and that sometimes men themselves show the little understanding they have by the frequent mistakes they make in point of government; for she always preferred the present to futurity, and preferred the power of an imperious dominion above all things, and in comparison of that, had no regard to what was good or what was right. However, she brought the affairs of her house to such an unfortunate condition, that she was the occasion of the taking away that authority from it, and that in no long time afterward, which she had obtained by a vast number of hazards and misfortunes, and this out of a desire of what does not belong to a woman, and all by a compliance in her sentiments with those that bare ill-will to their family, and by leaving the administration destitute of a proper support of great men ; and indeed, her management during her administration, while she was alive, was such as filled the palace after her death with calimaties and disturbance. However, although this had been her way of governing, she preserved the nation in peace and this is the conclusion of the affairs of Alexandra. www BOOK XIV. CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF THIRTY-TWO YEARS. FROM THE DEATH OF QUEEN ALEXANDRA TO THE DEATH OF ANTIGONUS. CHAPTER I. THE WAR BETWEEN ARISTOBULUS AND HYRCANUS ABOUT THE KINGDOM; AND HOW THEY MADE AN AGREEMENT THAT Aristobulus SHOULD BE KING, AND HYRCANUS LIVE A PRIVATE LIFE AS ALSO, HOW HYRCANUS, A LITTLE AFTERWARDS, WAS PERSUADED BY ANTIPATER TO FLY TO ARETAS. § 1. We have related the affairs of queen Alexandra, and her death, in the foregoing book, and will now speak of what followed, and was connected with those histories; declaring, before we proceed, that we have nothing so much at heart as this, that we may omit no facts either through ignorance or laziness; for we are upon the history and explica tion of such things as the greatest part are unacquainted withal, because of their distance from our times; and we aim to do it with a proper beauty of style, so far as that is derived from proper words harmonically disposed, and from such ornaments of speech also as may contribute to the pleasure of our readers, that they may entertain the knowledge of what we write with some agreeable satisfaction and pleasure. But the principal scope that authors ought to aim at, above all the rest, is to speak accurately, and to speak truly, for the satisfaction of those that are otherwise unacquainted with such transactions, and obliged to believe what these writers inform them of. 2. Hyrcanus then began his high-priesthood on the third year of the hundred and seventh Olympiad, when Quintus Hortensius and Quintus Metellus, who was called Metellus of Crete, were con. suls at Rome; when presently Aristobulus began to make war against him, and as it came to a battle with Hyrcanus at Jericho, many of his soldiers deserted him, and went over to his brother: upon which Hyrcanus fled into the citadel, where Aris 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 fainous a person as] "Jesus Christ." tobulus's wife and children were imprisoned by his mother, as we have said already, and attacked and overcame those his adversaries that had fled thither, and lay within the walls of the temple. So when he had sent a message to his brother about agreeing the matters between them, he laid aside his enmity to him on these conditions, that Aristobulus should be king, that he should live without intermeddling with public affairs, and quietly enjoy the estate he had acquired. When they had agreed upon these terms in the temple, and had confirmed the agreement with oaths, and the giving one another their right hands, and embracing one another in the sight of the whole multitude, they departed; the one, Aristobulus, to the palace, and Hyrcanus, as a private man, to the former house of Aristobulus. 3. But there was a certain friend of Hyrcanus, an Idumean, called Antipater, who was very rich, and in his nature an active and a seditious man; who was at enmity with Aristobulus, and had differences with him on account of his good-will to Hyrcanus. It is true, that Nicolaus of Damascus says, that Antipater was of the stock of the principal Jews who came out of Babylon into Judea ; but that assertion of his was to gratify Herod, who was his son, and who, by certain revolutions of fortune came afterwards to be king of the Jews, whose history we shall give you in its proper place hereafter. However this Antipater was at first called Antipas,† and that was his father's name also; of whom they relate this: That king Alexander and his wife made him general of all Idumea, and that he made a league of friendship with those Arabians, and Gazites, and Ascalonites, that were of his own party, and had, by many and large presents, made them his fast friends; but now this younger Antipater was suspicious of the power of Aristobulus, and was afraid of some mischief he might do him, because of his hatred to him; so he stirred up the most That the famous Antipater's or Antipa's father was also Antipater or Antipas (which two may justly be esteemed one and the same name; the former with a Greek or Gentile, the latter with a Hebrew or Jewish termination), Josephus here assures us, though Eusebius indeed says it was Herod powerful of the Jews, and talked against him to them privately; and said, that it was unjust to overlook the conduct of Aristobulus, who had gotten the government unrighteously, and ejected his brother out of it who was the elder, and ought to retain what belonged to him by prerogative of his birth; and the same speeches he perpetually made to Hyrcanus; and told him that his own life would be in danger unless he guarded himself, and got quit of Aristobulus; for he said that the friends of Aristobulus omitted no opportunity of advising him to kill him, as being then, and not before, sure to retain his principality. Hyrcanus gave no credit to these words of his, as being of a gentle disposition, and one that did not easily admit of calumnies against other men. This temper of his not disposing him to meddle with public affairs, and want of spirit, occasioned him to appear to spectators to be degenerated and unmanly; while Aristobulus was of a contrary temper, an active man, and one of a great and generous soul. 4. Since therefore Antipater saw that Hyrcanus did not attend to what he said, he never ceased, day by day, to charge feigned crimes upon Aristobulus, and to calumniate him before him, as if he had a mind to kill him ; and so, by urging him perpetually, he advised him, and persuaded him to fly to Aretas, the king of Arabia; and promised, that if he would comply with his advice, he would also himself assist him, [and go with him]. When Hyrcanus heard this, he said that it was for his advantage to fly away to Aretas. Now Arabia is a country that borders upon Judea. However, Hyrcanus sent Antipater first to the king of Arabia, in order to receive assurances from him, that when he should come in the manner of a supplicant to him, he would not deliver him up to his enemies. So Antipater having received such assurances, returned to Hyrcanus to Jerusalem. A while afterward he took Hyrcanus, and stole out of the city by night, and went a great journey, and came and brought him to the city called Petra, where the palace of Aretas was; and as he was a very familiar friend of that king, he persuaded him to bring back Hyrcanus into Judea; and this persuasion he continued every day without any intermission. He also proposed to make him presents on that account. At length he prevailed with Aretas in his suit. Moreover, Hyrcanus promised him, that when he had been brought thither, and had received his kingdom, he would restore that country, and those twelve cities which his father Alexander had taken from the Arabians; which were these, Medaba, Naballo, Libyas, Tharabasa, Agala, Athone, Zoar, Orone, Marissa, Rudda, Lussa, and Oruba. CHAPTER II. HOW ARETAS AND HYRCANUS MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST ARISTOBULUS, AND BESIEGED JERUSALEM ; AND HOW SCAURUS, THE ROMAN GENERAL, RAISED THE SIEGE. CONCERING THE DEATH OF ONIAS. lem; upon which the king of Arabia took all his army and made an assault upon the temple, and besieged Aristobulus therein, the people still supporting Hyrcanus, and assisting him in the siege, while none but the priests continued with Aristobulus. So Aretas united the forces of the Arabians and of the Jews together, and pressed on the siege vigorously. As this happened at the time when the feast of unleavened bread was celebrated, which we call the Passover, the principal men among the Jews left the country, and fled into Egypt. Now there was one, whose name was Onias, a righteous man he was, and beloved of God, who, in a certain drought, had prayed to God to put an end to the intense heat, and whose prayers God had heard, and had sent them rain. This man had hid himself, because he saw that this sedition would last a great while. However, they brought him to the Jewish camp, and desired, that as by his prayers he had once put an end to the drought, so he would in like manner make imprecations on Aristobulus and those of his faction. And when, upon his refusal, and the excuses that he made, he was still by the multitude compelled to speak, he stood up in the midst of them, and said, "O God, the King of the whole world! since those that stand now with me are thy people, and those that are besieged are also thy priests, I beseech thee, that thou wilt neither hearken to the prayers of those against these, nor bring to effect what these pray against those." Whereupon such wicked Jews as stood about him, as soon as he had made this prayer, stoned him to death. 2. But God punished them immediately for this their barbarity, and took vengeance of them for the murder of Onias, in the manner following :-While the priests and Aristobulus were besieged, it happened that the feast called the Passover was come, at which it is our custom to offer a great number of sacrifices to God; but those that were with Aristobulus wanted sacrifices, and desired that their countrymen without would furnish them with such sacrifices, and assured them they should have as much money for them as they should desire ; and when they required them to pay a thousand drachmæ for each head of cattle, Aristobulus and the priests willingly undertook to pay for them ac cordingly; and those within let down the money over the walls, and gave it them. But when the others had received it, they did not deliver the sacrifices, but arrived at that height of wickedness as to break the assurances they had given, and to be guilty of impiety towards God, by not furnishing those that wanted them with sacrifices. And when the priests found they had been cheated, and that the agreements they had made were violated, they prayed to God that he would avenge them on their countrymen. Nor did he delay that their punishment, but sent a strong and vehement storm of wind, that destroyed the fruits of the whole country, till a modius of wheat was then bought for eleven dracmæ. 3. In the meantime Pompey sent Scaurus into Syria, while he was himself in Armenia, and making war with Tigranes; but when Scaurus was come § 1. AFTER these promises had been given to Are- to Damascus, and found that Lollius and Metellus tas, he made an expedition against Aristobulus, had newly taken the city, he came himself hastily with an army of fifty thousand horse and foot, and into Judea. And when he was come thither, ambeat him in the battle. And when after that vic-bassadors came to him, both from Aristobulus and tory many went over to Hyrcanus as deserters, Hyrcanus, and both desired he would assist them; Aristobulus was left desolate, and fled to Jerusa-and when both of them promised to give him mo ney, Aristobulus four hundred talents, and Hyrcanus no less, he accepted of Aristobulus's promise, for he was rich, and had a great soul, and desired to obtain nothing but what was moderate; whereas the other was poor and tenacious, and made incredible promises in hope of greater advantages; for it was not the same thing to take a city that was exceeding strong and powerful, as it was to eject out of the country some fugitives, with a great number of Nabateans, who were no very warlike people. He therefore made an agreement with Aristobulus, for the reason before mentioned, and took his money, and raised the siege, and ordered Aretas to depart, or else he should be declared an enemy to the Romans. So Scaurus returned to Damascus again; and Aristobulus, with a great army, made war with Aretas and Hyrcanus, and fought them at a place called Papyron, and beat them in the battle, and slew about six thousand of the enemy, with whom fell Phalion also, the brother of Antipater. CHAPTER III. HOW ARISTOBULUS AND HYRCANUS CAME TO POM out of their winter quarters, and marched into the country of Damascus; and as he went along he demolished the citadel that was at Apamea, which Antiochus Cyzicenus had built, and took cognizance of the country of Ptolemy Menneus, a wicked man, and not less so than Dionysius of Tripoli, who had been beheaded, who was also his relation by marriage; yet did he buy off the punishment of his crimes for a thousand talents, with which money Pompey paid the soldiers their wages. He also conquered the place called Lysias, of which Silas a Jew was tyrant; and when he had passed over the cities of Heliopolis and Chaleis, and got over the mountain which is on the limit of Celesyria, he came from Pella to Damascus; and there it was that he heard the causes of the Jews, and of their governors Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, who were at difference one with another, as also of the nation against them both, which did not desire to be under kingly government, because the form of government they received from their forefathers was that of subjection to the priests of that God whom they worshipped; and [they complained], that though these two were the posterity of priests, yet did they seek to change the government of their nation to another form, in order to enslave them. Hyrcanus PEY, IN ORDER TO ARGUE WHO OUGHT TO HAVE complained, that although he were the elder bro THE KINGDOM; AND HOW, UPON THE FLIGHT OF § 1. A LITTLE afterward Pompey came to Damascus, and marched over Celesyria; at which time there came ambassadors to him from all Syria, and Egypt, and out of Judea also, for Aristobulus had sent him a great present, which was a golden vine,* of the value of five hundred talents. Now Strabo of Cappadocia mentious this present in these words: "There cane also an embassage out of Egypt, and a crown of the value of four thousand pieces of gold; and out of Judea there came another, whether you call it a vine or a garden; they called the thing Terpole, the Delight. However, we ourselves saw the present reposited at Rome, in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, with this inscription: The Gift of Alexander, the King of the Jews.' It was valued at five hundred talents; and the report is, that Aristobulus, the governor of the Jews, sent it." 2. In a little time afterward came ambassadors again to him, Antipater from Hyrcanus, and Nicodemus from Aristobulus; which last also accused such as had taken bribes; first Gabinius, and then Scaurus, the one three hundred talents, and the other four hundred; by which procedure he made these two his enemies, besides those he had before ; and when Pompey had ordered those that had controversies one with another to come to him in the beginning of the spring, he brought his army This "golden vine," or "garden," seen by Strabo at Rome, has its in-cription 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 co pies; 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 agreable 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, nor even Pompey himself, then have relished such a Bagrant instance of sacrilege. ther, he was deprived of the prerogative of his birth by Aristobulus, and that he had but a small part of the country under him, Aristobulus having taken away the rest from him by force. He also accused him, that the incursions which had been made in their neighbours' countries, and the piracies that had been at sea, were owing to him; and that the nation would not have revolted, unless Aristobulus had been a man given to violence and disorder and there were no fewer than a thousand Jews, of the best esteem among them, who confirmed this accusation; which confirmation was procured by Antipater; but Aristobulus alleged against him, that it was Hyrcanus's own temper, which was inactive, and on that account contempt ble, which caused him to be deprived of the government; and that for himself he was necessitated to take it upon him, for fear lest it should be transferred to others; and that as to his title [of king], it was no other than what his father had taken [before him]. He also called for witnesses of what he said, some persons who were both young aud insolent; whose purple garments, fine heads of hair, and other ornaments, were detested [by the court], and which they appeared in, not as though they were to plead their cause in a court of justice, but as if they were marching in a pompous procession. 3. When Pompey had heard the causes of these two, and had condemned Aristobulus for his violent procedure, he then spake civilly to them, and sent them away; and told them, that when he came affairs, after he had first taken a view of the affairs again into their country he would settle all their of the Nabateans. In the meantime, he ordered them to be quiet; and treated Aristobulus civilly, lest he should make the nation revolt, and hinder his return; which yet Aristobulus did; for without expecting any farther determination, which Pompey had promised them, he went to the city Delius, and thence marched into Judea. 4. At this behaviour Pompey was angry; and taking with him that army which he was leading against the Nabateans, and the auxiliaries that came from Damascus, and the other parts of Syria, with the other Roman legions which he had with him, he made an expedition against Aristobulus; but as he passed by Pella and Scythopolis, he came to Corea, which is the first entrance into Judea when one passes over the midland countries, where he came to a most beautiful fortress that was built on the top of a mountain called Alexandrium, whither Aristobulus had fled; and thence Pompey sent his commands to him, that he should come to him. Accordingly, at the persuasion of many that he would not make war with the Romans, he came down; and when he had disputed with his brother about the right to the government, he went up again to the citadel, as Pompey gave him leave to do; and this he did two or three times, as flattering himself with the hopes of having the kingdom granted him; so that he still pretended he would obey Pompey in whatsoever he commanded, although at the same time he retired to the fortress, that he might not depress himself too low, and that he might be prepared for a war, in case it should prove as he feared, that Pompey would transfer the government to Hyrcanus: but when Pompey enjoined Aristobulus to deliver up the fortresses he held, and to send an injunction to their governors under his own hand for that purpose, for they had been forbidden to deliver them up upon any other commands, he submitted indeed to do so; but still he retired in displeasure to Jerusalem, and made preparations for war. A little after this, certain persons came out of Pontus, and informed Pompey, as he was on the way, and conducting his army against Aristobulus, that Mithridates was dead, and was slain by his son Pharmaces. CHAPTER IV. HOW POMPEY, WHEN THE CITIZENS OF JERUSALEM SHUT THEIR GATES AGAINST HIM, BESIEGED THE CITY, AND TOOK IT BY FORCE; AND ALSO WHAT OTHER THINGS HE DID IN JUDEA. § 1. Now when Pompey had pitched his camp at Jericho (where the palm tree grows, and that balsam which is an ointment of all the most precious, which, upon any incision made in the wood with a sharp stone, distils out thence like a juice), he marched in the morning to Jerusalem. Hereupon Aristobulus repented of what he was doing, and came to Pompey, and [promised to] give him money, and received him into Jerusalem, and desired that he would leave off the war, and do what he pleased peaceably. So Pompey, upon his entreaty, forgave him, and sent Gabinius, and soldiers with him, to receive the money and the city: yet was no part of this performed; but Gabinius came back, being both excluded out of the city, and receiving none of the money promised, because Aris tobulus's soldiers would not permit the agreements • These express testimonies of Josephus here, and Antiq. b. viii. ch. vi. sect. 6, and b. xv. ch. iv. sect. 2, that the only balsam gardens, and the best palm-trees, were, at least in his days, near Jericho and Engaddi, about the north part of the Dead Sea (whereabout also Alexander the Great saw the balsam drop), show the mistake of those that under. stand Eusebius and Jerom, as if one of those gardens were at the south part of that sea, at Zoar or Begor, whereas they must either mean another Zoar or Segor, which was between Jericho and Engaddi, agreeably to Josephus; which yet they do not appear to do, or else they directly entradict Josephus, and were therein greatly mistaken: I mean this, unless that balsam, and the best palm-trees, grew much more southward in Juden in the days of Eusebius and Jerom than they did in the days of Josephus. to be executed. At this Pompey was very angry, and put Aristobulus into prison, and came himself to the city, which was strong on every side, excepting the north, which was not so well fortified, for there was a broad and deep ditch, that encompassed the city, and included within it the temple, which was itself encompassed about with a very strong stone wall. 2. Now there was a sedition of the men that were within the city, who did not agree on what was to be done in their present circumstances, while some thought it best to deliver up the city to Pompey; but Aristobulus's party exhorted them to shut the gates, because he was kept in prison. Now these prevented the others, and seized upon the temple, and cut off the bridge which reached from it to the city, and prepared themselves to abide a siege; but the others admitted Pompey's army in, and delivered up both the city and the king's palace to him. So Pompey sent his lieutenant Piso with an army, and placed garrisons both in the city and in the palace, to secure them, and fortified the houses that joined to the temple, and all those which were more distant and without it. And in the first place, he offered terms of accommodation to those that were within; but when they would not comply with what was desired, he encompassed all the places thereabout with a wall, wherein Hyrcanus did gladly assist him on all occasions; but Pompey pitched his camp within [the wall], on the north part of the temple, where it was most practicable; but even on that side there were great towers, and a ditch had been dug, and a deep valley begirt it round about, for on the parts towards the city were precipices, and the bridge on which Pompey had gotten in was broken down. However, a bank was raised, day by day, with a great deal of labour, while the Romans cut down materials for it from the places round about; and when this bank was sufficiently raised, and the ditch filled up, though but poorly, by reason of its immense depth, he brought his mechanical engines and battering-rams from Tyre, and placing them on the bank, he battered the temple with the stones that were thrown against it; and had it not been our practice, from the days of our forefathers, to rest on the seventh day, this bank could never have been perfected, by reason of the opposition the Jews would have made; for though our law gives us leave then to defend ourselves against those that begin to fight with us and assault us, yet does it not permit us to meddle with our enemies while they do any thing else. 3. Which thing when the Romans understood, on those days which we call Sabbaths, they threw nothing at the Jews, nor came to any pitched battle with them, but raised up their earthen banks, and brought their engines into such forwardness, that they might do execution the next days; and any one may hence learn how very great piety we exercise towards God, and the observance of his laws, since the priests were not at all hindered from .heir sacred ministrations, by their fear during this siege, but did still twice each day, in the morning and about the ninth hour, offer their sacrifices The particular depth and breadth of this ditch, where the stones for the wall about the temple were probably taken, are omitted in our copies of Josephus, but et down by Strabo, b. xvi, p. 763; from whom we learn, that this ditch was sixty feet deep, and two hundred and fifty fect 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 Josephua's description al o. on the altar; nor did they omit those sacrifices, if any melancholy accident happened, by the stones that were thrown among them; for although the city was taken on the third month, on the day of the fast, upon the hundred and seventy-ninth olympiad, when Caius Antonius and Marcus Tullius Cicero were consuls, and the enemy then fell upon them, and cut the throats of those that were in the temple, yet could not those that offered the sacrifices be compelled to run away, neither by the fear they were in of their own lives, nor, by the number that were already slain, as thinking it better to suffer whatever came upon them at their very altars, than to omit any thing that their laws required of them; and that this is not a mere brag, or an encomium to manifest a degree of our piety that was false, but is the real truth, I appeal to those that have written of the acts of Pompey; and among them, to Strabo and Nicolaus [of Damascus]; and besides these, to Titus Livius, the writer of the Roman History, who will bear witness of this thing.+ 4. But when the battering-engine was brought near, the greatest of the towers was shaken by it, and fell down, and broke down a part of the fortifications, so the enemy poured in apace; and Cornelius Faustus, the son of Sylla, with his soldiers, first of all ascended the wall, and next to him Furius the centurion, with those that followed, on the other part; while Fabius, who was also a centurion, ascended it in the middle, with a great body of men after him; but now all was full of slaughter; some of the Jews being slain by the Romans, and some by one another; nay, some there were who threw themselves down the precipices, or put fire to their houses, and burnt them, as not able to bear the miseries they were under. Of the Jews there fell twelve thousand; but of the Romans very few. Absalom, who was at once both uncle and fatherin-law to Aristobulus, was taken captive; and no small enormities were committed about the temple itself, which, in former ages, had been inaccessible, and seen by none; for Pompey went into it, and not a few of those that were with him also, and saw all that which was unlawful for any other men to see, but only for the high-priests. There were in that temple the golden table, the holy candle-stick, and the pouring vessels, and a great quantity of spices; and besides these there were among the treasures two thousand talents of sacred money; yet did Pompey touch nothing of all this,‡ on account of his regard to religion; and in this point also he acted in a manner that was worthy of his virtue. The next day he gave order to those that had the charge of the temple to cleanse it, and to bring what offerings the law required to God; and restored the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, both because he had been useful to him in other respects, and because he had hindered the Jews in the That is on the twenty-third 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. It deserves here to be noted, that this Pharisaical superstitious notion, that offensive fighting was unlawful to Jews, even under the ut most 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 Sossius, and by Titus, as appears from the places already quoted in the note on Antiq. b. xiii, ch. vili, sect. 1; which scrupulous superstition, as to the observation of such a rigorous rest upon the Sabbath-day, our Saviour always opposed, when the Pharisaical Jews insisted on it, as is evident in many places in the New Testa ment, though he still intimated how pernicious that superstition might prove to them in their flight from the Romans. Matt. xxv, 20. This is fully confirmed by the testimony of Cicero, who says, in his oration for Flaccus, That "Cneius Pompeius, when he was conqueror, and had taken Jerusalem, did not touch any thing belonging to that temple." country from giving Aristobulus any assistance in his war with him. He also cut off those that had been the authors of that war; and bestowed proper rewards on Faustus, and those others that mounted the wall with such alacrity; and he made Jerusalem tributary to the Romans; and took away those cities of Celesyria which the inhabitants of Judea had subdued, and put them under the government of the Roman president, and confined the whole nation, which had elevated itself so high before, within its own bounds. Moreover, he rebuilt Gadara, which had been demolished a little before,§ to gratify Demetrius of Gadara, who was his freed-man, and restored the rest of the cities, Hippos and Scythopolis, and Pella, and Dios, and Samaria, as also Marissa and Ashdod, and Jamnia, and Arethusa, to their own inhabitants: these were in the inland parts. Besides those that had been demolished, and also of the maritime cities, Gaza, and Joppa, and Dora, and Strato's Tower: which last Herod rebuilt after a glorious manner, and adorned with havens and temples; and changed its name to Cæsarea. All these Pompey left in a state of freedom, and joined them to the province of Syria. 5. Now the occasions of this misery which came upon Jerusalem were Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, by raising a sedition one against the other; for now we lost our liberty, and became subject to the Romans, and were deprived of that country which we had gained by our arms from the Syrians, and were compelled to restore it to the Syrians. Moreover, the Romans exacted of us, in a little time, above ten thousand talents; and the royal authority, which was a dignity formerly bestowed on those that were high-priests, by the right of their family, became the property of private men; but of these matters we shall treat in their proper places. Now Pompey committed Celesyria, as far as the river Euphrates and Egypt, to Scaurus, with two Roman legions, and then went away to Cilicia, and made haste to Rome. He also carried bound along with him Aristobulus and his children; for he had two daughters, and as many sons; the one of whom ran away; but the younger, Antigonius, was carried to Rome, together with his sisters. CHAPTER V. HOW SCAURUS MADE A LEAGUE OF MUTUAL ASSISTANCE WITH ARETAS; AND WHAT GABINIUS DID IN JUDEA, AFTER HE HAD CONQUERED ALEXANDER, THE SON OF ARISTOBULUS. § 1. SCAURUS made now an expedition against Petrea, in Arabia, and set on fire all the places round about it, because of the great difficulty of access to it; and as his army was pinched by famine, Antipater furnished him with corn out of Judea, and with whatever else he wanted, and this at the command of Hyrcanus; and when he was sent to Aretas as an ambassador, by Scaurus, because he had lived with him formerly, he persuaded Aretas, to give Scaurus a sum of money, to prevent the burning of his country; and undertook to be his surety for three hundred talents. So Scaurus, upon these terms, ceased to make war any longer : § Of this destruction of Gadara here presupposed, and its restoration by Pompey, see the note on the War, b. i. ch. vii, sect. 7 |