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 unworthy of all sorts of calamity, for begetting such childreu, 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 Cæsar, and made them envied by other kings, I found them plotting against me; these have been put to death, and that. in a 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 of: 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 to them, that could equal what I have done to Antipater? to whom I have, in a manner, yielded up my royal authority 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 hundred talents, and recommended him, and him alone of all my children, to Cæsar, 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 secure 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 any 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 I am 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 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 conccaled from the Judge of heaven, who sees all things, and is present every where? or did I not 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 a 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 rise 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 Cæsar, the ruler of the habitable earth, who oftentimes called me Philopater.* Take here the letters he has 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 lamentations 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 A lover of his father.

VOL. II.

Q

large accusation against him, ascribing all the wickedness that had been in the kingdom to him, 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 defence; 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 Cæsar, went away after a day's stay. The king also bound Antipater, and sent away to inform Cæsar 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, Cæsar'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's 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 an account to Cæsar 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 Archelaus and Philip, because Antipater had blasted their reputations with him; but he bequeathed to Cæsar, 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.

CHAP. XXXIII.

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 almost seventy years of age, and had been brought low by the calamities that happened to him about his children, whereby he had no p'easure 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 [Jeru salem], who were thought the most skilful 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 Matthias, the son of Magalus. 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 death by a disease, before that which is the result of a virtuous behaviour.

3. At the same time that these men made this speech to their disciples, a rumour 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.*

* Since in these two sections we have an evident account of the Jewish opinions in the days of Josephus, about a future happy state, and the resurrection of the dead, as in

4. At this the king was in such an extravagant passion, that he overcame his disease [for the time,] and went out, and spoke to the people; wherein he made a terrible accusation against those men, as being guilty of sacrilege, and as making greater attempts under pretence 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 tuis 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 the 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 his parts with various symptoms; for there was a great fever upon him, and an intolerable itching over all the surface of his body, and continual pains in his colon, and dropsical tumours 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 of recovery, and considered of several methods of cure. Accordingly, he went over Jordan, and made use of those hot baths at Callirhoe, which run into the lake of Asphaltitis, but are themselves sweet enough to be drunk. And here the physicians thought proper to bathe his whole body in warın oil, by letting it down into a large ves el full of oil; whereupon his eyes failed him, and he came and went as if he were 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 drachmæ apiece, 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

the New Testament, John xi. 24. I shall here refer to the other places in Josephus, before he became an Ebionite Christian, which concern the same matters. Of the War, b. ii. chap. viii. § 10, 11. b. iii. chap. viii. § 4. b. vii. chap. vi. § 7. Contr. Apion. b. ii. § 30. where we may observe, that none of these passages are in his Books of Antiquities, written peculiarly for the use of the Gentiles, to whom he thought it not proper to insist on topics so much out of their way as these were. Nor is this observation to be omitted here, especially on account of the sensible difference we have now before us in Josephus' representation of the arguments used by the Rabbins to persuade their scholars to hazard their lives for the vindication of God's law against images, by Moses, as well as of the answers those scholars made to Herod, when they were caught, and ready to die for the same; I mean as compared with the parallel arguments and answers represented in the Antiquities, b. xvii. chap. vi. § 2, 3. A like difference between Jewish and Gentile notions, the reader will find in my notes on Antiquities, b. iii. chap. vii. § 7. b. xv. chap. ix. § 1. See the like also, in the case of the three Jewish sects in the Antiquities, b. xiii. chap. v. § 9. and chap. x. § 4. and 5 b. xviii. chap. i. § 5. and compared with this in his Wars of the Jews, b. ii. chap. viii. § 2-14. Nor does St. Paul himself reason to the Gentiles at Athens, Acts xvii. 16, 34. as he does to the Jews, in his epistles.