of his country, which do not permit any one to be killed, till he hath been condemned in judgment.

7. Now Hyrcanus was, by degrees, inflamed with these discourses, and at length could bear no longer, but summoned Herod to take his trial. Accordingly, by his father's advice, and as soon as the affairs of Galilee would give him leave, he came up to [Jerusalem,] when he had first placed garrisons in Galilee; however, he came with a sufficient body of soldiers, so many indeed that he might not appear to have with him an army able to overthrow Hyrcanus's government, nor yet so few as to expose him to the insults of those that envied him. However, Sextus Cæsar was in fear for the young man, lest he should be taken by his enemies, and brought to punishment; so he sent some to denounce expressly to Hyrcanus, that he should acquit Herod of the capital charge against him; who acquitted him accordingly, as being otherwise inclined also so to do, for he loved Herod.

8. But Herod, supposing that he had escaped punishment, without the consent of the king retired to Sextus, to Damascus, and got every thing ready in order not to obey him, if he should summon him again; whereupon those that were evil disposed irritated Hyrcanus, and told him, that Herod was gone away in anger, and was prepared to make war upon him; and as the king believed what they said, he knew not what to do, since he saw that his antagonist was stronger than he was himself. And now, since Herod was made general of Celosyria and Samaria by Sextus Cæsar, he was formidable, not only from the good-will which the nation bore him, but by the power he himself had; insomuch, that Hyrcanus fell into the utmost degree of terror, and expected he would presently march against him with his army.

9. Nor was he mistaken in the conjecture he made, for Herod got his army together, out of the anger he bore him for his threatening him with the accusation in a public court, and led it to Jerusalem, in order to throw Hyrcanus down from his kingdom: and this he had soon done, unless his father and brother had gone out together and broken the force of his fury, and this by exhorting him to carry his revenge no farther than to threatening and affrighting, but to spare the king, under whom he had been advanced to such a degree of power; and that he ought not to be so much provoked at his being tried, as to forget to be thankful that he was acquitted; nor so long to think upon what was of a melancholy nature, as to be ungrateful for his deliverance; and if we ought to reckon that God is the arbitrator of success in war, an unjust cause is of more disadvantage than an army can be of advantage; and that therefore he ought not to be entirely confident of success in a case where he is to fight against his king, his supporter, and one that had often been his benefactor, and that had never been severe to him, any otherwise than as he had hearkened to evil counsellors, and this no farther than by bringing a shadow of injustice upon him. So Herod was prevailed upon by these arguments, and supposed that what he had already done was sufficient for his future hopes, and that he had enough shown his power to the nation.

10. In the mean time, there was a disturbance among the Romans about Apamia, and a civil war occcasioned by the treacherous slaughter of Sextus Cæsar, by Cicilius Bassus, which he perpetrated out of his good-will to

*

• Many writers of the Roman history give an account of this murder of Sextus Cæsar, and of the war at Apamia upon that occasion. They are cited in Dean Aldrich's note.

Pompey; he also took the authority over his forces: but as the rest of Cæsar's commanders attacked Bassus with their whole army, in order to punish him for the murder of Cæsar, Antipater also sent them assistance by his sons, both on account of him that was murdered, and on account of that Cæsar who was still alive, both of whom were their friends; and as this war grew to be of a considerable length, Marcus came from Italy as successor to Sextus.

CHAP. XI.

Herod is made Procurator of all Syria: Malichus is afraid of him, and takes Antipater off hy Poison; whereupon the Tribunes of the Soldiers are prevailed with to kill him.

§ 1. THERE was at this time a mighty war raised among the Romans upon the sudden and treacherous slaughter of Cæsar by Cassius and Brutus, after he had held the government for three years and seven months.* Upon this murder there were very great agitations, and the great men were mightily at difference one with another, and every one betook himself to that party where they had the greatest hopes of advancing themselves. Accordingly, Cassius came into Syria, in order to receive the forces that were at Apamia, where he procured a reconciliation between Bassus and Marcus, and the legions which were at difference with him; so he raised the siege of Apamia, and took upon him the command of the army, and went about exacting tribute of the cities, and demanding their money to such a degree as they were not able to bear.

2. So he gave command that the Jews should bring in seven hundred talents whereupon Antipater, out of his dread of Cassius's threats, parted the raising of this sum among his sons, and among others of his acquaintance, and to be done immediately, and among them he required one Malichus, who was at enmity with him, to do his part also, which necessity forced him to do. Now Herod, in the first place, mitigated the passion of Cassius, by bringing his share out of Galilee, which was a hundred talents, on which account he was in the highest favour with him, and when he reproached the rest for being tardy, he was angry at the cities themselves; so he made slaves of Gophna and Emmaus, and two others of less note; nay, he proceeded as if he would kill Malichus, because he had not made greater haste in exacting his tribute; but Antipater prevented the ruin of this man, and of the other cities, and got into Cassius't favour, by bringing in a hundred talents immediately.

3. However, when Cassius was gone, Malichus forgot the kindness that Antipater had done him, and laid frequent plots against him that had saved him, as making haste to get him out of the way, who was an obstacle to his wicked practices; but Antipater was so much afraid of the power and cunning of the man, that he went beyond Jordan in order to get an

In the Antiquities, b. xiv. chap. xi. § 1. the duration of the reign of Julius Cæsar is three years six months; but here three years seven months, beginning rightly, says Dean Aldrich, from his second dictatorship. It is probable the real duration might be three years and between six and seven months.

It appears evidently by Josephus' accounts, both here and his Antiquities, b. xiv. chap. xi. 2. that this Cassius, one of Cæsar's murderers, was a bitter oppressor, and exactor of tribute in Judea; these 700 talents amount to about £300,000 sterling, and are about half the yearly revenues of king Herod afterwards. See the note on Antiq. b. xvii. chap. xi. § 4. It also appears that Galilee then paid no more than 100 talents, of the 7th part of the sum to be levied in all the country.

army to guard himself against his treacherous designs; but when Malichus was caught in his plot, he put upon Antipater's sons by his impudence, for he thoroughly deluded Phasaelus, who was the guardian of Jerusalem, and Herod who was entrusted with the weapons of war, and this by a great many excuses and oaths, and persuaded them to procure his reconciliation to their father. Thus was he preserved again by Antipater, who dissuaded Marcus, the then president of Syria, from his resolution of killing Malichus on account of his attempts for innovation.

4. Upon the war between Cassius and Brutus on one side, against the younger Cæsar [Augustus,] and Antony on the other, Cassius and Marcus got together an army out of Syria; and because Herod was likely to have a great share in providing necessaries, they then made him procurator of all Syria, and gave him an army of foot and horse. Cassius promised him also, that after the war was over, he would make him king of Judea; but it so happened that the power and hopes of his son became the cause of his perdition; for as Malichus was afraid of this, he corrupted one of the king's cupbearers with money, to give a poisoned potion to Antipater; so he became a sacrifice to Malichus's wickedness, and died at a feast. He was a man in other respects active in the management of affairs, and one that recovered the government to Hyrcanus, and preserved it in his hands.

5. However, Malichus, when he was suspected of poisoning Antipater, and when the multitude was angry with him for it, denied it, and made the people believe he was not guilty. He also prepared to make a great figure, and raised soldiers; for he did not suppose that Herod would be quiet, who indeed came upon him with an army presently, in order to revenge his father's death, but upon hearing the advice of his brother Phasaelus, not to punish him in an open manner, lest the multitude should fall into a sedition, he admitted of Malichus's apology, and professed that he cleared him of the suspicion; he also made a pompous funeral for his father.

6. So Herod went to Samaria, which was then in a tumult, and settled the city in peace; after which, at the [Pentecost] festival, he returned to Jerusalem, having his armed men with him; hereupon Hyrcanus, at the request of Malichus, who feared his approach, forbade them to introduce foreigners to mix themselves with the people of the country, while they were purifying themselves; but Herod despised the pretence, and him that gave that command, and came in by night. Upon which Malichus came to him, and bewailed Antipater: Herod also made him believe [he admitted of his lamentations as real], although he had much ado to restrain his passion at him; however, he did himself bewail the murder of his father, in his letters to Cassius, who, on other accounts, also hated Malichus; Cassius sent him word back that he should avenge his father's death upon him, and privately gave order to the tribunes that were under him, that they should assist Herod in a righteous action he was about.

7. And because, upon the taking of Laodicea by Cassius, the men of power were gotten together from all quarters, with presents and crowns in their hands, Herod allotted this time for the punishment of Malichus. When Malichus suspected that, and was at Tyre, he resolved to withdraw his son privately from among the Tyrians, who was a hostage there, while he got ready to fly away into Judea; the despair he was in of escaping excited him to think of greater things; for he hoped that he should raise the nation to a revolt from the Romans, while Cassius was busy about the

war against Antony, and that he should easily depose Hyrcanus, and get the crown for himself.

8. But fate laughed at the hopes he had; for Herod foresaw what he was so zealous about, and invited both Hyrcanus and him to supper; but calling one of the principal servants that stood by him, to him, he sent him out, as though it were to get things ready for supper, but in reality to give notice beforehand, about the plot that was laid against him; accordingly, they called to mind what orders Cassius had given them, and went out of the city with their swords in their hands upon the seashore, where they encompassed Malichus round about, and killed him with many wounds. Upon which Hyrcanus was immediately affrighted, till he swooned away, and fell down at the surprise he was in; and it was with difficulty that he was recovered, when he asked who it was that had killed Malichus? and when one of the tribunes replied that it was done by the command 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 spoke 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 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 avenge 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' 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 ;* and out of hatred to Herod it was that he assisted Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, and principally on Fabius' 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.

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.

175

3. When Herod had fought against these in the avenues of Judea, he was conqueror in the battle, drove away Antigonus, and returned to Jerusalem beloved by every body, for the glorious action 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 begot Antipater; so did he marry Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, and the grand-daughter of Hyrcanus, and was become thereby a relation of the king.

4. But when Cæsar 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, into Bithynia, the great men of the Jews came also, and accused Phasaleus 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 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." 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 a 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 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 seashore, and earnestly desired of those 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.

• Pbasaelus and Herod.