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one of the tribunes replied, that it was done by the conmand of Cassius, "Then, said he, Cassius hath saved both me and my country, by cutting off one that was laying plots against them both." Whether he spake according to his own sentiments, or whether his fear was such, that he was obliged to commend the action by saying so, is uncertain; however, by this method Herod inflicted punishment upon Malichus.

CHAP. XII.

Phasaelus is too hard for Felix; Herod also overcomes Antigonus in battle; and the Jews accuse both Herod and Phabut Antonius acquits them, and makes them tetrarchs.

saeius;

§ 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

Here we see that Cassius set tyrants over all Syria; so that his assisting to destroy Cæsar, does not seem to have proceeded from his true zeal for public liberty, but from a desire to be a tyrant himself.

Syria; 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 actions he had done; for those who did not before favour 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 marry Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, and the grand-daughter of Hyr eanus, and was become thereby a relation of the king.

4. But when Cesar and Antony had slain Cassius near Philippi, and Cæsar 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 caine also, and accused Phasaelus and Herod, that they kept the government by force, and that Hyrcanus had no more than an honourable 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 an hundred of the prin cipal 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.* 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 was 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 Ju

* Phasaelus and Herod.

dea 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 clamour, 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.

CHAP. XIII.

The Parthians bring Antigonus back into Judea, and cast Hyrcanus and Phasaelus into prison. The flight of Herod and the taking of Jerusalem, and what Hyrcanus and Phasaelus suffered.

§ 1. Now two years afterward, when Barzapharnes, a governor among the Parthians, and Pacorus, the king's son, had possessed themselves of Syria, and when Lysanius had already succeeded upon his father Ptolemy's, the son of Manneus, death, in the government [of Chalcis,] he prevailed with the governor, by a promise of a thousand talents, and five hundred women, to bring back Antigonus to his kingdom, and to turn Hyrcanus out of it. Pacorus was by these means induced so to do, and marched along the sea-coast, while he ordered Barzapharnes to fall upon the

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ceive Pacorus, although those of Ptolemais received him; so he committed a troop of his tain cup-bearer belonging to the royal fami name, [Pacorus,] and gave him orders to ma in order to learn the state of affairs among and to help Antigonus when he should want

2. Now as these men were ravaging Carme Jews ran together to Antigonus, and showed t dy to make an incursion into the country; s before into that place called * Drymus, [the seize upon the place; whereupon a battle w tween them, and they drove the enemy away them, and ran after them as far as Jerusalen numbers increased, they proceeded as far as lace; but as Hyrcanus and Phasaelus receive strong body of men, there happened a battle place, in which Herod's party beat the ene them up in the temple, and set sixty men in joining as a guard on them. But the people multuous against the brethren, came in and bur while Herod, in his rage for killing them, attac many of the people, till one party made incu other by turns, day by day, in the of a way slaughters were made continually among them 3. Now when that festival which we call at hand, all the places about the temple, and th was full of a multitude of people that were co country, and which were the greatest part of also, at which time Phasaelus guarded the wall with a few guarded the royal palace; and w an assault upon his enemies, as they were out of on the north quarter of the city, he slew a very ber of them, and put them all to flight, and som shut up within the city, and others within the of part. In the mean time Antigonus desired t might be admitted, to be a reconciler between

*This large and noted wood, or wood-land belo mel, called Agouμos by the Septuagint, is mentioned in tament, 2 Kings, xix. 23. and Isa. xxxviii. 24 and b

Phasaelus was prevailed upon to admit the Parthian into the city with five hundred horse, and to treat him in an hospitable manner, who pretended that he came to quell the tumult, but in reality he came to assist Antigonus; however, he laid a plot for Phasaelus, and persuaded him to go as an ambassador to Barzapharnes, in order to put an end to the war; although Herod was very earnest with him to the contrary, and exhorted him to kill the plotter, but not expose himself to the snares he had laid for him, because the barbarians are naturally perfidious. However, Pacorus went out and took Hyrcanus with him, that he might be the less suspected; he also left some of the horsemen, called the Freemen, with Herod, and conducted Phasaelus with the

rest.

4. But now when they were come to Galilee, they found that the people of that country had revolted and were in arms, who came very cunningly to their leader, and besought him to conceal his treacherous intentions by an obliging behaviour to them; accordingly, he at first made them presents, and afterwards as they went away laid ambushes for them; and when they were come to one of the maritime cities, called Ecdippon, they perceived that a plot was laid for them; for they were there informed of the promise of a thousand talents, and how Antigonus had devoted the greatest number of the women that were with him, among the five hundred, to the Parthians; they also perceived that an ambush was always laid for them by the barbarians in the night-time; they had been also seized upon before this, unless they had waited for the seizure of Herod first at Jerusalem, because if he were once informed of this treachery of theirs, he would take care of himself; nor was this a mere report, but they saw the guards already not far off them.

5. Nor would Phasaelus think of forsaking Hyrcanus, and flying away, although Ophellius earnestly persuaded him to it; for this man had learned the whole scheme of the plot from Saramella, the richest of all the Syrians. But Phasaelus went up to the Parthian governor, and reproach

* These accounts, both here, and Antiq. B. xiv. ch. xiii. § 5. that the Parthians fought chiefly on horseback, and that only some few of their soldiers were freemen, perfectly agree with Trogus Pompeius, in Justin, B. xli. 2, 3. as Dean Aldrich well observes on this place.

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