Page images
PDF
EPUB

own thoughts and inclinations; and wast desirous to take "the part that remained away from thy too indulgent father, and soughtest to destroy him with thy deeds, whom thou " in words pretendest to preserve. Nor wast thou content "to be wicked thyself, but thou filledst thy mother's head "with thy devices, and raised disturbances among thy bre"thren, and hadst the boldness to call thy father a wild beast; "while thou hadst thyself a mind more cruel than any serpent, whence thou sendest out that poison among thy "nearest kindred and greatest benefactors, and invitedst "them to assist thee and guard thee, and didst hedge thy"self in on all sides by the artifices of both men and women, "against an old man; as though that mind of thine was not sufficient of itself to support so great an hatred as thou "baredst to him. And here thou appearest after the tortures

66

[ocr errors]

of free men, of domestics, of men and women, which have "been examined on thy account, and after the informations "of thy fellow conspirators, as making haste to contradict "the truth; and hast thought on ways not only how to take "thy father out of the world, but to disannul that written "law which is against thee, and the virtue of Varus, and the "nature of justice; nay, such is that impudence of thine on "which thou confidest, that thou desirest to be put to the "torture thyself, while thou allegest, that the tortures of "those already examined thereby have made them tell lies; "that those that have been the deliverers of thy father, may not be allowed to have spoken the truth; but that thy tortures may be esteemed the discoverers of truth. Wilt not "thou, O Varus, deliver the king from the injuries of his "kindred? Wilt not thou destroy this wicked wild beast, "which hath pretended kindness to his father, in order to "destroy his brethren; while yet he is himself alone ready

66

[ocr errors]

to carry off the kingdom immediately, and appears to be "the most bloody butcher to him of them all? For thou art "sensible, that parricide is a general injury both to nature "and to common life; and that the intention of parricide is "not inferior to its preparation; and he who does not punish "it, is injurious to nature itself.'

[ocr errors]

6. Nicolaus added farther what belonged to Antipater's mo-ther, and whatsoever she had prattled like a woman; as also about the predictions and the sacrifices relating to the king; and whatsoever Antipater had done lasciviously in his cups and his amours among Pheroras's women; the examination úpon torture; and whatsoever concerned the testimonies of the witnesses, which were many, and of various kinds; some prepared before-hand, and others were sudden answers, which farther declared and confirmed the foregoing evidence. For

those men who were not acquainted with Antipater's practices, but had concealed them out of fear, when they saw that he was exposed to the accusations of the former witnesses, and that his great good fortune, which had supported him hitherto, had now evidently betrayed him into the hands of his enemies, who were now insatiable in their hatred to him, told all they knew of him. And his ruin was now hastened, not so much by the enmity of those that were his accusers, as by his gross, and impudent, and wicked contrivances, and by his ill-will to his father and his brethren; while he had filled their house with disturbance, and caused them to murder one another; and was neither fair in his hatred, nor kind in his friendship, but just so far as served his own turn. Now, there were a great number who for a long time before hand had seen all this, and especially such as were naturally disposed to judge of matters by the rules of virtue, because they were used to determine about affairs without passion, but had been restrained from making any open complaints before; these, upon the leave now given them, produced all that they knew before the public. The demonstrations also of these wicked facts could no way be disproved because the many witnesses there were did neither speak out of favour to Herod, nor were they obliged to keep what they had to say silent, out of suspicion of any danger they were in; but they spake what they knew, because they thought such actions very wicked, and that Antipater deserved the greatest punishment; and indeed not so much for Herod's safety, as on account of the man's own wickedness. Many things were also said, that those by a great number of persons, who were no way obliged to say them; insomuch, that Antipater, who used generally to be very shrewd in his lies and impudence, was not able to say one word to the contrary. When Nicolaus had left off speaking, and had produced the evidence, Varus bid Antipater to betake himself to the making his defence, if he had prepared any thing whereby it might appear that he was not guilty of the crimes he was accused of; for that, as he was himself desirous, so did he know that his father was in like manner desirous also to have him found entirely innocent. But Antipater fell down on his face, and appealed to God, and to all men, for testimonials of his innocency, desiring that God would declare by some evident signals, that he had not laid any plot against his father. This being the usual method of all men destitute of virtue, that, when they set about any wicked undertakings, they fall to work according to their own inclinations, as if they believed that God was unconcerned in human affairs; but when once they are found out, and are in danger of undergoing the punishment due to their crimes,

they endeavour to overthrow all the evidence against them, by appealing to God; which was the very thing which Antipater now did for whereas he had done every thing as if there were no God in the world, when he was on all sides distressed by justice, and when he had no other advantage to expect from any legal proofs, by which he might disprove the accusations laid against him, he impudently abused the majesty of God, and ascribed it to his power, that he had been preserved hitherto; and produced before them all what difficulties he had ever undergone in his bold acting for his father's preservation.

7. So when Varus, upon asking Antipater what he had to say for himself, found that he had nothing to say besides his appeal to God, and saw that there was no end of that, he bid them bring the potion before the court, that he might see what virtue still remained in it; and when it was brought, and one that was condemned to die had drank it by Varus's command, he died presently. Then Varus got up, and departed out of the court, and went away the day following to Antioch, where his usual residence was, because that was the palace of the Syrians; upon which Herod laid his son in bonds. But what were Varus's discourses to Herod, was not known to the generality, and upon what words it was that he went away; though it was also generally supposed, that whatsoever Herod did afterward about his son, was done with his approbation. But, when Herod had bound his son, he sent letters to Rome to Cæsar about him, and such messengers withal as should, by word of mouth, inform Cæsar of Antipater's wickedness. Now, at this very time there was seized a letter of Antiphilus, written to Antipater out of Egypt (for he lived there); and, when it was opened by the king, it was found to contain what follows: "I have sent thee Acme's letter, and hazarded my own life; for "thou knowest that I am in danger from two families, if I "be discovered. I wish thee good success in thy affair." These were the contents of this letter; but the king made enquiry about the other letter also, for it did not appear, and Antiphilus's slave, who brought that letter which had been read, denied that he had received the other. But, while the king was in doubt about it, one of Herod's friends seeing a seam upon the inner coat of the slave, and a doubling of the cloth (for he had two coats on), he guessed that the letter might be within that doubling, which accordingly proved to be true. So they took out the letter, and its contents were these: "Acme to Antipater. I have written such 66 a letter to thy father as thou desirest me. I have also "taken a copy, and sent it, as if it came from Salome to

[ocr errors]

66

[ocr errors]

my lady [Livia]; which, when thou readest, I know that "Herod will punish Salome, as plotting against him." Now this pretended letter of Salome's to her lady was composed by Antipater, in the name of Salome, as to its real meaning, but in the words of Acme. The letter was this: " Acme "to king Herod. I have done my endeavour that nothing "that is done against thee should be concealed from thee. "So, upon my finding a letter of Salome written to my "lady against thee, I have written out a copy, and sent it "thee; with hazard to myself, but for thy advantage. The reason why she wrote it was this, that she had a mind to "be married to Sylleus. Do thou therefore tear this letter "in pieces, that I may not come into danger of my life." Now Acme had written to Antipater himself, and informed him that, in compliance with his command, she had both herself written to Herod, as if Salome had laid a sudden plot entirely against him, and had herself sent a copy of an epistle, as coming from Salome to her lady. Now Acme was a Jew by birth, and a servant to Julia, Caesar's wife; and did this out of her friendship for Antipater, as having been corrupted by him with a large present of money, to assist in his pernicious designs against his father and his

aunt.

8. Hereupon Herod was so amazed at the prodigious wickedness of Antipater, that he was ready to have ordered him to be slain immediately, as a turbulent person in the most important concerns, and as one that had laid a plot not only against himself, but against his sister also, and even corrupted Cæsar's own domestics. Salome also provoked him to it, beating her breast, and bidding him kill her, if he could produce any credible testimony that she had acted in that manner. Herod also sent for his son, and asked him about this matter, and bid him contradict it if he could, and not suppress any thing he had to say for himself; and, when he had not one word to say, he asked him, since he was every way caught in his villany, that he would make no farther delay, but discover his associates in these his wicked designs. So he laid all upon Antiphilus; but discovered nobody else. Hereupon Herod was in such great grief, that he was ready to send his son to Rome to Cæsar, there to give an account of these his wicked contrivances. But he soon became afraid, lest he might there, by the assistance of his friends, escape the danger he was in: so he kept him bound as before, and sent more ambassadors and letters [to Rome] to accuse his son and an account of what assistance Acme had given him in his wicked designs, with copies of the epistles before-mentioned

[ocr errors]

CHAP. VI.

Concerning the disease that Herod fell into, and the sedition which the Jews raised thereupon; with the punishment of the seditious.

$ 1. Now Herod's ambassadors made haste to Rome; but went as instructed before hand, what answers they were to make to the questions put to them. They also carried the epistles with them. But Herod now fell into a distemper, and made his will, and bequeathed his kingdom to [Antipas] his youngest son; and this out of that hatred to Archelaus and Philip, which the calumnies of Antipater had raised against them. He also bequeathed a thousand talents to Cæsar, and five hundred to Julia, Caesar's wife, to Cæsar's children, and friends and freed-men. He also distributed among his sons and their sons, his money, his revenues, and his lands. He also made Salome his sister very rich, because she had continued faithful to him in all his circumstances, and was never so rash as to do him any harm: and as he despaired of recovering, for he was about the seventieth year of his age, he grew fierce, and indulged the bitterest anger upon all occasions; the cause whereof was this, that he thought himself despised, and that the nation was pleased with his misfortunes; besides which, he resented a sedition which some of the lower sort of men excited against him, the occasion of which was as follows:

2. There was one Judas, the son of Saripheus, and Matthias, the son of Margalothus, two of the most eloquent men among the Jews, and the most celebrated interpreters of the Jewish laws, and men well beloved by the people, because of their education of their youth; for all those that were studious of virtue, frequented their lectures every day. These men, when they found that the king's distemper was incurable, excited the young men that they would pull down all those works which the king had erected contrary to the law of their fathers, and thereby obtain the rewards which the law will confer on them for such actions of piety; for that it was truly on account of Herod's rashness in making such things as the law had forbidden, that his other misfortunes, and this distemper also, which was so unusual among mankind, and with which he was now afflicted, came upon him: for Herod had caused such things to be made, which were contrary to the law, of which he was accused by Judas and Matthias; for the king had erected over the great gate of the temple a large golden eagle, of great value, and had dedicated it to the

« PreviousContinue »