kindness thou hast showed me, though with those hazards to thyself, which thou underwentest under Tiberius on that account; nor hast thou omitted any thing to show thy good will towards us, even beyond thy ability, whence it would be a base thing for me to be conquered by thy affection. I am therefore desirous to make thee amends for every thing, in which I have been any way formerly de ficient, for all that I have bestowed on thee, that may be called my gifts, is bu little. Every thing that may contribute to thy happiness shall be at thy service, and that cheerfully, and so far as my ability will reach." And this was what Caius said to Agrippa, thinking he would ask for some large country, or the revenues of certain cities. But although he had prepared beforehand what he would ask, yet had he not discovered his intentions, but made this answer to Caius immediately: That "it was not out of any expectation of gain that he formerly paid his res pects to him, contrary to the commands of Tiberius, nor did he now do any thing relating to him out of regard to his own advantage, and in order to receive any thing from him; that the gifts he had already bestowed upon him were great, and beyond the hopes of even a craving man; for although they may be beneath thy power [who art the donor,] yet are they greater than my inclination and dig. nity, who am the receiver." And as Caius was astonished at Agrippa's inclina. tions, and still the more pressed him to make his request for somewhat which he might gratify him with, Agrippa replied, "Since thou, O my lord, declarest such is thy readiness to grant, that I am worthy of thy gifts, I will ask nothing relating to my own felicity; for what thou hast already bestowed on me has made me excel therein but I desire somewhat which may make thee glorious for piety, and render the divinity assistant to thy designs, and may be for an honour to me among those that inquire about it, as showing that I never once fail of obtaining what I desire of thee; for my petition is this, That thou wilt no longer think of the dedication of that statue which thou hast ordered to be set up in the Jewish temple by Petronius."

8. And thus did Agrippa venture to cast the die upon this occasion, so great was the affair in his opinion, and in reality, though he knew how dangerous a thing it was to speak; for had not Caius approved of it, it nad tended to no less than the loss of his life. So Caius, who was mightily taken with Agrippa's obli ging behaviour, and on other accounts thinking it a dishonourable thing to be guilty of falsehood before so many witnesses, in points wherein he had with such alacrity forced Agrippa to become a petitioner, and that it would look as if he had already repented of what he had said, and because he greatly admired Agrippa's virtue, in not desiring him at all to augment his own dominions, either with larger revenues, or other authority, but took care of the public tranquillity, of the laws, and of the divinity itself, he granted him what he had requested. He also wrote thus to Petronius, "commending him for assembling his army, and then consult. ing him about those affairs. If therefore, said, he, thou hast already erected my statue, let it stand; but if thou hast not yet dedicated it, do not trouble thyself farther about it, but dismiss thy army, go back, and take care of those affairs which I sent thee about at first; for I have now no occasion for the erection of that statue. This I have granted as a favour to Agrippa, a man whom I honour so very greatly that I am not able to contradict what he would have, or what he desired me to do for him." And this was what Caius wrote to Petronius, which was before he received his letter, informing him that the Jews were very ready to revolt about the statue, and that they seemed resolved to threaten war agains the Romans, and nothing else. When therefore Caius was much displeased that any attempt should be made against his government, as he was a slave to base and Vicious actions, on all occasions, and had no regard to what was virtuous and honourable, and against whomsoever he resolved to show his anger, and that for any cause whatsoever, he suffered not himself to be restrained by any admonition, but thought the indulging his anger to be real pleasure, he wrote thus to Petronius: "Seeing thou esteemest the presents made thee by the Jews to be of greater value

that my commands, and art grown insolent enough to be subservient to their pleasure, I charge thee to become thy own judge, and to consider what thou art to do, now thou art under my displeasure; for I will make thee an example to the present and to all future ages, that they may not dare to contradict the commands of their emperor." 9. This was the epistle which Caius wrote to Petronius, but Petronius did not receive it while Caius was alive; that ship which carried it sailing so slow, that other letters came to Petronius before this, by which he understood that Caius was dead; for God would not forget the dangers Petronius had undertaken on account of the Jews, and of his own honour. But when he had taken away Caius out of his indignation of what he had so insolently attempted in assuming to himself divine worship, both Rome and all that dominion conspired with Petronius, especially those that were of the senatorian order, to give Caius his due reward, because he had been unmercifully severe to them; for he died not long after he had written to Petronius that epistle which threatened him with death. But as for the occasion of his death, and the nature of the plot against him, I shall relate them in the progress of this narration. Now that epistle which informed Petronius of Caius's death came first, and a little afterward came that which commanded him to kill himself with his own hands. Whereupon he rejoiced at this coincidence as to the death of Caius, and admired God's providence, who without the least delay, and immediately, gave him a reward for the regard he had to the temple, and the assistance he afforded the Jews for avoiding the dangers they were in. And by this means Petronius escaped that dan ger of death which he could not foresee.

CHAP. IX.

What befell the Jews that were in Babylon, on Occasion of Asineus and Anileus, two Brethren.

§ 1. A VERY sad calamity now befell the Jews that were in Mesopotamia, and especially those that dwelt in Babylonia. Inferior it was to none of the calami. ues which had gone before, and came together with a great slaughter of them, and that greater than any upon record before: concerning all which I shall speak accurately, and shall explain the occasions whence these miseries came upon them. There was a city of Babylonia called Neerda; not only a very populous one, but one that had a good and large territory about it, and, besides its other advantages, full of men also. It was, besides, not easily to be assaulted by enemies, from the river Euphrates encompassing it all around, and from the walls that were built about it. There was also the city Nisibis, situate on the same current of the river. For which reason the Jews, depending on the natural strength of these places, deposited in them that half shekel which every one, by the custom of our country, offers unto God, as well as they did other things devoted to him; for they made use of these cities as a treasury, whence, at a proper time, they were transmitted to Jerusalem; and many ten thousand men undertook the carriage of those donations, out of fear of the ra vages of the Parthians, to whom the Babylonians were then subject. Now there were two men, Asineus and Anileus, of the city Neerda by birth, and brethren to one another. They were destitute of a father, and their mother put them to learn the art of weaving curtains, it not being esteemed a disgrace among them for men to be weavers of cloth. Now he that taught them that art, and was set over them, complained that they came too late to their work, and punished them with stripes; but they took this just punishment as an affront, and carried off all the weapons which were kept in that house, which were not a lew; and went into a certain place where was a partition of the rivers, and

was a place naturally very fit for the feeding of cattle, and for preserving such fruits as were usually laid up against winter. The poorest sort of the young men also resorted to them, whom they armed with the weapons they had gotten, and became their captains; and nothing hindered them from being their leaders into mischief; for as soon as they were become invincible, and had built them a citadel, they sent to such as fed cattle, and ordered them to pay them so much tribute out of them as might be sufficient for their maintenance; proposing also that they would be their friends, if they would submit to them, and that they would defend them from all their other enemies on every side, but that they would kill the cattle of those that refused to obey them. So they hearkened to their proposals (for they could do nothing else,) and sent them as many sheep as were required of them; whereby their forces grew greater, and they became lords over all they pleased, because they marched suddenly, and did them a mis. chief; insomuch that every body who had to do with them chose to pay them respect, and they became formidable to such as came to assault them, till the report about them came to the ears of the king of Parthia himself.

2. But when the governor of Babylonia understood this, and had a mind to put a stop to them, before they grew greater, and before greater mischiefs should arise from them, he got together as great an army as he could, both of Parthians and Babylonians, and marched against them, thinking to attack them and destroy them, before any one should carry them the news that he had got an army to gether. He then encamped at a lake, and lay still; but on the next day (it was the Sabbath, which is among the Jews a day of rest from all sorts of work,) he supposed that the enemy would not dare to fight him thereon, but that he should take them and carry them away prisoners without fighting. He therefore pro. ceeded gradually, and thought to fall upon them on the sudden. Now Asineus was sitting with the rest, and their weapons lay by them; upon which he said, "Sirs, I hear a neighing of horses; not of such as are feeding, but such as have men on their backs: I also hear such a noise of their bridles, that I am afraid that some enemies are coming upon us to encompass us round. However, let some. body go to look about, and make report of what reality there is in the present* state of things; and may what I have said prove a false alarm." And when he said this, some of them went out to spy out what was the matter, and they came again immediately and said to him, that "neither hast thou been mistaken in telling us what our enemies were doing, nor will those enemies permit us to be injurious to people any longer. We are caught by their intrigues like brute beasts, and there is a large body of cavalry marching upon us, while we are destitute of hands to defend ourselves withal, because we are restrained from doing it by the prohibition of our law, which obliges us to rest [on this day."] But Asineus did not by any means agree with the opinion of his spy as to what was to be done, but thought it more agreeable to the law to pluck up their spirits in this necessity they were fallen into, and break their law by avenging themselves, although they should die in the action, than by doing nothing to please their enemies in submitting to be slain by them. Accordingly he took up his weapons, and infused courage into those that were with him to act as courageously as himself. So they fell upon their enemies, and slew a great many of them, because they despised them, and came as to a certain victory, and put the rest to flight.

3. But when the news of this fight came to the king of Parthia, he was sur prised at the boldness of these brethren, and was desirous to see them, and speak with them. He therefore sent the most trusty of all his guards to say thus to them: "That king Artabanus, although he hath been unjustly treated by you, who have made an attempt against his government, yet hath he more regard to

Er is here, and in very many other places of Josephus, immediately at hand, and is to te so expounded, 2 Thess. ii. 2, when some falsely pretended that St. Paul had said, either by word of mouth, or by an epistle, or by both, that the day of Christ was immediately at hand; for still St. Paul did er plainly think that day not very many years future

your courageous behaviour than to the anger he bears to you, and hath sent me to give his right hand and security, and he permits you to come to him safely, and without any violence upon the road; and he wants to have you address your. selves to him as his friends, without meaning any guile or deceit to you. He also promises to make you presents, and to pay you those respects which will make an addition of his power to your courage, and thereby be of advantage to you." Yet did Asineus himself put off his journey thither, but sent his brother Anileus with all such presents as he could procure. So he went, and was ad mitted to the king's presence; and when Artabanus saw Anileus coming alone, he inquired into the reason why Asineus avoided to come along with him; and when he understood that he was afraid, and staid by the lake, he took an oath by the gods of his country, that he would do them no harm, if they came to him upon the assurances he gave them, and gave him his right hand. This is of the greatest force there with all these barbarians, and affords a firm security to those who converse with them; for none of them will deceive you, when once they have given you their right hands, nor will any one doubt of their fidelity when that is once given, even though they were before suspected of injustice. When Artabanus had done this, he sent away Anileus to persuade his brother to come to him. Now this the king did, because he wanted to curb his own governors of provinces by the courage of these Jewish brethren, lest they should make a league with them; for they were ready for a revolt, and were disposed to rebel, had they been sent on an expedition against them. He was also afraid, lest when he was engaged in a war in order to subdue those governors of provinces that had revolted, the party of Asineus, and those in Babylonia, should be augmented, and either make war upon him, when they should hear of that revolt, or, if they should be disappointed in that case, they would not fail of doing further mischief to him.. 4. When the king had these intentions, he sent away Anileus, and Anileus, prevailed on his brother [to come to the king,] when he had related to him the king's good will, and the oath that he had taken. Accordingly they made haste to go to Artabanus, who received them, when they were come, with pleasure, and admired Asineus's courage in the actions he had done; and this because he was a little man to see to, and at first sight appeared contemptible also, and such as one might deem a person of no value at all. He also said to his friends, how, upon the comparison, he showed his soul to be in all respects superior to his body, and when, as they were drinking together, he once showed Asineus to Abdagases, one of the generals of his army, and told him his name, and described the great courage he was of in war, and Abdagases had desired leave to kill him, and thereby to inflict on him a punishment for those injuries he had done to the Parthian government, the king replied, "I will never give thee leave to kill a man who hath depended on my faith; especially not after I have sent him my right hand, and endeavoured to gain his belief by oaths made by the gods. But if thou beest a truly warlike man, thou standest not in need of my perjury. Go thou, then, and avenge the Parthian government; attack this man, when he is returned back, and conquer him by the forces that are under thy command, without my privity." Hereupon the king called for Asineus, and said to him, "It is time for thee, O thou young man, to return home, and not provoke the indignation of my generals in this place any farther, lest they attempt to murder thee, and that without my approbation. I commit to thee the country of Babylonia in trust, that it may, by thy care, be preserved free from robbers, and from other mischiefs. I have kept my faith inviolable to thee, and that not in trifling affairs, but in those that concerned thy safety, and do therefore deserve thou shouldst be kind to me." When he had said this, and given Asineus some presents, he sent him away im.

The joining of the right hands was esteeined among the Persians [and Parthians] in particular, most inviolable obligation to fidelity, as Dr. Hudson here observes, and refers to the commentary on Jus Ln, B. xi. ch. xv. for its confirmation. We often meet with the like use of it in Josephus.

See the eceding note.

mediately; who, when he was come home, built fortresses, and became great a little time, and managed things with such courage and success, as no other person, that had no higher a beginning, ever did before him. Those Parthian governors also, who were sent that way, paid him great respect; and the honour that was paid him by the Babylonians seemed to them too small, and beneath his deserts, although he were in no small dignity and power there: nay, indeed, all the affairs of Mesopotamia depended upon him, and he more and more flourished in this happy condition of his for fifteen years.

5. But as their affairs were in so flourishing a state, there sprang up a calamity among them on the following occasion. When once they had deviated from that course of virtue whereby they had gained so great power, they affronted and transgressed the laws of their forefathers, and fell under the dominion of their lusts and pleasures. A certain Parthian, who came as general of an army into those parts, had a wife following him, who had a vast reputation for other accom plishments, and particularly was admired above all other women for her beauty, Anileus, the brother of Asineus, either heard of that her beauty from others, of perhaps saw her himself also, and so became at once her lover and her enemy, partly because he could not hope to enjoy this woman but by obtaining power over her as a captive, and partly because he thought he could not conquer his in clinations for her; as soon therefore as her husband had been declared an enemy to them, and was fallen in the battle, the widow of the deceased was married to this her lover. However, this woman did not come into their house without pro ducing great misfortunes both to Anileus himself, and to Asineus also; but brought great mischiefs upon them on the occasion following, Since she was led away captive, upon the death of her husband, she concealed the images of those gods which were their country gods, common to her husband and to herself: now it is the custom* of that country for all to have the idols they worship in their own houses, and to carry them along with them when they go into a foreign land; agreeably to which custom of theirs, she carried her idols with her. Now at first she performed her worship to them privately, but when she was become Anileus's married wife, she worshipped them in her accustomed manner, and with the same appointed ceremonies which she used in her former husband's days; upon which their most esteemed friends blamed him at first that he did not act after the man ner of the Hebrews, nor perform what was agreeable to their laws, in marrying a foreign wife, and one that transgressed the accurate appointments of their sacri fices and religious ceremonies: that he ought to consider, lest by allowing himself in many pleasures of the body, he might lose his principality, on account of the beauty of a wife, and that high authority which, by God's blessing, he had arrived at. But when they prevailed not at all upon him, he slew one of them for whom he had the greatest respect, because of the liberty he took with him; who, when he was dying, out of regard to the laws imprecated a punishment upon his murderer Anileus, and upon Asineus also, and that all their companions might come to a like end from their enemies; upon the two first, as the principa actors of this wickedness, and upon the rest as those that would not assist him when he suffered in the defence of their laws. Now these latter were sorely grieved, yet did they tolerate these doings, because they remembered that they had arrived at their present happy state by no other means than their fortitude. But when they also heard of the worship of those gods whom the Parthians adore, they thought that the injury that Anileus offered to their laws was to be borne no longer; and a great number of them came to Asineus, and loudly complained of

This custom of the Mesopotamians to carry their household gods along with them wherever they travelled is as old as the days of Jacob, when Rachel his wife did the same, Gen. xxxi. 19, 30-35; not sit to pass here unobserved, what great miseries came on these Jews, because they suffered one of their leaders to marry an idolatrous wife, contrary to the law of Moses. Of which matter, see the note o x:x ch.. Y sect 3.