Ventidius, while he marched against
them. These caves were in mountains that were exceeding abrupt, and in
their middle were no other than precipices, with certain entrances into
the caves, and those caves were encompassed with sharp rocks, and in
these did the robbers lie concealed, with all their families about them;
but the king caused certain chests to be made, in order to destroy them,
and to be hung down, bound about with iron chains, by an engine, from
the top of the mountain, it being not possible to get up to them, by
reason of the sharp ascent of the mountains, nor to creep down to them
from above. Now these chests were filled with armed men, who had long
hooks in their hands, by which they might pull out such as resisted
them, and then tumble them down, and kill them by so doing; but the
letting the chests down proved to be a matter of great danger, because
of the vast depth they were to be let down, although they had their
provisions in the chests themselves. But when the chests were let down,
and not one of those in the mouths of the caves durst come near them,
but lay still out of fear, some of the armed men girt on their armor,
and by both their hands took hold of the chain by which the chests were
let down, and went into the mouths of the caves, because they fretted
that such delay was made by the robbers not daring to come out of the
caves; and when they were at any of those mouths, they first killed many
of those that were in the mouths with their darts, and afterwards pulled
those to them that resisted them with their hooks, and tumbled them down
the precipices, and afterwards went into the caves, and killed many
more, and then went into their chests again, and lay still there; but,
upon this, terror seized the rest, when they heard the lamentations that
were made, and they despaired of escaping. However, when the night came
on, that put an end to the whole work; and as the king proclaimed pardon
by a herald to such as delivered themselves up to him, many accepted of
the offer. The same method of assault was made use of the next day; and
they went further, and got out in baskets to fight them, and fought them
at their doors, and sent fire among them, and set their caves on fire,
for there was a great deal of combustible matter within them. Now there
was one old man who was caught within one of these caves, with seven
children and a wife; these prayed him to give them leave to go out, and
yield themselves up to the enemy; but he stood at the cave's mouth, and
always slew that child of his who went out, till he had destroyed them
every one, and after that he slew his wife, and cast their dead bodies
down the precipice, and himself after them, and so underwent death
rather than slavery: but before he did this, he greatly reproached Herod
with the meanness of his family, although he was then king. Herod also
saw what he was doing, and stretched out his hand, and offered him all
manner of security for his life; by which means all these caves were at
length subdued entirely.
6. And when the king had set Ptolemy over these parts of the country as
his general, he went to Samaria, with six hundred horsemen, and three
thousand armed footmen, as intending to fight Antigonus. But still this
command of the army did not succeed well with Ptolemy, but those that
had been troublesome to Galilee before attacked him, and slew him; and
when they had done this, they fled among the lakes and places almost
inaccessible laying waste and plundering whatsoever they could come at
in those places. But Herod soon returned, and punished them for what
they had done; for some of these rebels he slew, and others of them, who
had fled to the strong holds he besieged, and both slew them, and
demolished their strong holds. And when he had thus put an end to their
rebellion, he laid a fine upon the cities of a hundred talents.
7. In the mean time, Pacorus was fallen in a battle, and the Parthians
were defeated, when Ventidius sent Macheras to the assistance of Herod,
with two legions, and a thousand horsemen, while Antony encouraged him
to make haste. But Macheras, at the instigation of Antigonus, without
the approbation of Herod, as being corrupted by money, went about to
take a view of his affairs; but Antigonus suspecting this intention of
his coming, did not admit him into the city, but kept him at a distance,
with throwing stones at him, and plainly showed what he himself meant.
But when Macheras was sensible that Herod had given him good advice, and
that he had made a mistake himself in not hearkening to that advice, he
retired to the city Emmaus; and what Jews he met with he slew them,
whether they were enemies or friends, out of the rage he was in at what
hardships he had undergone. The king was provoked at this conduct of
his, and went to Samaria, and resolved to go to Antony about these
affairs, and to inform him that he stood in no need of such helpers, who
did him more mischief than they did his enemies; and that he was able of
himself to beat Antigonus. But Macheras followed him, and desired that
he would not go to Antony; or if he was resolved to go, that he would
join his brother Joseph with them, and let them fight against Antigonus.
So he was reconciled to Macheras, upon his earnest entreaties.
Accordingly, he left Joseph there with his army, but charged him to run
no hazards, nor to quarrel with Macheras.
8. But for his own part, he made haste to Antony [who was then at the
siege of Samosata, a place upon Euphrates] with his troops, both
horsemen and footmen, to be auxiliaries to him. And when he came to
Antioch, and met there a great number of men gotten together that were
very desirous to go to Antony, but durst not venture to go, out of fear,
because the barbarians fell upon men on the road, and slew many, so he
encouraged them, and became their conductor upon the road. Now when they
were within two days' march of Samosata, the barbarians had laid an
ambush there to disturb those that came to Antony, and where the woods
made the passes narrow, as they led to the plains, there they laid not a
few of their horsemen, who were to lie still until those passengers were
gone by into the wide place. Now as soon as the first ranks were gone
by, [for Herod brought on the rear,] those that lay in ambush, who were
about five hundred, fell upon them on the sudden, and when they had put
the foremost to flight, the king came riding hard, with the forces that
were about him, and immediately drove back the enemy; by which means he
made the minds of his own men courageous, and imboldened them to go on,
insomuch that those who ran away before now returned back, and the
barbarians were slain on all sides. The king also went on killing them,
and recovered all the baggage, among which were a great number of beasts
for burden, and of slaves, and proceeded on in his march; and whereas
there were a great number of those in the woods that attacked them, and
were near the passage that led into the plain, he made a sally upon
these also with a strong body of men, and put them to flight, and slew
many of them, and thereby rendered the way safe for those that came
after; and these called Herod their savior and protector.
9. And when he was near to Samosata, Antony sent out his army in all
their proper habiliments to meet him, in order to pay Herod this
respect, and because of the assistance he had given him; for he had
heard what attacks the barbarians had made upon him [in Judea]. He also
was very glad to see him there, as having been made acquainted with the
great actions he had performed upon the road. So he entertained him very
kindly, and could not but admire his courage. Antony also embraced him
as soon as he saw him, and saluted him after a most affectionate manner,
and gave him the upper hand, as having himself lately made him a king;
and in a little time Antiochus delivered up the fortress, and on that
account this war was at an end; then Antony committed the rest to
Sosius, and gave him orders to assist Herod, and went himself to Egypt.
Accordingly, Sosius sent two legions before into Judea to the assistance
of Herod, and he followed himself with the body of the army.
10. Now Joseph was already slain in Judea, in the manner following: He
forgot what charge his brother Herod had given him when he went to
Antony; and when he had pitched his camp among the mountains, for
Macheras had lent him five regiments, with these he went hastily to
Jericho, in order to reap the corn thereto belonging; and as the Roman
regiments were but newly raised, and were unskillful in war, for they
were in great part collected out of Syria, he was attacked by the enemy,
and caught in those places of difficulty, and was himself slain, as he
was fighting bravely, and the whole army was lost, for there were six
regiments slain. So when Antigonus had got possession of the dead
bodies, he cut off Joseph's head, although Pheroras his brother would
have redeemed it at the price of fifty talents. After which defeat, the
Galileans revolted from their commanders, and took those of Herod's
party, and drowned them in the lake, and a great part of Judea was
become seditious; but Macheras fortified the place Gitta [in Samaria].
11. At this time messengers came to Herod, and informed him of what had
been done; and when he was come to Daphne by Antioch, they told him of
the ill fortune that had befallen his brother; which yet he expected,
from certain visions that appeared to him in his dreams, which clearly
foreshowed his brother's death. So he hastened his march; and when he
came to Mount Libanus, he received about eight hundred of the men of
that place, having already with him also one Roman legion, and with
these he came to Ptolemais. He also marched thence by night with his
army, and proceeded along Galilee. Here it was that the enemy met him,
and fought him, and were beaten, and shut up in the same place of
strength whence they had sallied out the day before. So he attacked the
place in the morning; but by reason of a great storm that was then very
violent, he was able to do nothing, but drew off his army into the
neighboring villages; yet as soon as the other legion that Antony sent
him was come to his assistance, those that were in garrison in the place
were afraid, and deserted it in the night time. Then did the king march
hastily to Jericho, intending to avenge himself on the enemy for the
slaughter of his brother; and when he had pitched his tents, he made a
feast for the principal commanders; and after this collation was over,
and he had dismissed his guests, he retired to his own chamber; and here
may one see what kindness God had for the king, for the upper part of
the house fell down when nobody was in it, and so killed none, insomuch
that all the people believed that Herod was beloved of God, since he had
escaped such a great and surprising danger.
12. But the next day six thousand of the enemy came down from the tops
of the mountains to fight the Romans, which greatly terrified them; and
the soldiers that were in light armor came near, and pelted the king's
guards that were come out with darts and stones, and one of them hit him
on the side with a dart. Antigonus also sent a commander against
Samaria, whose name was Pappus, with some forces, being desirous to show
the enemy how potent he was, and that he had men to spare in his war
with them. He sat down to oppose Macheras; but Herod, when he had taken
five cities, took such as were left in them, being about two thousand,
and slew them, and burnt the cities themselves, and then returned to go
against Pappus, who was encamped at a village called Isanas; and there
ran in to him many out of Jericho and Judea, near to which places he
was, and the enemy fell upon his men, so stout were they at this time,
and joined battle with them, but he beat them in the fight; and in order
to be revenged on them for the slaughter of his brother, he pursued them
sharply, and killed them as they ran away; and as the houses were full
of armed men, 29 and many of them ran as far as the tops of the houses,
he got them under his power, and pulled down the roofs of the houses,
and saw the lower rooms full of soldiers that were caught, and lay all
on a heap; so they threw stones down upon them as they lay piled one
upon another, and thereby killed them; nor was there a more frightful
spectacle in all the war than this, where beyond the walls an immense
multitude of dead men lay heaped one upon another. This action it was
which chiefly brake the spirits of the enemy, who expected now what
would come; for there appeared a mighty number of people that came from
places far distant, that were now about the village, but then ran away;
and had it not been for the depth of winter, which then restrained them,
the king's army had presently gone to Jerusalem, as being very
courageous at this good success, and the whole work had been done
immediately; for Antigonus was already looking about how he might fly
away and leave the city.
13. At this time the king gave order that the soldiers should go to
supper, for it was late at night, while he went into a chamber to use
the bath, for he was very weary; and here it was that he was in the
greatest danger, which yet, by God's providence, he escaped; for as he
was naked, and had but one servant that followed him, to be with him
while he was bathing in an inner room, certain of the enemy, who were in
their armor, and had fled thither, out of fear, were then in the place;
and as he was bathing, the first of them came out with his naked sword
drawn, and went out at the doors, and after him a second, and a third,
armed in like manner, and were under such a consternation, that they did
no hurt to the king, and thought themselves to have come off very well
ill suffering no harm themselves in their getting out of the house.
However, on the next day, he cut off the head of Pappus, for he was
already slain, and sent it to Pheroras, as a punishment of what their
brother had suffered by his means, for he was the man that slew him with
his own hand.
14. When the rigor of winter was over, Herod removed his army, and came
near to Jerusalem, and pitched his camp hard by the city. Now this was
the third year since he had been made king at Rome; and as he removed
his camp, and came near that part of the wall where it could be most
easily assaulted, he pitched that camp before the temple, intending to
make his attacks in the same manner as did Pompey. So he encompassed the
place with three bulwarks, and erected towers, and employed a great many
hands about the work, and cut down the trees that were round about the
city; and when he had appointed proper persons to oversee the works,
even while the army lay before the city, he himself went to Samaria, to
complete his marriage, and to take to wife the daughter of Alexander,
the son of Aristobulus; for he had betrothed her already, as I have
before related.
CHAPTER 16. How Herod, When He Had Married Mariamne Took Jerusalem With
The Assistance Of Sosius By Force; And How The Government Of The
Asamoneans Was Put An End To.
1. After the wedding was over, came Sosius through Phoenicia, having
sent out his army before him over the midland parts. He also, who was
their commander, came himself, with a great number of horsemen and
footmen. The king also came himself from Samaria, and brought with him
no small army, besides that which was there before, for they were about
thirty thousand; and they all met together at the walls of Jerusalem,
and encamped at the north wall of the city, being now an army of eleven
legions, armed men on foot, and six thousand horsemen, with other
auxiliaries out of Syria. The generals were two: Sosius, sent by Antony
to assist Herod, and Herod on his own account, in order to take the
government from Antigonus, who was declared all enemy at Rome, and that
he might himself be king, according to the decree of the Senate.
2. Now the Jews that were enclosed within the walls of the city fought
against Herod with great alacrity and zeal [for the whole nation was
gathered together]; they also gave out many prophecies about the temple,
and many things agreeable to the people, as if God would deliver them
out of the dangers they were in; they had also carried off what was out
of the city, that they might not leave any thing to afford sustenance
either for men or for beasts; and by private robberies they made the
want of necessaries greater. When Herod understood this, he opposed
ambushes in the fittest places against their private robberies, and he
sent legions of armed men to bring its provisions, and that from remote
places, so that in a little time they had great plenty of provisions.
Now the three bulwarks were easily erected, because so many hands were
continually at work upon it; for it was summer time, and there was
nothing to hinder them in raising their works, neither from the air nor
from the workmen; so they brought their engines to bear, and shook the
walls of the city, and tried all manner of ways to get it; yet did not
those within discover any fear, but they also contrived not a few
engines to oppose their engines withal. They also sallied out, and burnt
not only those engines that were not yet perfected, but those that were;
and when they came hand to hand, their attempts were not less bold than
those of the Romans, though they were behind them in skill. They also
erected new works when the former were ruined, and making mines
underground, they met each other, and fought there; and making use of
brutish courage rather than of prudent valor, they persisted in this war
to the very last; and this they did while a mighty army lay round about
them, and while they were distressed by famine and the want of
necessaries, for this happened to be a Sabbatic year. The first that
scaled the walls were twenty chosen men, the next were Sosius's
centurions; for the first wall was taken in forty days, and the second
in fifteen more, when some of the cloisters that were about the temple
were burnt, which Herod gave out to have been burnt by Antigonus, in
order to expose him to the hatred of the Jews. And when the outer court
of the temple and the lower city were taken, the Jews fled into the
inner court of the temple, and into the upper city; but now fearing lest
the Romans should hinder them from offering their daily sacrifices to
God, they sent an embassage, and desired that they would only permit
them to bring in beasts for sacrifices, which Herod granted, hoping they
were going to yield; but when he saw that they did nothing of what he
supposed, but bitterly opposed him, in order to preserve the kingdom to
Antigonus, he made an assault upon the city, and took it by storm; and
now all parts were full of those that were slain, by the rage of the
Romans at the long duration of the siege, and by the zeal of the Jews
that were on Herod's side, who were not willing to leave one of their
adversaries alive; so they were murdered continually in the narrow
streets and in the houses by crowds, and as they were flying to the
temple for shelter, and there was no pity taken of either infants or the
aged, nor did they spare so much as the weaker sex; nay, although the
king sent about, and besought them to spare the people, yet nobody
restrained their hand from slaughter, but, as if they were a company of
madmen, they fell upon persons of all ages, without distinction; and
then Antigonus, without regard to either his past or present
circumstances, came down from the citadel, and fell down at the feet of
Sosius, who took no pity of him, in the change of his fortune, but
insulted him beyond measure, and called him Antigone [i.e. a woman, and
not a man;] yet did he not treat him as if he were a woman, by letting
him go at liberty, but put him into bonds, and kept him in close
custody.
3. And now Herod having overcome his enemies, his care was to govern
those foreigners who had been his assistants, for the crowd of strangers
rushed to see the temple, and the sacred things in the temple; but the
king, thinking a victory to be a more severe affliction than a defeat,
if any of those things which it was not lawful to see should be seen by
them, used entreaties and threatenings, and even sometimes force itself,
to restrain them. He also prohibited the ravage that was made in the
city, and many times asked Sosius whether the Romans would empty the
city both of money and men, and leave him king of a desert; and told him
that he esteemed the dominion over the whole habitable earth as by no
means an equivalent satisfaction for such a murder of his citizens'; and
when he said that this plunder was justly to be permitted the soldiers
for the siege they had undergone, he replied, that he would give every
one their reward out of his own money; and by this means be redeemed
what remained of the city from destruction; and he performed what he had
promised him, for he gave a noble present to every soldier, and a
proportionable present to their commanders, but a most royal present to
Sosius himself, till they all went away full of money.
4. This destruction befell the city of Jerusalem when Marcus Agrippa and
Caninius Gallus were consuls of Rome 30 on the hundred eighty and fifth
olympiad, on the third month, on the solemnity of the fast, as if a
periodical revolution of calamities had returned since that which befell
the Jews under Pompey; for the Jews were taken by him on the same day,
and this was after twenty-seven years' time. So when Sosius had
dedicated a crown of gold to God, he marched away from Jerusalem, and
carried Antigonus with him in bonds to Antony; but Herod was afraid lest
Antigonus should be kept in prison [only] by Antony, and that when he
was carried to Rome by him, he might get his cause to be heard by the
senate, and might demonstrate, as he was himself of the royal blood, and
Herod but a private man, that therefore it belonged to his sons however
to have the kingdom, on account of the family they were of, in case he
had himself offended the Romans by what he had done. Out of Herod's fear
of this it was that he, by giving Antony a great deal of money,
endeavored to persuade him to have Antigonus slain, which if it were
once done, he should be free from that fear. And thus did the government
of the Asamoneans cease, a hundred twenty and six years after it was
first set up. This family was a splendid and an illustrious one, both on
account of the nobility of their stock, and of the dignity of the high
priesthood, as also for the glorious actions their ancestors had
performed for our nation; but these men lost the government by their
dissensions one with another, and it came to Herod, the son of
Antipater, who was of no more than a vulgar family, and of no eminent
extraction, but one that was subject to other kings. And this is what
history tells us was the end of the Asamonean family.
FOOTNOTES:
1 (return) [ Reland takes notice here, very justly, how Josephus's
declaration, that it was his great concern not only to write "an
agreeable, an accurate," and "a true" history, but also distinctly not
to omit any thing [of consequence], either through "ignorance or
laziness," implies that he could not, consistently with that resolution,
omit the mention of [so famous a person as] "Jesus Christ."]
2 (return) [ That the famous Antipater's or Antipas's father was also
Antipater or Antipas [which two may justly be esteemed one and the same
frame, the former with a Greek or Gentile, the latter with a Hebrew or
Jewish termination] Josephus here assures us, though Eusebias indeed
says it was Herod.]
3 (return) [ This "golden vine," or "garden," seen by Strabo at Rome,
has its inscription here as if it were the gift of Alexander, the father
of Aristobulus, and not of Aristobulus himself, to whom yet Josephus
ascribes it; and in order to prove the truth of that part of his
history, introduces this testimony of Strabo; so that the ordinary
copies seem to be here either erroneous or defective, and the original
reading seems to have been either Aristobulus, instead of Alexander,
with one Greek copy, or else "Aristobulus the son of Alexander," with
the Latin copies; which last seems to me the most probable. For as to
Archbishop Usher's conjectures, that Alexander made it, and dedicated it
to God in the temple, and that thence Aristobulus took it, and sent it
to Pompey, they are both very improbable, and no way agreeable to
Josephus, who would hardly have avoided the recording both these
uncommon points of history, had he known any thing of them; nor would
either the Jewish nation, or even Pompey himself, then have relished
such a flagrant instance of sacrilege.]
4 (return) [ These express testimonies of Josephus here, and Antiq. B.
VIII. ch. 6. sect. 6, and B. XV. ch. 4. sect. 2, that the only balsam
gardens, and the best palm trees, were, at least in his days, near
Jericho and Kugaddi, about the north part of the Dead Sea, [whereabout
also Alexander the Great saw the balsam drop,] show the mistake of those
that understand Eusebius and Jerom as if one of those gardens were at
the south part of that sea, at Zoar or Segor, whereas they must either
mean another Zoar or Segor, which was between Jericho and Kugaddi,
agreeably to Josephus: which yet they do not appear to do, or else they
directly contradict Josephus, and were therein greatly mistaken: I mean
this, unless that balsam, and the best palm trees, grew much more
southward in Judea in the days of Eusebius and Jerom than they did in
the days of Josephus.]
5 (return) [ The particular depth and breadth of this ditch, whence the
stones for the wall about the temple were probably taken, are omitted in
our copies of Josephus, but set down by Strabo, B. XVI. p. 763; from
whom we learn that this ditch was sixty feet deep, and two hundred and
fifty feet broad. However, its depth is, in the next section, said by
Josephus to be immense, which exactly agrees to Strabo's description,
and which numbers in Strabo are a strong confirmation of the truth of
Josephus's description also.]
6 (return) [ That is, on the 23rd of Sivan, the annual fast for the
defection and idolatry of Jeroboam, "who made Israel to sin;" or
possibly some other fast might fall into that month, before and in the
days of Josephus.]
7 (return) [ It deserves here to be noted, that this Pharisaical,
superstitious notion, that offensive fighting was unlawful to Jews, even
under the utmost necessity, on the Sabbath day, of which we hear nothing
before the times of the Maccabees, was the proper occasion of
Jerusalem's being taken by Pompey, by Sosius, and by Titus, as appears
from the places already quoted in the note on Antiq. B. XIII. ch. 8.
sect. 1; which scrupulous superstition, as to the observation of such a
rigorous rest upon the Sabbath day, our Savior always opposed, when the
Pharisaical Jews insisted on it, as is evident in many places in the New
Testament, though he still intimated how pernicious that superstition
might prove to them in their flight from the Romans, Matthew 25:20.]
8 (return) [ This is fully confirmed by the testimony of Cicero, who:
says, in his oration for Flaecus, that "Cneius Pompeius, when he was
conqueror, and had taken Jerusalem, did not touch any thing belonging to
that temple."]
9 (return) [ Of this destruction of Gadara here presupposed, and its
restoration by Pompey, see the note on the War, B. I. ch. 7. sect. 7.]
10 (return) [ Dean Prideaux well observes, "That notwithstanding the
clamor against Gabinius at Rome, Josephus gives him a able character, as
if he had acquitted himself with honor in the charge committed to him"
[in Judea]. See at the year 55.]
11 (return) [ This history is best illustrated by Dr. Hudson out of
Livy, who says that "A. Gabinius, the proconsul, restored Ptolemy of
Pompey and Gabinius against the Jews, while neither of them say any
thing new which is not in the other to his kingdom of Egypt, and ejected
Archelaus, whom they had set up for king," &c. See Prid. at the years 61
and 65.]
12 (return) [ Dr. Hudson observes, that the name of this wife of
Antipater in Josephus was Cypros, as a Hebrew termination, but not
Cypris, the Greek name for Venus, as some critics were ready to correct
it.]