Phasaelus Is Too Hard For Felix; Herod Also Overcomes
Antigonus In Rattle; And The Jews Accuse Both Herod And
Phasaelus But Antonius Acquits Them, And Makes Them
Tetrarchs.
1. When Cassius was gone out of Syria, another sedition arose at
Jerusalem, wherein Felix assaulted Phasaelus with an army, that he might
revenge the death of Malichus upon Herod, by falling upon his brother.
Now Herod happened then to be with Fabius, the governor of Damascus,
and as he was going to his brother's assistance, he was detained by
sickness; in the mean time, Phasaelus was by himself too hard for Felix,
and reproached Hyrcanus on account of his ingratitude, both for what
assistance he had afforded Malichus, and for overlooking Malichus's
brother, when he possessed himself of the fortresses; for he had gotten
a great many of them already, and among them the strongest of them all,
Masada.
2. However, nothing could be sufficient for him against the force of
Herod, who, as soon as he was recovered, took the other fortresses
again, and drove him out of Masada in the posture of a supplicant; he
also drove away Marion, the tyrant of the Tyrians, out of Galilee, when
he had already possessed himself of three fortified places; but as to
those Tyrians whom he had caught, he preserved them all alive; nay, some
of them he gave presents to, and so sent them away, and thereby procured
good-will to himself from the city, and hatred to the tyrant. Marion had
indeed obtained that tyrannical power of Cassius, who set tyrants
over all Syria 16 and out of hatred to Herod it was that he assisted
Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, and principally on Fabius's account,
whom Antigonus had made his assistant by money, and had him accordingly
on his side when he made his descent; but it was Ptolemy, the kinsman of
Antigonus, that supplied all that he wanted.
3. When Herod had fought against these in the avenues of Judea, he
was conqueror in the battle, and drove away Antigonus, and returned to
Jerusalem, beloved by every body for the glorious action he had done;
for those who did not before favor him did join themselves to him now,
because of his marriage into the family of Hyrcanus; for as he had
formerly married a wife out of his own country of no ignoble blood,
who was called Doris, of whom he begat Antipater; so did he now marry
Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, and the
granddaughter of Hyrcanus, and was become thereby a relation of the
king.
4. But when Caesar and Antony had slain Cassius near Philippi, and
Caesar was gone to Italy, and Antony to Asia, amongst the rest of the
cities which sent ambassadors to Antony unto Bithynia, the great men of
the Jews came also, and accused Phasaelus and Herod, that they kept the
government by force, and that Hyrcanus had no more than an honorable
name. Herod appeared ready to answer this accusation; and having made
Antony his friend by the large sums of money which he gave him, he
brought him to such a temper as not to hear the others speak against
him; and thus did they part at this time.
5. However, after this, there came a hundred of the principal men among
the Jews to Daphne by Antioch to Antony, who was already in love with
Cleopatra to the degree of slavery; these Jews put those men that were
the most potent, both in dignity and eloquence, foremost, and accused
the brethren. 17 But Messala opposed them, and defended the brethren,
and that while Hyrcanus stood by him, on account of his relation to
them. When Antony had heard both sides, he asked Hyrcanus which party
was the fittest to govern, who replied that Herod and his party were
the fittest. Antony was glad of that answer, for he had been formerly
treated in an hospitable and obliging manner by his father Antipater,
when he marched into Judea with Gabinius; so he constituted the brethren
tetrarchs, and committed to them the government of Judea.
6. But when the ambassadors had indignation at this procedure, Antony
took fifteen of them, and put them into custody, whom he was also going
to kill presently, and the rest he drove away with disgrace; on which
occasion a still greater tumult arose at Jerusalem; so they sent again a
thousand ambassadors to Tyre, where Antony now abode, as he was marching
to Jerusalem; upon these men who made a clamor he sent out the governor
of Tyre, and ordered him to punish all that he could catch of them, and
to settle those in the administration whom he had made tetrarchs.
7. But before this, Herod and Hyrcanus went out upon the sea-shore, and
earnestly desired of these ambassadors that they would neither bring
ruin upon themselves, nor war upon their native country, by their rash
contentions; and when they grew still more outrageous, Antony sent out
armed men, and slew a great many, and wounded more of them; of whom
those that were slain were buried by Hyrcanus, as were the wounded
put under the care of physicians by him; yet would not those that
had escaped be quiet still, but put the affairs of the city into such
disorder, and so provoked Antony, that he slew those whom he had in
bonds also.