Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. He left his army with his principal commander Socius, whom he ordered to assist Herod on all occasions against his enemies. Having done this, Antony took his leave of Herod, and departed to Egypt; after which Socius, in obedience to his master's orders, gave Herod two legions for the guard of his person, with which he marched before, and Socius soon followed with the rest of his forces.

When Herod arrived at Daphne he received an account of his brother Joseph's defeat and death, upon which he resolved, if possible, to seek revenge on the enemy. For this purpose he hastened, with all expedition, to Mount Libanus, where he raised eight hundred of the natives, and with these, and the Roman forces, he marched towards Galilee, where the enemy, during his absence, had committed the most violent depredations. As soon as he came up with them, a battle ensued, in which Herod proved victorious, the enemy being entirely routed, and obliged to save themselves by flying to a strong castle which they had left the preceding day. This fortress Herod laid siege to, and the enemy defended themselves with great bravery for some time, till at length Herod's

deavored by signs and entreaties to divert the man from his purpose, but without effect: and that after he had slain his wife and sons, he first upbraided Herod, and then, in his presence, put a period to his own existence.

* Antony had been for some time enamored with Cleopatra, who, by the charms of her beauty and wit, had drawn him into those snares, which held him enslaved to her as long as he lived, and, in the end, caused his ruin. She was a woman of great parts, and spoke several languages very fluently. She was, however, a person greatly addicted to all kinds of vices, and of such insatiable avarice and ambition, that she would do any thing, however base and perfidious, that was likely to promote her interest. Her brother, a youth about fifteen years of age, she caused to be dispatched, and prevailed with Antony to have her sister Arsinoe cut off at Ephesus, even in the temple of Diana. Antony, indeed, was a man of a very agreeable temper, had a generous disposition, was an eloquent speaker, and a complete master in all military abilities. But he was a great libertine in his way, and so eager in the pursuit of his unlawful pleasures, that he stuck at nothing to obtain them, by which means he brought himself so absolutely under the command of this wicked and voluptuous woman, that (as Josephus expresses it) she seems not only to have captivated, but bewitched him

forces being joined by another company sent from Socius, the garrison were thrown into the utmost consternation, and not chusing to make any farther resistance, made their escape by the favor of the night.

Herod, impatient to revenge the death of his brother Joseph, now hastened, with all expedition, towards Jericho, in his way to which he met with a very unexpected accident. A party of six thousand of the enemy came suddenly down from the mountains, and resolutely falling on Herod's forces, the Romans were thrown into such a consternation that they immediately retreated: the enemy seeing this immediately pursued them, and a warm engagement took place, but no material victory was obtained on either side, only that Herod, during the action, received a slight wound by a random dart from the enemy.

A few days after this, Antigonus, hearing that Herod was hastily marching to Jerusalem, dispatched Pappus his general, with the main strength of his forces, to meet him and give him battle. The two armies accordingly met, when a desperate encounter ensued, in which Pappus's forces were entirely routed, himself, among many others, slain, and the rest obliged to seek their safety by a precipitate flight. The next day Herod caused the head of Pappus, by whom Joseph had been slain, to be cut off and sent to Pheroras, with a view of affording him some degree of consolation for the common loss they had sustained in the death of their brother Joseph.

Herod was so elated with this success, that he would have immediately led his victorious troops to Jerusalem, had not that expedition been rendered impracticable by the severity of the winter season; which was the only obstacle to his then obtaining a complete conquest over his enemies, and effectually ruining Antigonus, who was at that time (as afterwards appeared) actually making preparations for abandoning the city and kingdom.

On the opening of the next spring Herod marched with all his forces against Jerusalem, with a full resolution of either subduing it, or perishing in the attempt. His own army consisted of about 30,000 men, to which

Socius brought eleven legions of foot, and six thousand horse, besides the auxiliary troops of Syria. On his arrival before the city, he resolved to assault it in that quarter where Ptolemy, king of Egypt, had formerly made a successful attempt. He therefore assigned the officers their respective stations and duties, nominated a certain number of men to posts in the suburbs, ordered three ramparts to be raised before the walls, and strong towers to be erected thereon. Having made these preparations, and given the necessary commissions to persons, in whose diligence, courage and fidelity he knew he could confide, he began the assault on the northern quarter of the city, next the temple. Herod founded his right of making the attempt to divest Antigonus of the city of Jerusalem, and sovereignty of Judea, on the decree of the Roman Senate, by which he had been constituted king; and Socius urged that he was authorized, by the commission of Antony, to support Herod in the war.

Herod and Socius began the assault with such violence that the utmost consternation prevailed among the Jews throughout the city: great numbers of them assembled about the temple, lamenting their unhappy fate, while those who possessed more courage, paraded the town and places adjacent, seizing all the articles that were proper for the support of the soldiers, who were busily employed in counteracting the operations of the assailants.

During the siege the Jews surmounted every danger with the greatest alacrity, and, fearless of death, sustained a most resolute opposition; but it must be acknowledged that they were greatly surpassed by the Romans in point of military skill and address. By mining, in which they greatly excelled, and by surprizes, they frequently distressed the enemy where it was least expected: when their fortifications had received any injury they made the necessary reparations with surprizing dili

It is generally thought that a legion was composed of ten cohorts; a cohort of fifty maniples; a maniple of fifty men, and, consequently, that a legion was a body of six thousand soldiers; but others are of opinion, that a legion was an uncertain number, and contained sometimes four, sometimes fire, and sometimes six

thousand men.

gence; and, in short, with undaunted resolution they opposed fatigues, danger and difficulty, firmly persisting in their resolution of defending themselves to the last extremity.

After Herod's numerous army had continued the siege for nine months, a breach was made in the walls, and a select party of his most resolute troops, seconded by some of Socius's centurions, effected an entrance into the city. They immediately surrounded the temple, and in the mean time the rest of the army arriving, a general massacre ensued: no respect was paid either to sex or age, nor were even the lives of those spared who sought refuge in the temple. Herod enjoined his people, on their allegiance, to withhold their rage; but they were so irritated by the hardships they had sustained during the siege, that, abandoning every sentiment of humanity, they still continued the slaughter; and death triumphed in the most horrid forms.

The conduct of Antigonus was unworthy his exalted station. As soon as he saw that all was lost, he descended from the tower called Baris, and meanly threw himself at the feet of Socius, imploring mercy. Socius, considering his conduct as the highest act of meanness, and displaying a total want of courage, first treated him with contempt, and then put him in chains as his prisoner.

Though Herod had gained a complete victory over his enemies, yet he had still some more difficulties to encounter. The foreign auxiliaries, from a curiosity to see the things dedicated to God, violently crouded into the temple; upon which Herod remonstrated with them on the impropriety of their conduct, and besought them to desist from entering so sacred a place. But neither entreaties nor menaces had the least effect, upon which Herod was under the necessity of using force to repress their insolence, deeming it necessary, in this particular, to disappoint their designs, since if conquest was to prove the cause of the sacred privacies being exposed to common view, it would be a more unhappy event than if he had been defeated.

Herod being desirous that the city should not be plundered, informed Socius that, if the treasure was seized

and the town depopulated, he should be sovereign of a desert; and that he would not purchase the government of the universe at the expense of sacrificing the lives of his subjects. Socius told him, that after what the troops had undergone they would naturally expect some part of the pillage. Herod admitted the force of Socius's plea, and declared that every man should be duly recompenced out of his own private coffers. According to his promise, Herod rewarded the private soldiers, and the officers, in proportion to their respective stations and deserts, and presented Socius with gifts worthy the regal character: in short, the liberality and munificence he displayed on this occasion afforded universal satisfaction.

Socius, after making a handsome present for the service of the temple, departed from Jerusalem, taking with him the pusillanimous Antigonus, as his prisoner, to Antony, and leaving the courageous Herod in full possession of the sovereignty of Judea.

Antony had no design of taking away the life of Antigonus, but Herod not thinking himself safe in his kingdom so long as this remainder of the royal family continued alive, so repeatedly solicited Antony to put him to death, that he at length complied with his request, and sentenced Antigonus to the loss of his head.

With this prince ended the reign of the famous and illustrious house of the Asmoneans (illustrious in itself for the long continuance of the regal and sacerdotal succession in it, and no less famous for the many signal services which they and their ancestors had, from time to time, done the public) after it had subsisted from the beginning of Judas Maccabeus to the death of Antigonus, which was a space of one hundred and twenty-eight