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CHAP. XV.

Antigonus besieges ihose that were in Masada, whom Herod frees from confinement, when he came back from Rome, and presently marches to Jerusalem, where he finds Silo corrupted by bribes.

§ 1. Now during this time, Antigonus besieged those that were in Masada, who had all other necessaries in sufficient quantity, but were in want of water; on which account Joseph, Herod's brother, was disposed to run away to the Arabians, with two hundred of his own friends, because he had heard that Malichus repented of his offences, with regard to Herod; and he had been so quick as to have been gone out of the fortress already, unless, on that very night when he was going away, there had fallen a great deal of rain, insomuch that his reservoirs were full of water, and so he was under no necessity of running away. After which, therefore, they made an irruption upon Antigonus's party, and slew a great many of them, some in open battles, and some in private ambush; nor had they always success in their attempts, for sometimes they were beaten, and ran away.

2. In the mean time, Ventidius, the Roman general, was sent out of Syria to restrain the incursions of the Parthians; and after he had done that, he came into Judea, in pretence indeed to assist Joseph and his party, but in reality to get money of Antigonus; and when he had pitched his camp very near to Jerusalem, as soon as he had got money enough, he went away with the greatest part of his forces; yet still did he leave Silo with some part of them, lest if he had taken them all away, his taking of bribes might have been too openly discovered. Now Antigonus hoped that the Parthians would come again to his assistance, and, therefore, cultivated a good understanding with Silo in the mean time, lest any interruption should be given to his hopes.

3. Now by this time Herod had sailed out of Italy, and was come to Ptolemais; and as soon as he had gotten together no small army of foreigners, and of his own countrymen, he marched through Galilee against Antigonus, wherein he was assisted by Ventidius and Silo both, when * Del

This Dellius is famous, or rather infamous, in the history of

lius, a person sent by Antony, persuaded to bring Herod [into his kingdom.] Now Ventidius was at this time among the cities, and composing the disturbances which had happened by the means of the Parthians, as was Silo in Judea corrupted by the bribes that Antigonus had given him; yet was not Herod himself destitute of power, but the number of his forces increased every day, as he went along, and Galilee, with few exceptions, joined themselves to him. So he proposed to himself to set about his most necessary enterprise, and that was Masada, in order to deliver his relations from the siege they endured. But still Joppa stood in his way, and hindered his going thither; for it was necessary to take that city first, which was in the enemies hands, that when he should go to Jerusalem, no fortress might be left in the enemies power behind him. Silo also willingly joined him, as having now a plausible occasion of drawing off his forces [from Jerusalem] and when the Jews pursued him, he pressed upon him, [in his retreat,] Herod made an excursion upon them with a small body of his men, and soon put them to flight, and saved Silo when he was in distress.

4. After this Herod took Joppa, and then made haste to Masada to free his relations. Now as he was marching, many came to him, induced some by their friendship to his father, some by the reputation he had already gained himself, and some in order to repay the benefits they had received from them both; but still what engaged the greatest number on his side, was the hopes from him, when he should be established in his kingdom; so that he had gotten together already an army hard to be conquered. But Antigonus laid an ambush for him as he marched out, in which he did little or no harm to his enemies. However, he easily recovered his relations again that were in Masada, as well as the fortress of Ressa, and then marched to Jerusalem, where the soldiers that were with Silo joined themselves to his own, as did many out of the city, from a dread of his power.

6. Now when he had pitched his camp on the west side of the city, the guards that were there shot their arrows, and threw their darts at them, while others ran out in companies, and attacked those in the fosefront: but Herod commanded proclamation to be made at the wall, that "he was come

Mark Antony, as Spanheim and Aldrich here note, from the coins from Plutarch and Dio.

for the good of the people and the preservation of the city, without any design to be revenged on his open enemies, but, to grant oblivion to them, though they had been the most obstinate against him." Now the soldiers that were for Antigonus made a contrary clamour, and did neither permit any body to hear that proclamation, nor to change their party; so Antigonus gave order to his forces to beat the enemy from the walls: accordingly they soon threw their darts at them from the towers, and put them to flight.

6. And here it was that Silo discovered he had taken bribes; for he set many of the soldiers to clamour about their wants of necessaries, and to require their pay, in order to buy themselves food, and to demand that he would lead them into places convenient for their winter quarters; because all the parts about the city were laid waste by the means of Antigonus's army, which had taken all things away. By this he moved the army, and attempted to get them off the siege; but Herod went to the captains that were under Silo, and to a great many of the soldiers, and begged of them not to leave him, who was sent thither by Cæsar, and Antony, and the senate; for that he would take care to have their wants supplied that very day. After the making of which entreaty, he went hastily into the country, and brought thither so great an abundance of necessaries, that he cut off all Silo's pretences; and in order to provide that for the following days he should not want supplies, he sent to the people that were about Samaria, (which city had joined itself to him,) to bring corn, and wine, and oil, and cattle, to Jericho. When Antigonus heard of this, he sent some of his party with orders to hinder and lay ambushes for these collectors of corn. This command was obeyed, and a great multitude of armed men were gathered together about Jericho, and lay upon the mountains, to watch those that brought the provisions. Yet was Herod not idle, but took with him ten cohorts, five of them were Romans, and five were Jewish cohorts, together with some mercenary troops intermixed among them, and besides those a few horsemen, and came to Jericho; and when he came he found the city deserted, but that there were five hundred men, with their wives and children, who had taken possession of the tops of the mountains, these he took, and dismissed them, while the Romans fell upon the rest of the city, and plundered it, having found the houses full of all

came back, and sent the Roman army into tho were come over to him, to take their winter viz. into Judea, [or Idumea,] and Galilee, Antigonus also by bribes obtained of Silo to army be received at Lydda, as a complimen

[graphic]

CHAP. XVI.

Herod takes Sepphoris, and subdues the robbe caves: he after that avenges himself upon upon an enemy of his, and goes to Antony. sieging Samosata.

1. So the Romans lived in plenty of a rested from war. However, Herod did not l seized upon Idumea, and kept it, with two t men, and four hundred horsemen; and this he ing his brother Joseph thither, that no innova made by Antigonus. He also removed his m his relations, who had been in Masada, to when he had settled them securely, he march remaining parts of Galilee, and to drive away placed there by Antigonus.

2. But when Herod had reached * Sepphor great snow; he took the city without any di guards, that should have kept it, flying away assaulted; where he gave an opportunity to that had been in distress to refresh themselves, in that city a great abundance of necessaries. he hasted away to the robbers that were in the overran a great part of the country, and did as gi to its inhabitants, as a war itself could have don ingly, he sent beforehand three cohorts of footm troop of horsemen to the village Arbela, and ca forty days afterwards, with the rest of his forces

*This Sepphoris, the metropolis of Galilee, so oft by Josephus, has coins still remaining, ZENPHN heim here informs us.

This way of speaking after forty days, is interpro phus himself, on the fortieth day Antiq B. xiv. ch. like manner, when Josephus says, ch. xxiii. § 8. that

not the enemy affrighted at this assault, but met him in arms; for their skill was that of warriors, but their boldness of robbers: when, therefore, it came to a pitched battle, they put to flight Herod's left wing, with their right one; but Herod, wheeling about on the sudden from his own right wing, came to their assistance, and both made his own left wing return back from its flight, and fell upon the pursuers, and cooled their courage, till they could not bear the attempts that were made directly upon them, and so turned back and ran away.

3. But Herod followed them, and slew them as he followed them, and destroyed a great part of them, till those that remained were scattered beyond the river [Jordan,] and Galilee was freed from the terror they had been under, excepting from those that remained, and lay concealed in caves, which required longer time ere they could be conquered. In order to which, Herod, in the first place, distributed the fruits of their former labours to the soldiers, and gave every one of them an hundred and fifty drachmæ of silver, and a great deal more to their commanders, and sent them into their winter quarters. He also sent to his youngest brother Pheroras, to take care of a good market for them, where they might buy themselves provisions, and to build a wall about Alexandrium, who took care of both those injunctions accordingly.

4. In the mean time Antony abode at Athens, while Ventidius called for Silo and Herod to come to the war against the Parthians, but ordered them first to settle the affairs of Judea; so Herod willingly dismissed Silo to go to Ventidius, but he made an expedition himself against those that lay in the caves. Now these caves were in the precipices of craggy mountains, and could not be come at from any side, since they had only some winding path-ways very narrow, by which they got up to them; but the rock that lay on their front had beneath it valleys of a vast depth, and of an almost perpendicular declivity; insomuch that the king was doubtful for a long time what to do, by reason of a kind of impossibility there was of attacking the place. Yet did he

himself interpreted, Antiq. B. xvii. ch. viii. § 1. that he died on the fifth day afterward. So also what is in this book, ch. xiii. § 1. after two years, is, Antiq. B. xiv. ch. xiii. § 3. on the second year. And Dean Aldrich here notes that this way of speaking is familiar to Josephus.

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