5. When he heard that his grand secret was discovered, he was like a dis tracted man, and said, that Joseph would never have disclosed that injunction of his, unless he had debauched her. His passion also made him stark mad, and leaping out of his bed, he ran about the palace after a wild manner; at which time his sister Salome took the opportunity also to blast her reputation, and confirmed his suspicion about Joseph; whereupon, out of his ungovernable jealousy and rage, he commanded both of them to be slain immediately; but as soon as ever his passion was over, he repented of what he had done, and as soon as his anger was worn off, his affections were kindled again. And, indeed, the flame of his desires for her was so ardent, that he could not think she was dead, but would appear under his disorders to speak to her as if she were still alivé, till he were better instructed by time, when his grief and trouble, now she was dead, appeared as great as his affection had been for her while she was living

CHAP. XXIII.

Calumnies against the Sons of Mariamne. Antipater is preferred before them. They are accused before Cæsar, and Herod is reconciled to them.

§ 1. Now Mariamne's sons were heirs to that hatred which had been borne their mother; and when they considered the greatness of Herod's crime towards her, they were suspicious of him as of an enemy of theirs; and this first while they were educated at Rome, but still more when they were returned to Judea. This temper of theirs increased upon them as they grew up to be men; and when they were come to an age fit for marriage, the one of them married their aunt Saome's daughter, which Salome had been the accuser of their mother; the other married the daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia. And now they used boldness in speaking, as well as bore hatred in their minds. Now those that calumniated them took a handle from such their boldness, and certain of them spake now more plainly to the king that there were treacherous designs laid against him by both his sons, and he that was son-in-law to Archelaus, relying upon his father-in-law, was preparing to fly away, in order to accuse Herod before Cæsar: and when Herod's head had been long enough filled with these calumnies, he brought Antipater whom he had by Doris into favour again, as a defence to him against his other sons, and began all the ways he possibly could to prefer him before them.

2. But these sons were not able to bear this change in their affairs; but when they saw him that was born of a mother of no family, the nobility of their birth made them unable to contain their indignation; but whensoever they were un easy, they showed the anger they had at it. And as these sons did day after day improve in that their anger, Antipater already exercised all his own abilities, which were very great, in flattering his father, and in contriving many sorts of calumnies against his brethren; while he told some stories of them himself, and put it upon other proper persons to raise other stories against them, till at length he entirely cut his brethren off from all hopes of succeeding to the kingdom; for he was already publicly put into his father's will as his successor. Accordingly, he was sent with royal ornaments and other marks of royalty, to Cæsar, excepting the diadem. He was also able in time to introduce his mother again into Mariamne's bed. The two sorts of weapons he made use of against his brethrer were flattery and calumny, whereby he brought matters privately to such a pass, that the king had thoughts of putting his sons to death.

3. So the father drew Alexander as far as Rome, and charged him with an

did not now reproach Herod with this his first injunction to Joseph to kill her, if he himself were slam by Antony, but that he had given the like command a second time to Soemus also, when he was raid of being slain by Augustus, Ant. B. xv, ch. iii. sect. 5.

attempt of poisoning him before Cæsar. Alexander could hardly speak for la mentation; but having a judge that was more skilful than Antipater, and more wise than Herod, he modestly avoided laying any imputation upon his father, but with great strength of reason confuted the calumnies laid against him: and when e had demonstrated the innocency of his brother, who was in the like danger with himself, he at last bewailed the craftiness of Antipater, and the disgrace they were under. He was enabled also to justify himself, not only by a clear conscience, which he carried within him, but by his eloquence; for he was a shrewd man in making speeches. And upon his saying at last, that if his father objected this crime to them, it was in his power to put them to death, he made all the audience weep; and he brought Cæsar to that pass as to reject the accusations, and to reconcile their father to them immediately. But the conditions of this reconciliation were these, that they should in all things be obedient to their father, and that he should have the power to leave the kingdom to which of them he pleased.

4. After this the king came back from Rome, and seemed to have forgiven his sons upon these accusations; but still so that he was not without his suspicions of them. They were followed by Antipater, who was the fountain head of those accusations; yet did not he openly discover his hatred to them, as revering him that had reconciled them. But as Herod sailed by Cilicia, he touched at Eleusa,* were Archelaus treated them in the most obliging manner, and gave him thanks for the deliverance of his son-in-law, and was much pleased at their reconciliation; and this the more, because he had formerly written to his friends at Rome, that they should be assisting to Alexander at his trial. So he conducted Herod as far as Zephyrium, and made him presents to the value of thirty talents. 5. Now when Herod was come to Jerusalem, he gathered the people together, and presented to them his three sons, and gave them an apologetic account of his absence, and "thanked God greatly, and thanked Cæsar greatly also, for settling his house when it was under disturbances, and had procured concord among his sons, which was of greater consequence than the kingdom itself, and which I will render still more firm; for Cæsar hath put it into my power to dispose of the government, and to appoint my successor. Accordingly, in way of requital for his kindness, and in order to provide for mine own advantage I do de. clare that these three sons of mine shall be kings. And in the first place, I pray for the approbation of God to what I am about; and in the next place, I desire your approbation also. The age of one of them, and the nobility of the other two, shall procure them the succession. Nay, indeed, my kingdom is so large, that it may be sufficient for more kings. Now do you keep those in their places whom Cæsar hath joined and their father hath appointed; and do not you pay undue or unequal respects to them, but to every one according to the prerogative of their births; for he that pays such respects unduly will thereby not make him that is honoured beyond what his age requires so joyful as he will make him that is dishonoured sorrowful. As for the kindred and friends that are to con verse with them, I will appoint them to each of them, and will so constitute them, that they may be securities for their concord; as well knowing that the ill tempers of those with whom they converse will produce quarrels and contentions among them; but that, if these with whom they converse be of good tempers, they will preserve their natural affections for one another. But still I desire, that not these only, but all the captains of my army, have for the present their hopes placed on me alone; for I do not give away my kingdom to these my sons, but give them royal honours only; whereby it will come to pass, that they will en joy the sweet parts of government as rulers themselves, but that the burden of ad.

That this island Eleusa, afterward called Sebaste, near Cilicia, had in it the royal palace of this archelaus, king of Cappadocia, Strabo testifies, B. xv. p. 671. Stephanus of Byzantium also calls it "An island of Cilicia, which is now Sebaste;" both whose testimonies are pertinently cited here by Dr Hudson. See the same history, Antiq. B. xvi. ch. x. sect 7

ministration will rest upon myself whether I will or not. And let every one consider what age I am of, how I have conducted my life, and what piety I have exercised; for my age is not so great that men may soon expect the end of my life; nor have I indulged such a luxurious way of living as cuts men off when they are young and we have been so religious towards God, that we [have reason to hope we] may arrive at a very great age. But for such as cultivate a friendship with my sons, so as to aim at my destruction, they shall be punished by me on their account. I am not one who envy my own children, and, therefore, forbid men to pay them great respect; but I know that such [extravagant] respects are the way to make them insolent. And if every one that comes near them does but revolve this in his mind, that if he prove a good man, he shall receive a reward from me, but that if her ve seditious, his ill intended complaisance shall get him nothing from him t whom it is shown; I suppose they will all be of my side, that is, of my sons side; for it will be for their advantage that I reign, and that I be at concor with them. But do you, O my good children, reflect upon the holiness of nature itself, by whose means natural affection is preserved even among wild beasts: in the next place, reflect upon Cæsar, who hath made this reconciliation among us; and, in the third place, reflect upon me, who entreat you to do what I have power to command you; con tinue brethren. I give you royal garments and royal honours; and I pray to God to preserve what I have determined, in case you be at concord one with another." When the king had thus spoken, and had saluted every one of his sons after an obliging manner, he dismissed the multitude; some of which gave their assent to what he had said, and wished it might take effect accordingly; but for those who wished for a change of affairs, they pretended they did not so much as hear what he said.

CHAP. XXIV.

The Malice of Antipater and Doris. Alexander is very uneasy on Glaphyra's Ac count. Herod pardons Pheroras whom he suspected, and Salome whom he knew to make Mischief among them. Herod's Eunuchs are tortured, and

and

Alexander is bound.

§ 1. But now the quarrel that was between them still accompanied these bretr. ren when they parted, and the suspicions they had one of the other grew worse Alexander and Aristobulus were much grieved that the privilege of the first-bor was confirmed to Antipater; as was Antipater very angry at his brethren that they were to succeed him. But then this last being of a disposition that was mutable and politic, he knew how to hold his tongue, and used a great deal of cunning, and thereby concealed the hatred he bore to them; while the former, depending on the nobility of their births, had every thing upon their tongues which was in their minds. Many also there were who provoked them farther, many of their [seeming] friends insinuated themselves into their acquaintance to spy out what they did. Now every thing that was said by Alexander was presently brought to Antipater, and from Antipater it was brought to Herod with additions. Nor could the young man say any thing, in the simplicity of his heart, without giving offence, but what he said was still turned to calumny against him. And if he had been at any time a little free in his conversation, great imputations were forged from the smallest occasions. Antipater also was perpetually setting some to provoke him to speak, that the lies he raised of him might seem to have some foundation of truth; and if among the many stories that were given out, but one of them could be proved true, that was supposed to imply the rest to be true also. And as to Antipater's friends, they were all either naturally so cau uous in speaking, or had been so far bribed to conceal their thoughts, that nothing

of these grand secrets got abroad by their means. Nor should one be mistaken if he called the life of Antipater a mystery of wickedness; for he either corrupted Alexander's acquaintance with money, or got into their favour by flatteries; by which two means he gained all his designs, and brought them to betray their master, and to steal away, and reveal what he either did or said. Thus did he act a part very cunningly in all points, and wrought himself a passage by his calumnies with the greatest shrewdness; while he put on a face as if he were a kind brother to Alexander and Aristobulus, but suborned other men to inform of what they did to Herod. And when any thing was told against Alexander, he would come in, and pretend [to be of his side,] and would begin to contradict what was said; but would afterward contrive matters so privately, that the king should have an indignation at him. His general aim was this, to lay a plot, and to make it believed that Alexander lay in wait to kill his father; for nothing afforded so great a confirmation to these calumnies as did Antipater's apologies for him.

2. By these methods Herod was inflamed, and as much as his natural affection to the young men did every day diminish, so much did it increase towards Antipater. The courtiers also inclined to the same conduct, some of their own ac cord and others by the king's injunction, as particularly did Ptolemy, the king's dearest friend, as also the king's brethren and all his children; for Antipater was all in all and what was the bitterest part of all to Alexander, Antipater's mother was also all in all she was one that gave counsel against them, and was more harsh than a stepmother, and one that hated the queen's sons more than is usual to hate sons-in-law. All men did, therefore, already pay their respects to Antipater, in hopes of advantage; and it was the king's command which alienated every body [from the brethren,] he having given this charge to his most intimate friends, that they should not come near, nor pay any regard to Alexander or tu his friends. Herod was also become terrible, not only to his domestics about the court, but to his friends abroad; for Cæsar had given such a privilege to ne other king as he had given to him, which was this, that he might fetch back any ane that fled from him, even out of a city that was not under his own jurisdiction. Now the young men were not acquainted with the calumnies raised against them; for which reason they could not guard themselves against them, but fell under them; for their father did not make any public complaints against either of them though in a little time they perceived how things were by his coldness to them, and by the great uneasiness he showed upon any thing that troubled him Antipater had also made their uncle Pheroras to be their enemy, as well as their aunt Salome, while he was always talking with her, as with a wife, and irritating her against them. Moreover, Alexander's wife, Glaphyra, augmented his hatred against them, by deriving her nobility and genealogy [from great persons,] and pretending that she was a lady superior to all others in that kingdom, as being derived by her father's side from Temenus, and by her mother's side from Darius, the son of Hystaspes. She also frequently reproached Herod's sister and wives with the ignobility of their descent; and that they were every one chosen by him for their beauty, but not for their family. Now those wives of his were not a few: it being of old permitted to the Jews to marry many wives;* and this king delighting in many, all which hated Alexander on account of laphyra's boasting and reproaches.

3. Nay, Aristobulus had raised a quarrel between himself and Salome, who was his mother-in-law, besides the anger he had conceived at Glaphyra's re

* That it was an immemorial custom among the Jews, and their forefathers, the patriarchs, to have someumes more wives, or wives and concubines, than one at the same time, and that this polygamy was not directly forbidden in the law of Moses, is evident; but that polygamy was ever properly and distinctly permitted in that law of Moses, in the places here cited by Dean Aldrich, Deut. xvii. 16, 17, or xxi. 15, or indeed, any where else does not appear to me. And what our Saviour says about the common Jewish divorces, which may lay much greater claim to such a permission than polygamy, seems to me true in this case also; that Moses for the hardness of their hearts suffered them to have several wives at the sam ume, but that from the beginning it was not so, Matt. xix. 8; Mark, x 5.

proaches; for he perpetually upbraided his wife with the meanness of her family. and complained, that as he had married a woman of low family, so had his brother Alexander married one of royal blood. At this Salome's daughter wept, and told it her, with this addition, that Alexander threatened the mothers of his other brethren, that when he should come to the crown he would make them weave with their maidens, and would make those brothers of his country schoolmasters; and brake this jest upon them, that they had been very carefully instructed to fit them for such an employment. Hereupon Salome could not contain her anger, but told all to Herod': nor could her testimony be suspected, since it was against her own son-in-law. There was also another calumny that ran abroad, and in flamed the king's mind; for he heard that these sons of his were perpetually speaking of their mother, and, among their lamentations for her, did not abstain from cursing him; and that when he made presents of any of Marianne's gar ments to his later wives, these threatened, that in a little time, instead of royal garments, they would clothe them in no better than haircloth.

4. Now upon these accounts, though Herod was somewhat afraid of the young men's high spirit, yet did he not despair of reducing them to a better mind; bu before he went to Rome, whither he was now going by sea, he called them to him, and partly threatened them a little as a king; but for the main he admonished them as a father, and exhorted them to love their brethren; and told them, that he would pardon their former offences, if they would amend for the time to come. But they refuted the calumnies that had been raised of them, and said they were false; and alleged that their actions were sufficient for their vindication; and said withal, that he himself ought to shut his ears against such tales, and not be too easy in believing them, for that there would never be wanting those that would tell lies to their disadvantage, as long as any would give ear to them.

5. When they had thus soon pacified him, as being their father, they got clear of the present fear they were in. Yet did they see occasion for sorrow in some time afterward; for they knew that Salome as well as their uncle Pheroras were their enemies, who were both of them heavy and severe persons, and especially Pheroras, who was a partner with Herod in all the affairs of the kingdom, excepting his diadem. He had also a hundred talents of his own revenue, and en joyed the advantage of all the land beyond Jordan, which he had received as a gift from his brother, who had asked of Cæsar to make him a tetrarch, as he was made acordingly. Herod had also given him a wife out of the royal family, who was no other than his own wife's sister, and after her death had solemnly espoused to him his own eldest daughter, with a dowry of three hundred talents; but Pheroras refused to consummate this royal marriage, out of his affection to a maid Servant of his. Upon which account Herod was very angry, and gave that daughter in marriage to a brother's son of his [Joseph,] who was slain afterward by the Parthians: but in some time he laid aside his anger against Pheroras, and pardoned him, as one not able to overcome his foolish passion for the maid

servant.

6. Nay, Pheroras had been accused long before, while the queen [Mariamne] was alive, as if he were in a plot to poison Herod; and there came then so great number of informers, that Herod himself, though he was an exceeding lover of his brethren, was brought to believe what was said, and to be afraid of it also: and when he had brought many of those that were under suspicion to the torture, e came at last to Pheroras's own friends; none of which did openly confess the crime, but they owned that he had made preparations to take her whom he loved, and run away to the Parthians. Costobarus also, the husband of Salome, to whom the king had given her in marriage, after her former husband had been put to death for adultery, was instrumental in bringing about this contrivance and flight of his. Nor did Salome escape all calumny upon herself: for her brother Pheroras accused her, that she had made an agreement to marry Syl leus, the procurator of Obodas, king of Arabia, who was at bitter enmity with