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this flattering Antipater could do, even what Salome in the like circumstances could not do; for when she who was his sister, and who, by the means of Julia, Cesar's wife, earnestly desired leave to be married to Sylleus the Arabian, Herod swore he would esteem her his bitter enemy, unless she would leave off that project; he also caused her, against her own consent, to be married to Alexas, a friend of his, and that one of her daughters should be married to Alexas's son, and the other to Antipater's uncle by the mother's side. And for the daughters the king had by Mariamne, the one was married to Antipater, his sister's son, and the other to his brother's son, Phasaleus.

CHAP. XXIX.

Antipater becomes intolerable. He is sent to Rome, and carries Herod's testament with him. Pheroras leaves his brother, that he may keep his wife. He dies at home.

§ 1. Now when Antipater had cut off the hopes of the

orphans, and had contracted such affinities as would be most for his own advantage, he proceeded briskly, as having a certain expectation of the kingdom, and as he had now assurance added to his wickedness, he became intolerable; for not being able to avoid the hatred of all people, he built his security upon the terror he struck into them. Pheroras also assisted him in his designs, looking upon him as already fixed in the kingdom. There was also a company of women in the court, which excited new disturbances; for Pheroras's wife, together with her mother and sister, as also Antipater's mother, grew very impudent in the palace. She also was so insolent as to affront the king's two daughters, on which account the king hated her to a great degree; yet although these women were hated by him, they domineered over others; there was only Salome who opposed their good agreement, and informed the king of their meetings, as not being for the advantage of his affairs. And when those women knew what calamities she had raised against them, and how much Herod was displeased, they left off their public meetings, and friendly entertainments of one another; nay, on the contrary, they pretended to quarrel one with another when the king was within hearing. The like dissimulation did Antipater make use of; and when matters were public, he opposed Pheroras; but still they had private cabals, and

*These daughters of Herod, whom Pheroras's wife affronted, were Salome and Roxane, two virgins, who were born to him of his two wives, Elpide and Phedra. See Herod's genealgoy, Antiq. B. XVII. ch, i. § 3.

merry meetings in the night time; nor did the observation of others do any more than confirm their mutual agreement. However, Salome knew every thing, they did, and told every thing to Herod.

2. But he was inflamed with anger at them, and chiefly at Pheroras's wife; for Salome had principally accused her. So he got an assembly of his friends and kindred together, and there accused this woman of many things, and particularly of the affronts she had offered his daughters; and that she had supplied the Pharisees with money, by way of rewards for what they had done against him, and had procured his brother to become his enemy, by giving him love potions. At length be turned his speech to Pheroras, and told him, That "he would give him his choice of these two things, whether "he would keep in with his brother, or with his wife." And when Pheroras said, that he would die * rather than forsake his wife, Herod not knowing what to do farther in that matter, turned his speech to Antipater, and charged him to have no intercourse either with Pheroras's wife or with Pheroras himself, or with any one belonging to her. Now though Antipater did not transgress that his injunction publicly, yet did he in secret come to their night-meeting; and because he was afraid that Salome observed what he did, he procured, by the means of his Italian friends, that he might go and live at Rome; for when they wrote that it was proper for Antipater to be sent to Cæsar for some time, Herod made no delay, but sent him, and that with a splendid attendance, and a great deal of money, and gave him his testament to carry with him, wherein Antipater had the kingdom bequeathed to him, and wherein Herod was named for Antipater's successor; that Herod, I mean, who was the son of Mariamne, the high priest's daughter.

3. Sylleus also, the Arabian sailed to Rome, without any regard to Cæsar's injunctions, and this in order to oppose Antipater with all his might, as to that law-suit which Nicolaus had with him before. This Sylleus had also a great contest with Aretas, his own king; for he had slain many others of Aretas's friends, and particularly Sohemus, the most potent

*This strange obstinacy of Pheroras, in retaining his wife, who was one of a low family, and refusing to marry one nearly related to Herod, though he so earnestly desired it, as also that wife's admission to the counsels of the other great court ladies, together with Herod's own importunity as to Pheroras's di vorce and other marriage, all so remarkable here, or in the Antiq. B. XVII. ch, ii. sect. 4. and ch. iii, sect. 3. cannot be well accounted for, but on the supposal that Pheroras believed, and Herod suspected, that the Pharisees prediction, as if the crown of Judea should be translated from Herod to Pheroras's posterity; and that most probably to Pheroras's posterity by this his wife, also would prove true. See Antiq. B. XVII. ch.Ni. sect. 4. and ch. iii. sect. 1.

man in the city Petra. Moreover, he had prevailed with Phabatus, who was Herod's steward, by giving him a great sum of money, to assist him against Herod; but when Herod gave him more, he induced him to leave Sylleus, and by his means he demanded of him all that Cæsar had required of him to pay. But when Sylleus paid nothing of what he was to pay, and did also accuse Phabatus to Cæsar, and said, that he was not a steward for Cæsar's advantage, but for Herod's, Phabatus was angry at him on that account, but was still in very great esteem with Herod, and discovered Sylieus's grand secrets, and told the king that Sylleus had corrupted Corinthus, one of the guards of his body, by bribing him, and of whom he must therefore have a care. Accordingly the king complied; for this Corinthus, though he were brought up in Herod's kingdom, yet was he by birth an Arabian: so the king ordered him to be taken up immediately; and not only him, but two other Arabians who were caught with him; the one of them was Sylleus's friend, the other the head of a tribe. These last being put to the torture, confessed that they had prevailed with Corinthus, for a large sum of money, to kill Herod; and when they had been farther examined before Saturninus, the president of Syria, they were sent to Rome.

4. However, Herod did not leave off importuning Pheroras, but proceeded to force him to put away his wife; yet could he not devise any way by which he could bring the woman herself to punishment, although he had many causes of hatred to her; till at length he was in such great uneasiness at her, that he cast both her and his brother out of his kingdom. Pheroras took this injury very patiently, and went away into his own tetrarchy [Perea beyond Jordan] and sware that there should be but one end put to his flight, and that should be Herod's death; and that he would never return while he was alive. Nor indeed would he return when his brother was sick, although he earnestly sent for him to come to him, because he had a mind to leave some injunctions with him before he died; but Herod unexpectedly recovered. A little afterward Pheroras himself fell sick, when Herod shewed great moderation; for he came to him, and pitied his case, and took care of him; but his affection for him did him no good, for Pheroras died a little afterward. Now though Herod had so great an affection for him to the last day of his life, yet was a report spread abroad that he had killed him by poison. However, he took care to have his dead body carried to Jerusalem, and appointed a very great mourning to the whole nation for him, and bestowed a

most pompous funeral upon him. And this was the end that one of Alexander's and Aristobulus's murderers came to.

CHAP. XXX.

When Herod made enquiry about Pheroras's death, a discovery was made that Antipater had prepared a poisonous draught for him. Herod casts Doris and her accomplices, às also Mariamne out of the palace, and blots her son Herod out of his testament.

§ 1. BUT now the punishment was transferred unto the

§. !.

original author Antipater, and took its rise from the death of Pheroras: for certain of his freed-men came with a sad countenance to the king, and told him, That " his brother had "been destroyed by poison, and that his wife had brought

him somewhat that was prepared after an unusual manner, "and that, upon his eating it, he presently fell into his dis"temper: that Antipater's mother and sister, two days be"fore, brought a woman out of Arabia that was skilful in

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mixing such drugs, that she might prepare a love-potion "for Pheroras; and that instead of a love-potion, she had given him deadly poison; and that this was done by the management of Sylleus, who was acquainted with that woman."

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2. The king was deeply affected with so many suspicions, and had the maid-servants, and some of the free-women also, tortured; one of which cried out in her agonies, "May that "God, that governs the earth and the heaven, punish this "author of all these our miseries, Antipater's mother!" The king took a handle from this confession, and proceeded to enquire farther into the truth of the matter. So this woman discovered the friendship of Antipater's mother to Pheroras and Antipater's women, as also their secret meetings, and that Pheroras and Antipater had drunk with them for a whole night together as they returned from the king, and would not suffer any body, either man-servant or maid-servant, to be there; while one of the free women discovered the matter.

3. Upon this Herod tortured the maid-servants, every one by themselves separately, who all unanimously agreed in the foregoing discoveries, and that accordingly by agreement they went away, Antipater to Rome, and Pheroras to Perea ; for that they oftentimes talked to one another thus, "That

after Herod had slain Alexander and Aristobulus, he would "fall upon them and upon their wives, because, after he had "not spared Mariamne and her children, he would spare no"body; and that for this reason it was best to get as far off

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"the wild beast as they were able." And that Antipater oftentimes lamented his own case before his mother, and said to her, That " he had already grey hairs upon his head, and "that his father grew younger again every day, and that per"haps death would overtake him before he should begin to "be a king in earnest; and that, in case Herod should die, "which yet nobody knew when it would be, the enjoyment "of the succession could certainly be but for a little time "for that these heads of Hydra, the sons of Alexander and "Aristobulus, were growing up: that he was deprived by his "father of the hopes of being succeeded by his children; "for that his successor after his death was not to be any one of "his own sons, but Herod, the son of Mariamne: that in this "point Herod was plainly distracted, to think that his testa"ment should therein take place; for he would take care "that not one of his posterity should remain, because he was of all fathers the greatest hater of his children. Yet "does he hate his brother still worse; whence it was that he " a while ago gave himself an hundred talents, that he should "not have any intercourse with Pheroras. And when Pheroras "said, wherein have we done him any harm; Antipater re"plied, I wish he would but deprive us of all we have, and "leave us naked and alive only; but it is indeed impossible "to escape this wild beast, who is thus given to murder, "who will not permit us to love any person openly, although "we be together privately; yet may we be so openly too, if 66 we have but the courage and the hands of men."

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4. These things were said by the women upon the torture; as also that Pheroras resolved to fly with them to Perea. Now Herod gave credit to all they said on account of the affair of the hundred talents; for he had had no discourse with any body about them, but only with Antipater. So he vented his anger first of all against Antipater's mother, and took away from her all the ornaments which he had given her, which cost a great many talents, and cast her out of the palace a second time. He also took care of Pheroras's women after their tortures, as being now reconciled to them; but he was in great consternation himself, and inflamed upon every suspicion, and had many innocent persons led to the torture out of his fear, lest he should leave any guilty person untortured.

5. And now it was that he betook himself to examine Antipater of Samaria, who was the steward of [his son] Antipater; and upon torturing him he learned, that Antipater had sent for a potion of deadly poison for him out of Egypt, by Antiphilus a companion of his; that Theudio, the uncle of Antipater, had it from him, and delivered it to Pheroras;

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