alacrity and good-will to him, when the fuperior lords [the Romans fhould have given him a complete title to the kingdom; for that it fhould be his ftudy to appear in all things better than his father,"

2. Upon this the multitude were pleafed, and presently made a trial of what he intended by asking great things of him; for fome made a clamour that he would eafe them in their taxes, others, that he would take off the duties upon commodities, and fome, that he would loose those that were in prifon; in all which cafes he answered readily to their fatisfaction, in order to get the good-will of the multitude; after which he of fered the proper] facrifices, and feafted with his friends. And here it was that a great many of thofe that defired innovations came in crowds towards the evening, and began then to mourn on their own account, when the public mourning for the king was over. Thefe lamented thole that were put to death by Herod, because they had cut down the golden eagle that had been over the gate of the temple. Nor was this mourning of a private nature, but the lamentations were very great, the mourning folemn, and the weeping fuch as was loudly heard all over the city, as being for thofe men who had perifhed for the laws of their country, and for the temple. They cried out, that a punishment ought to be inflicted for these men upon thofe that were honoured by Herod, and that, in the first place, the man whom he had made high-prieft fhould be deprived, and that it was fit to choose a perfon of greater piety and purity than he was.

3. At thefe clamours Archelaus was provoked, but restrained himfelt from taking vengeance on the authors on account of the hafte he was in of going to Rome, as fearing left, upon his making war on the multitude, fuch an action might detain him at home. Accordingly he made trial to quiet the innovators by perfuafion, rather than by force, and fent his general in a private way to them and by him exhorted them to be quiet. But the feditious threw ftones at him, and drove him away as he came into the temple, and before he could say any thing to them. The like treatment they fhewed to others, who came to them after him, many of which were fent by Archelaus, in order to reduce them to fobriety, and these anfwered ftill on all occafions after a paffionate manner; and it openly appeared that they would not be quiet, if their numbers were but confiderable. And indeed, at the feast of unleavened bread, which was now at hand, and is by the Jews called the Paflover, and ufed to be clebrated with a great number of facrifices, an innumerable multitude of the people came out of the country to worship: Some of thefe flood in the temple bewailing the rabbins, that had been put to death] and procured their fuftenance by begging, in order to fupport their fedition. At this Archelaus was affrighted, and privately fent a tribune, with his cohort of foldiers, upon them, before the

disease should spread over the whole multitude, and gave orders that they should conftrain those that began the tumult by force, to be quiet. At these the whole multitude were irritated, and threw ftones at many of the foldiers, and killed them: But the tribune fled away wounded, and had much ado to efcape fo. After which they betook themselves to their facrifices, as if they had done no mischief ; nor did it appear to Archelaus that the multitude could be restrained without bloodfhed; fo he fent his whole army upon them, the footmen in great multitudes by the way of the city, and the horsemen by the way of the plain, who, falling upon them on the fudden, as they were offering their facrifices deftroyed about three thousand of them; but the reft of the multitude were difperfed upon the adjoining mountains; these were followed by Archelaus's heralds, who commanded every one to retire to their own homes, whither they all went, and left the festival.

CHA P. II.

Archelaus goes to Rome with a great number of his kindred. He is there accufed before Calar by Antipater; but is fuperior to his accufers in judgment, by the means of that defence which Nicolaus made for him.

§ 1. ARCHELAUS Weis friends. Poplat, and peo with his mother and his friends. Poplas, and Ptolemy, and Nicolaus, and left behind him Philip, to be his fteward in the palace, and to take care of his domeftic affairs. Salome went also along with him with her fons, as did also the king's brethren and fons-in-law. Thefe, in appearance, went to give him all the affiftance they were able, in order to fecure his fucceffion, but in reality to accufe him for his breach of the laws, by what he had done at the temple.

2. But as they were come to Cefarea, Sabinus, the procurator of Syria, met them: He was going up to Judea, to fecure Herod's effects: But Varus, [prefident of Syria], who was come thither, reftrained him from going any farther. This Varus Archelaus had fent for, by the earnest entreaty of Ptolemy. At this time indeed, Sabinus, to gratify Varus, neither went to the citadels, nor did he fhut up the treafuries where his father's money was laid up, bat promifed that he would lie ftill, until Caefar fhould have taken cognizance of the affair, So he abode at Cefarea; but as soon as thofe that were his hindrance were gone, when Varus was gone to Antioch, and Archelaus was failed to Rome, he immediately went on to Jerufalem, and feized upon the palace. And when he had called for the governors of the citadels, and the stewards [of the king's private affairs), he tried to lift out the accounts of the money, and to take poffeffion of the citadels. But the VOL. III.

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governors of thofe citadels were not unmindful of the commands laid upon them by Archelaus, and continued to guard them, and faid, the cuftody of them rather belonged to Cæfar, than to Archelaus:

3. In the mean time Antipas went alfo to Rome, to ftrive for the kingdom, and to infift that the former teftament wherein he was named to be the king; was valid before the latter teftament. Salome had alfo promifed to affift him, as had many of Arcelaus's kindred, who failed along with Archelaus himfelf alfo. He alfo carried along with him his mother, and Ptolemy, the brother of Nicolaus, who feemed one of great weight, on account of the great truft Herod put in him, he' having been one of his moft honoured friends. However, Antipas depended chiefly upon Ireneus, the orator; upon whofe authority he had rejected fuch as advised him to yield to Archelaus, because he was his elder brother, and because the fecond testament gave the kingdom to him. The inclina tions alfo of all Archelaus's kindred, who hated him, were removed to Antipas, when they came to Rome, although in the first place every one rather defired to live under their own laws, without a king], and to be under a Roman governor; but if they fhould fail in that point, thefe deûred that Antipas might be their king

4 Sabinus did alfo afford thefe his affiftance to the fame purpose by the letters he fent, werein he accufed Archelaus before Cæfar, and highly commended Antipas. Salome alfo, and those with her, put the crimes which they accufed Archelaus of in order, and put them into Cæfar's hands: And after they had done that, Archelaus wrote down the reasons of his claim, and, by Ptolemy, fent in his father's accounts. And when Cæfar had maturely weighed by himself what both had to alledge for themselves, as alfo had confidered of the great burden of the kingdom, and largeness of the revenues, and withal the number of the children Herod had left behind him, and had moreover read the letters he bad received from Varus and Sabinus on this occafion, he affembled the principal perfons among the Romans together, (in which affembly Caius, the fon of Agrippa, and his daughter Julias, but by himself adopted for his own fon, fat in the first feat), and gave the pleaders leave to speak.

5. Then ftood up Salome's fon Antipater, who of all Archelaus's antagonists was the fhrewdeft pleader), and accused him in the following fpeech: "That Archelaus did in words contend for the kingdom, but that in deeds he had long exercifed royal authority, and fo did but infult æfar in defiring. to be now heard on that account; fince he had not ftaid for. his determination about the fucceffion, and fince he had fuborned certain perfons, after Herod's death, to move for putting the diadem upon his head; fince he had fet himself down in the throne, and given anfwers as a king, and altered the

difpofition of the army, and granted to fome higher dignities: That he had alfo complied in all things with the people in the requests they had made to him as to their king, and had alfo difmiffed thofe that had been put into bonds by his father, tor most important reafons. Now, after all this he defires the fhadow of that royal authority, whofe fubftance he had already feized to himfelt, and fo hath made Cæfar lord, not of things .but of words He allo reproached him farther, that his mour ning for his father was only pretended, while he put on a fad countenance in the day time but drank to great excels in the night, from which behaviour, he said, the late disturbance among the multitude came, while they had an indignation therea. And indeed the purport of his whole difcourfe was toaggravate Archelaus's crime in flaying fuch a multitude about the temple, which multitude came to the feftival, but were barbarioufly flain in the midst of their own facrifi. Ces; and he faid, there was fuch a vast number of dead bodies heaped together in the temple, as even a foreign war, that thould come upon them fuddenly], before t was denounced, could not have heaped together. And he added, that it was the forefight his father had of that his barbarity, which made him never give him any hopes of the kingdom, but when his mind was more infirm than his body, and he was not able to reason foundly, and did not well know what was the character of that fon, whom in his fecond tefta. ment he made his fucceffors; and this was done by him ata time when he had no complaints to make of him whom he had named before when he was found in body, and when his mind was free from all paffion. That, however, if any one should fuppole Herod's judgment, when he was fick, was fuperior to that at another time, yet had Archelaus forfeited his kingdom by his own behaviour, and those his actions which were contrary to the law, and to its difadvantage. Or what fort of a king will this man be, when he hath obtained the govern ment from Cæfar, who hath flain fo many before he hath ob. tained it."

6. When Antipater had spoken largely to this purpose, and had produced a great number of Archelaus's kindred as witneffes, to prove every part of the accufation, he ended his difcourfe. Then ftood up Nicolaus to plead for Archelaus. He alledged, That "the laughter in the temple could not be avoided; that thofe that were flain were become enemies not to Archelaus's kingdom only, but to Cæfar, who was to determine obout him. He allo demonftrated, that Archelaus's accufers had adviled him to perpetrate other things of which he might have been accused. But he infifted that the latter teftament fhould, for this reafon above all others, be efteemed valid, because Herod had therein appointed Cæfar to be the person who fhould confirm the fucceffion; for he who shewed Tuch prudence as to recede from his own power, and yield in up to the Lord of the world, cannot be fuppofed miltaken it

his judgment about him that was to be his heir; and he that fo well knew whom to choose for arbitrator of the fucceffion, could not be unacquainted with him whom he chofe for his fucceffor."

7. When Nicolaus had gone through all he had to fay, Archelaus came, and fell down before Cæfar's knees, without any noife. Upon which he raised him up, after a very obli ging manner, and declared, that truly he was worthy to fucceed his father. However, he ftill made no firm determination in his cafe ; but when he had difmiffed thofe affeffors that had been with him that day, he deliberated by himself about the allegations which he had heard whether it were fit to conftitute any of those named in the teftaments for Herod's fuc ceffor, or whether the government fhould be parted among all his pofterity, and this becaufe of the number of thofe that feemed to ftand in need of fapport therefrom.

CHA P. II.

1

The Jews fight a great Battle with Sabinus's Soldiers, and a great Deftruction is made at Jerufalem.

§ 1. NOW before Cæfar had determined. any thing about thefe affairs, Malthace, Archelaus's mother, fell fick and died. Letters alto were brought out of Syria from Varus, about a revolt of the Jews. This was foreseen by Varus, who accordingly, after Archelaus was failed went up. to Jerufalem to reftrain the promoters of the fedition, fince it was manifeft that the nation would not be at reft; fo he left one. of thofe legions which he brought with him out of Syria in the city, and went himself to Antioch. But Sabinus came, after he was gone, and gave them an occafion of making innovations; for he compelled the keepers of the citadels to deliver them up to him, and made a bitter fearch after the king's money, as depending not only on the foldiers which were left by Varus, but on the multitude of his own fervants, all which he armed and ufed as the inftruments of his covetoufnefs. Now when that feast, which was obferved after leven weeks, and which the Jews call Pentecoft (i. e. the 50th day) was at hand, its name being taken from the number of the days [after the pallover], the people got together, but not on account of the accuffomed divine worthip, but of the indignation they had [at the prefent ftate of affairs]. Wherefore an immenfe multitude ran together out of Galilee, and Idumea, and Jericho, and Perea, that was beyond Jordan; but the people that naturally belonged to Judea itfelt were above the reft, both in number, and in the alacrity of the men. So they diftributed themselves into three parts, and pitched their camps