The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem

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5. And with these hopes did he screen himself, till he came to
the palace, without any friends with him; for these were
affronted, and shut out at the first gate. Now Varus, the
president of Syria, happened to be in the palace [at this
juncture]; so Antipater went in to his father, and, putting on a
bold face, he came near to salute him. But Herod Stretched out
his hands, and turned his head away from him, and cried out,
"Even this is an indication of a parricide, to be desirous to get
me into his arms, when he is under such heinous accusations. God
confound thee, thou vile wretch; do not thou touch me, till thou
hast cleared thyself of these crimes that are charged upon thee.
I appoint thee a court where thou art to be judged, and this
Varus, who is very seasonably here, to be thy judge; and get thou
thy defense ready against tomorrow, for I give thee so much time
to prepare suitable excuses for thyself." And as Antipater was so
confounded, that he was able to make no answer to this charge, he
went away; but his mother and wife came to him, and told him of
all the evidence they had gotten against him. Hereupon he
recollected himself, and considered what defense he should make
against the accusations.

CHAPTER 32.

Antipater Is Accused Before Varus, And Is Convicted Of Laying A
Plot [Against His Father] By The Strongest Evidence. Herod Puts
Off His Punishment Till He Should Be Recovered, And In The Mean
Time Alters His Testament.

1. Now the day following the king assembled a court of his
kinsmen and friends, and called in Antipater's friends also.
Herod himself, with Varus, were the presidents; and Herod called
for all the witnesses, and ordered them to be brought in; among
whom some of the domestic servants of Antipater's mother were
brought in also, who had but a little while before been caught,
as they were carrying the following letter from her to her son:
"Since all those things have been already discovered to thy
father, do not thou come to him, unless thou canst procure some
assistance from Caesar." When this and the other witnesses were
introduced, Antipater came in, and falling on his face before his
father's feet, he said, "Father, I beseech thee, do not condemn
me beforehand, but let thy ears be unbiassed, and attend to my
defense; for if thou wilt give me leave, I will demonstrate that
I am innocent."

2. Hereupon Herod cried out to him to hold his peace, and spake
thus to Varus: "I cannot but think that thou, Varus, and every
other upright judge, will determine that Antipater is a vile
wretch. I am also afraid that thou wilt abhor my ill fortune, and
judge me also myself worthy of all sorts of calamity for
begetting such children; while yet I ought rather to be pitied,
who have been so affectionate a father to such wretched sons; for
when I had settled the kingdom on my former sons, even when they
were young, and when, besides the charges of their education at
Rome, I had made them the friends of Caesar, and made them envied
by other kings, I found them plotting against me. These have been
put to death, and that, in great measure, for the sake of
Antipater; for as he was then young, and appointed to be my
successor, I took care chiefly to secure him from danger: but
this profligate wild beast, when he had been over and above
satiated with that patience which I showed him, he made use of
that abundance I had given him against myself; for I seemed to
him to live too long, and he was very uneasy at the old age I was
arrived at; nor could he stay any longer, but would be a king by
parricide. And justly I am served by him for bringing him back
out of the country to court, when he was of no esteem before, and
for thrusting out those sons of mine that were born of the queen,
and for making him a successor to my dominions. I confess to
thee, O Varus, the great folly I was guilty for I provoked those
sons of mine to act against me, and cut off their just
expectations for the sake of Antipater; and indeed what kindness
did I do them; that could equal what I have done to Antipater? to
I have, in a manner, yielded up my royal while I am alive, and
whom I have openly named for the successor to my dominions in my
testament, and given him a yearly revenue of his own of fifty
talents, and supplied him with money to an extravagant degree out
of my own revenue; and' when he was about to sail to Rome, I gave
him three talents, and recommended him, and him alone of all my
children, to Caesar, as his father's deliverer. Now what crimes
were those other sons of mine guilty of like these of Antipater?
and what evidence was there brought against them so strong as
there is to demonstrate this son to have plotted against me? Yet
does this parricide presume to speak for himself, and hopes to
obscure the truth by his cunning tricks. Thou, O Varus, must
guard thyself against him; for I know the wild beast, and I
foresee how plausibly he will talk, and his counterfeit
lamentation. This was he who exhorted me to have a care of
Alexander when he was alive, and not to intrust my body with all
men! This was he who came to my very bed, and looked about lest
any one should lay snares for me! This was he who took care of my
sleep, and secured me from fear of danger, who comforted me under
the trouble I was in upon the slaughter of my sons, and looked to
see what affection my surviving brethren bore me! This was my
protector, and the guardian of my body! And when I call to mind,
O Varus, his craftiness upon every occasion, and his art of
dissembling, I can hardly believe that I am still alive, and I
wonder how I have escaped such a deep plotter of mischief.
However, since some fate or other makes my house desolate, and
perpetually raises up those that are dearest to me against me, I
will, with tears, lament my hard fortune, and privately groan
under my lonesome condition; yet am I resolved that no one who
thirsts after my blood shall escape punishment, although the
evidence should extend itself to all my sons."

3. Upon Herod's saying this, he was interrupted by the confusion
he was in; but ordered Nicolaus, one of his friends, to produce
the evidence against Antipater. But in the mean time Antipater
lifted up his head, (for he lay on the ground before his father's
feet,) and cried out aloud, "Thou, O father, hast made my apology
for me; for how can I be a parricide, whom thou thyself
confessest to have always had for thy guardian? Thou callest my
filial affection prodigious lies and hypocrisy! how then could it
be that I, who was so subtle in other matters, should here be so
mad as not to understand that it was not easy that he who
committed so horrid a crime should be concealed from men, but
impossible that he should be concealed from the Judge of heaven,
who sees all things, and is present every where? or did not I
know what end my brethren came to, on whom God inflicted so great
a punishment for their evil designs against thee? And indeed what
was there that could possibly provoke me against thee? Could the
hope of being king do it? I was a king already. Could I suspect
hatred from thee? No. Was not I beloved by thee? And what other
fear could I have? Nay, by preserving thee safe, I was a terror
to others. Did I want money? No; for who was able to expend so
much as myself? Indeed, father, had I been the most execrable of
all mankind, and had I had the soul of the most cruel wild beast,
must I not have been overcome with the benefits thou hadst
bestowed upon me? whom, as thou thyself sayest, thou broughtest
[into the palace]; whom thou didst prefer before so many of thy
sons; whom thou madest a king in thine own lifetime, and, by the
vast magnitude of the other advantages thou bestowedst on me,
thou madest me an object of envy. O miserable man! that thou
shouldst undergo this bitter absence, and thereby afford a great
opportunity for envy to arise against thee, and a long space for
such as were laying designs against thee! Yet was I absent,
father, on thy affairs, that Sylleus might not treat thee with
contempt in thine old age. Rome is a witness to my filial
affection, and so is Caesar, the ruler of the habitable earth,
who oftentimes called me Philopater. (47) Take here the letters
he hath sent thee, they are more to be believed than the
calumnies raised here; these letters are my only apology; these I
use as the demonstration of that natural affection I have to
thee. Remember that it was against my own choice that I sailed
[to Rome], as knowing the latent hatred that was in the kingdom
against me. It was thou, O father, however unwillingly, who hast
been my ruin, by forcing me to allow time for calumnies against
me, and envy at me. However, I am come hither, and am ready to
hear the evidence there is against me. If I be a parricide, I
have passed by land and by sea, without suffering any misfortune
on either of them: but this method of trial is no advantage to
me; for it seems, O father, that I am already condemned, both
before God and before thee; and as I am already condemned, I beg
that thou wilt not believe the others that have been tortured,
but let fire be brought to torment me; let the racks march
through my bowels; have no regard to any lamentations that this
polluted body can make; for if I be a parricide, I ought not to
die without torture." Thus did Antipater cry out with lamentation
and weeping, and moved all the rest, and Varus in particular, to
commiserate his case. Herod was the only person whose passion was
too strong to permit him to weep, as knowing that the testimonies
against him were true.

4. And now it was that, at the king's command, Nicolaus, when he
had premised a great deal about the craftiness of Antipater, and
had prevented the effects of their commiseration to him,
afterwards brought in a bitter and large accusation against him,
ascribing all the wickedness that had been in the kingdom to him,
and especially the murder of his brethren; and demonstrated that
they had perished by the calumnies he had raised against them. He
also said that he had laid designs against them that were still
alive, as if they were laying plots for the succession; and (said
he) how can it be supposed that he who prepared poison for his
father should abstain from mischief as to his brethren? He then
proceeded to convict him of the attempt to poison Herod, and gave
an account in order of the several discoveries that had been
made; and had great indignation as to the affair of Pheroras,
because Antipater had been for making him murder his brother, and
had corrupted those that were dearest to the king, and filled the
whole palace with wickedness; and when he had insisted on many
other accusations, and the proofs for them, he left off.

5. Then Varus bid Antipater make his defense; but he lay along in
silence, and said no more but this, "God is my witness that I am
entirely innocent." So Varus asked for the potion, and gave it to
be drunk by a condemned malefactor, who was then in prison, who
died upon the spot. So Varus, when he had had a very private
discourse with Herod, and had written an account of this assembly
to Caesar, went away, after a day's stay. The king also bound
Antipater, and sent away to inform Caesar of his misfortunes.
6. Now after this it was discovered that Antipater had laid a
plot against Salome also; for one of Antiphilus's domestic
servants came, and brought letters from Rome, from a maid-servant
of Julia, [Caesar's wife,] whose name was Acme. By her a message
was sent to the king, that she had found a letter written by
Salome, among Julia's papers, and had sent it to him privately,
out of her good-will to him. This letter of Salome contained the
most bitter reproaches of the king, and the highest accusations
against him. Antipater had forged this letter, and had corrupted
Acme, and persuaded her to send it to Herod. This was proved by
her letter to Antipater, for thus did this woman write to him:
"As thou desirest, I have written a letter to thy father, and
have sent that letter, and am persuaded that the king will not
spare his sister when he reads it. Thou wilt do well to remember
what thou hast promised when all is accomplished."

7. When this epistle was discovered, and what the epistle forged
against Salome contained, a suspicion came into the king's mind,
that perhaps the letters against Alexander were also forged: he
was moreover greatly disturbed, and in a passion, because he had
almost slain his sister on Antipater's account. He did no longer
delay therefore to bring him to punishment for all his crimes;
yet when he was eagerly pursuing Antipater, he was restrained by
a severe distemper he fell into. However, he sent all account to
Caesar about Acme, and the contrivances against Salome; he sent
also for his testament, and altered it, and therein made Antipas
king, as taking no care of Archclaus and Philip, because
Antipater had blasted their reputations with him; but he
bequeathed to Caesar, besides other presents that he gave him, a
thousand talents; as also to his wife, and children, and friends,
and freed-men about five hundred: he also bequeathed to all
others a great quantity of land, and of money, and showed his
respects to Salome his sister, by giving her most splendid gifts.
And this was what was contained in his testament, as it was now
altered.

CHAPTER 33.

The Golden Eagle Is Cut To Pieces. Herod's Barbarity When He Was
Ready To Die. He Attempts To Kill Himself. He Commands Antipater
To Be Slain. He Survives Him Five Days And Then Dies.

1. Now Herod's distemper became more and more severe to him, and
this because these his disorders fell upon him in his old age,
and when he was in a melancholy condition; for he was already
seventy years of age, and had been brought by the calamities that
happened to him about his children, whereby he had no pleasure in
life, even when he was in health; the grief also that Antipater
was still alive aggravated his disease, whom he resolved to put
to death now not at random, but as soon as he should be well
again, and resolved to have him slain [in a public manner].
2. There also now happened to him, among his other calamities, a
certain popular sedition. There were two men of learning in the
city [Jerusalem,] who were thought the most skillful in the laws
of their country, and were on that account had in very great
esteem all over the nation; they were, the one Judas, the son of
Sepphoris, and the other Mattbias, the son of Margalus. There was
a great concourse of the young men to these men when they
expounded the laws, and there got together every day a kind of an
army of such as were growing up to be men. Now when these men
were informed that the king was wearing away with melancholy, and
with a distemper, they dropped words to their acquaintance, how
it was now a very proper time to defend the cause of God, and to
pull down what had been erected contrary to the laws of their
country; for it was unlawful there should be any such thing in
the temple as images, or faces, or the like representation of any
animal whatsoever. Now the king had put up a golden eagle over
the great gate of the temple, which these learned men exhorted
them to cut down; and told them, that if there should any danger
arise, it was a glorious thing to die for the laws of their
country; because that the soul was immortal, and that an eternal
enjoyment of happiness did await such as died on that account;
while the mean-spirited, and those that were not wise enough to
show a right love of their souls, preferred a death by a disease,
before that which is the result of a virtuous behavior.

3. At the same time that these men made this speech to their
disciples, a rumor was spread abroad that the king was dying,
which made the young men set about the work with greater
boldness; they therefore let themselves down from the top of the
temple with thick cords, and this at midday, and while a great
number of people were in the temple, and cut down that golden
eagle with axes. This was presently told to the king's captain of
the temple, who came running with a great body of soldiers, and
caught about forty of the young men, and brought them to the
king. And when he asked them, first of all, whether they had been
so hardy as to cut down the golden eagle, they confessed they had
done so; and when he asked them by whose command they had done
it, they replied, at the command of the law of their country; and
when he further asked them how they could be so joyful when they
were to be put to death, they replied, because they should enjoy
greater happiness after they were dead. (48)

4. At this the king was in such an extravagant passion, that he
overcame his disease [for the time,] and went out, and spake to
the people; wherein he made a terrible accusation against those
men, as being guilty of sacrilege, and as making greater attempts
under pretense of their law, and he thought they deserved to be
punished as impious persons. Whereupon the people were afraid
lest a great number should be found guilty and desired that when
he had first punished those that put them upon this work, and
then those that were caught in it, he would leave off his anger
as to the rest. With this the king complied, though not without
difficulty, and ordered those that had let themselves down,
together with their Rabbins, to be burnt alive, but delivered the
rest that were caught to the proper officers, to be put to death
by them.

5. After this, the distemper seized upon his whole body, and
greatly disordered all its parts with various symptoms; for there
was a gentle fever upon him, and an intolerable itching over all
the surface of his body, and continual pains in his colon, and
dropsical turnouts about his feet, and an inflammation of the
abdomen, and a putrefaction of his privy member, that produced
worms. Besides which he had a difficulty of breathing upon him,
and could not breathe but when he sat upright, and had a
convulsion of all his members, insomuch that the diviners said
those diseases were a punishment upon him for what he had done to
the Rabbins. Yet did he struggle with his numerous disorders, and
still had a desire to live, and hoped for recovery, and
considered of several methods of cure. Accordingly, he went over
Jordan, and made use of those hot baths at Callirrhoe, which ran
into the lake Asphaltitis, but are themselves sweet enough to be
drunk. And here the physicians thought proper to bathe his whole
body in warm oil, by letting it down into a large vessel full of
oil; whereupon his eyes failed him, and he came and went as if he
was dying; and as a tumult was then made by his servants, at
their voice he revived again. Yet did he after this despair of
recovery, and gave orders that each soldier should have fifty
drachmae a-piece, and that his commanders and friends should have
great sums of money given them.

6. He then returned back and came to Jericho, in such a
melancholy state of body as almost threatened him with present
death, when he proceeded to attempt a horrid wickedness; for he
got together the most illustrious men of the whole Jewish nation,
out of every village, into a place called the Hippodrome, and
there shut them in. He then called for his sister Salome, and her
husband Alexas, and made this speech to them: "I know well enough
that the Jews will keep a festival upon my death however, it is
in my power to be mourned for on other accounts, and to have a
splendid funeral, if you will but be subservient to my commands.
Do you but take care to send soldiers to encompass these men that
are now in custody, and slay them immediately upon my death, and
then all Judea, and every family of them, will weep at it,
whether they will or no."

7. These were the commands he gave them; when there came letters
from his ambassadors at Rome, whereby information was given that
Acme was put to death at Caesar's command, and that Antipater was
condemned to die; however, they wrote withal, that if Herod had a
mind rather to banish him, Caesar permitted him so to do. So he
for a little while revived, and had a desire to live; but
presently after he was overborne by his pains, and was disordered
by want of food, and by a convulsive cough, and endeavored to
prevent a natural, death; so he took an apple, and asked for a
knife for he used to pare apples and eat them; he then looked
round about to see that there was nobody to hinder him, and lift
up his right hand as if he would stab himself; but Achiabus, his
first cousin, came running to him, and held his hand, and
hindered him from so doing; on which occasion a very great
lamentation was made in the palace, as if the king were expiring.
As soon as ever Antipater heard that, he took courage, and with
joy in his looks, besought his keepers, for a sum of money, to
loose him and let him go; but the principal keeper of the prison
did not only obstruct him in that his intention, but ran and told
the king what his design was; hereupon the king cried out louder
than his distemper would well bear, and immediately sent some of
his guards and slew Antipater; he also gave order to have him
buried at Hyrcanium, and altered his testament again, and therein
made Archclaus, his eldest son, and the brother of Antipas, his
successor, and made Antipas tetrarch.

8. So Herod, having survived the slaughter of his son five days,
died, having reigned thirty-four years since he had caused
Antigonus to be slain, and obtained his kingdom; but thirty-seven
years since he had been made king by the Romans. Now as for his
fortune, it was prosperous in all other respects, if ever any
other man could be so, since, from a private man, he obtained the
kingdom, and kept it so long, and left it to his own sons; but
still in his domestic affairs he was a most unfortunate man. Now,
before the soldiers knew of his death, Salome and her husband
came out and dismissed those that were in bonds, whom the king
had commanded to be slain, and told them that he had altered his
mind, and would have every one of them sent to their own homes.
When these men were gone, Salome, told the soldiers [the king was
dead], and got them and the rest of the multitude together to an
assembly, in the amphitheater at Jericho, where Ptolemy, who was
intrusted by the king with his signet ring, came before them, and
spake of the happiness the king had attained, and comforted the
multitude, and read the epistle which had been left for the
soldiers, wherein he earnestly exhorted them to bear good-will to
his successor; and after he had read the epistle, he opened and
read his testament, wherein Philip was to inherit Trachonitis,
and the neighboring countries, and Antipas was to be tetrarch, as
we said before, and Archelaus was made king. He had also been
commanded to carry Herod's ring to Caesar, and the settlements he
had made, sealed up, because Caesar was to be lord of all the
settlements he had made, and was to confirm his testament; and he
ordered that the dispositions he had made were to be kept as they
were in his former testament.

9. So there was an acclamation made to Archelaus, to congratulate
him upon his advancement; and the soldiers, with the multitude,
went round about in troops, and promised him their good-will, and
besides, prayed God to bless his government. After this, they
betook themselves to prepare for the king's funeral; and
Archelaus omitted nothing of magnificence therein, but brought
out all the royal ornaments to augment the pomp of the deceased.
There was a bier all of gold, embroidered with precious stones,
and a purple bed of various contexture, with the dead body upon
it, covered with purple; and a diadem was put upon his head, and
a crown of gold above it, and a secptre in his right hand; and
near to the bier were Herod's sons, and a multitude of his
kindred; next to which came his guards, and the regiment of
Thracians, the Germans. also and Gauls, all accounted as if they
were going to war; but the rest of the army went foremost, armed,
and following their captains and officers in a regular manner;
after whom five hundred of his domestic servants and freed-men
followed, with sweet spices in their hands: and the body was
carried two hundred furlongs, to Herodium, where he had given
order to be buried. And this shall suffice for the conclusion of
the life of Herod.

WAR BOOK 1 FOOTNOTES

(1) I see little difference in the several accounts in Josephus
about the Egyptian temple Onion, of which large complaints are
made by his commentators. Onias, it seems, hoped to have :made it
very like that at Jerusalem, and of the same dimensions; and so
he appears to have really done, as far as he was able and thought
proper. Of this temple, see Antiq. B. XIII. ch. 3. sect. 1--3,
and Of the War, B. VII. ch. 10. sect. 8.

(2) Why this John, the son of Simon, the high priest and governor
of the Jews, was called Hyrcanus, Josephus no where informs us;
nor is he called other than John at the end of the First Book of
the Maccabees. However, Sixtus Seuensis, when he gives us an
epitome of the Greek version of the book here abridged by
Josephus, or of the Chronicles of this John Hyrcanus, then
extant, assures us that he was called Hyrcanus from his conquest
of one of that name. See Authent. Rec. Part I. p. 207. But of
this younger Antiochus, see Dean Aldrich's note here.

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