CHAP. III.

How Herod, upon his making Aristobulus high-priest, took care that he should be murdered in a little time: and what apology he made to Antony about Aristobulus: as also concerning Joseph and Mariamne.

1. So king Herod immediately took the high-priesthood away from Ananelus, who, as we said before, was not of his country, but one of those Jews that had been carried captive beyond Euphrates; for there were not a few ten thousands of his people, that had been carried captives, and dwelt about Babylonia, whence Ananelus came, he was one of the stock of the high-priests, and had been of old a particular friend of Herod's; and when he was made first king, he confirmed that dignity upon him, and now put him out of it again, in order to quiet the troubles in his family, though what he did was plainly unlawful, for at no other time [of old] was any one that had once been in that dignity deprived of it. It was Antiochus Epiphanes who first brake that law, and deprived Jesus, and made his brother Onias high-priest in his stead. Aristobulus was the second that did so, and took that dignity from his brother [Hyrcanus ;] and this Herod was the third who took that high office away [from Ananelus,] and gave it to this young man, Aristobulus, in his stead.

2. And now Herod seemed to have healed the division in his family: yet was he not without suspicion, as is frequently the case of people seeming to be reconciled to one another, but thought that, as Alexandra had already made attempts tending to innovations, so did he fear that she would

* When Josephus says here, that this Ananelus, the new highpriest, was of the stock of the high priests, and since he had been just telling us that he was a priest of an obscure family or character, ch. ii. 4. it is not at all probable that he could so soon say that he was of the stock of the high-priests. However, Josephus here makes a remarkable observation that this Ananelus was the third that was ever unjustly and wickedly turned out of the high-priesthood by the civil power, no king or governor having ventured to do so that Josephus knew of, but that heathen tyrant and persecutor Antiochus Epiphanes; that barbarous parricide Aristobulus, the first that took royal authority among the Maccabees: and this tyrant, king Herod the Great, although afterward that infamous practice became frequent, til the very destruction of Jerusalem, when the office of high-priesthood was at an end.

go on therein, if she found a fit opportunity for so doing; so he gave command, that she should dwell in the palace, and meddle with no public affairs; her guards also were so careful, that nothing she did in private life every day was concealed. All these hardships put her out of patience by little and little, and she began to hate Herod; for as she had the pride of a woman to the utmost degree, she had great indignation at this suspicious guard that was about her, as desirous rather to undergo any thing that could befall her, than to be deprived of her liberty of speech, and, under the notion of an honorary guard, to live in a state of slavery and terror: she, therefore, sent to Cleopatra, and made a long complaint of the circumstances she was in, and entreated her to do her utmost for her assistance. Cleopatra hereupon advised her to take her son with her, and come away immediately to her into Egypt. This advice pleased her, as she had this contrivance for getting away: she got two coffins made, as if they were to carry away two dead bodies, and put herself into one, and her son into the other, and gave orders to such of her servants as knew of her intentions, to carry them away in the night-time. Now, their road was to be thence to the sea-side, and there was a ship ready to carry them into Egypt. Now Esop, one of her scrvants, happened to fall upon Sabbion, one of her friends, and spake of this matter to him, as thinking he had known of it before. When Sabbion knew this (who had formerly been an enemy of Herod's, and been esteemed one of those that laid snares for, and gave the poison to [his father] Antipater,) he expected that this discovery would change Herod's hatred into kindness, so he told the king of this private stratagem of Alexandra's: whereupon he suffered her to proceed to the execution of her project, and caught her in the very fact, but still he passed by her offence; and though he had a great mind to do it, he durst not inflict any thing that was severe upon her, for he knew that Cleopatra would not bear that he should have her accused, on account of her hatred to him, but made a show as if it were rather the generosity of his soul, and his great moderation, that made him forgive them. However, he fully proposed to himself to put this young man out of the way by some means or other; but he thought he might in probability be better concealed in doing it, if he did not presently, nor immedi ately after what had lately happened.

Vol. IV.

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3. And now, upon the approach of the feast of tabernacles, which is a festival very much observed among us, he let those days pass over, and both he and the rest of the people were therein very merry; yet did the envy which at this time arose in him, cause. him to make haste to do what he was about, and provoke him to it: for when this youth, Aristobulus, who was now in the seventeenth year of his age, went up to the altar, according to the law, to offer the sacrifices, and this with the ornaments of bis high-priesthood, and when he performed the sacred offices, he seemed to be exceeding comely, and taller than men usually were at that age, and to exhibit in his countenance a great deal of that high family he was sprung from, and a warm zeal and affection towards him appearing among the people, and the memory of the actions of his grandfather, Aristobulus, was fresh in their minds; and their affections got so far the mastery of them, that they could not forbear to show their inclinations to him. They at once rejoiced, and were confounded, and mingled with good wishes their joyful acclamations which they made to him, till the good-will of the multitude was made too evident, and they more rashly proclaimed the happiness they had received from his family, than was fit under a monarchy to have done. Upon all this, Herod resolved to complete what he had intended against the young man. When, therefore, the festival was over, and he was feasting at † Jericho with Alexandra, who entertained them there, he was then very pleasant with the young man, and drew him in a lonely place, and at the same time played with him in a juvenile and ludicrous manner. Now, the nature of that place was hotter than ordinary; so they went out in a body, and of a sudden, and in a vein of madness, and as they stood by the fish-ponds, of which there were large ones about the house, they went to cool themselves [by bathing,] because it was in the midst of an hot day. At first they were only spectators of Herod's servants and acquaintance as they were swimming, but after a while, the young man, at the instigation of Herod, went

* This entirely confutes the Talmudists, who pretend that no one under twenty years of age could officiate as high-priest among the Jews.

+ An Hebrew chronicle, cited by Reland, says, this drowning was at Jordan, not at Jericho, and this even when he quotes Josephus. I suspect the transcriber of the Hebrew chronicle mistook the name, and wrote Jordan for Jericho.

into the water among them, while such of Herod's acquaintance, as he had appointed to do it, dipped him, as he was swimming, and plunged him under water, in the dark of the evening, as if it had been done in spurt only, nor did they desist till he was entirely suffocated; and thus was Aristobulus murdered, having lived no more in all thán * eighteen years, and kept the high-priesthood one year only: which high-priesthood Ananelus now recovered again. 4. When this sad accident was told the women, their joy was soon changed to lamentation, at the sight of the dead body that lay before them, and their sorrow was immoderate. The city also, [of Jerusalem,] upon the spreading of this news, were in very great grief, every family looking on this calamity as if it had not belonged to another, but that one of themselves was slain; but Alexandra was more deeply affected, upon her knowledge that he had been destroyed fon purpose.] Her sorrow was greater than that of others, by her knowing how the murder was committed, but she was under a necessity of bearing up under it, out of her prospect of a greater mischief that might otherwise follow ; and she oftentimes came to an inclination to kill herself with her own hand, but still she restrained herself, in hopes she might live long enough to revenge the unjust murder thus privately committed: nay, she farther resolved to endeavour to live longer, and to give no occasion to think she suspected that her son was slain on purpose, and supposed that she might thereby be in a capacity of revenging it at a proper opportunity. Thus did she restrain.herself, that she might not be noted for entertaining any such suspicion. However, Herod endeavoured that none abroad should believe that the child's death was caused by any design of his; and for this purpose he did not only use the ordinary signs of sorrow, but fell into tears also, and exhibited a real confusion of soul and perhaps his affections were overcome on this occasion, when he saw the child's countenance so young, and so beautiful, although his death were supposed to tend to his own security; so far at least this grief served to make some apology for him : and as for his funeral, that he took care should be very magnificent, by making great pre

*The reading of one of Josephus's Greek MSS. seems here to be right, that Aristobulus was not eighteen years old when he was drowned, for he was not seventeen when he was made high-priest, chap. ii. 6. chap. iii. 3. and he continued in that office but ope year, as in the place before us.

paration of a sepulchre to lay his body in, and providing a great quantity of spices, and burying many ornaments together with him, till the very women, who were in such deep sorrow, were astonished at it, and received in this way some consolation.

5. However, no such things could overcome Alexandra's grief; but the remembrance of this miserable case made her sorrow both deep and obstinate. Accordingly, she wrote an account of this treacherous scene to Cleopatra, and how her son was murdered; but Cleopatra, as she had formerly been desirous to give her what satisfaction she could, and commiserating Alexandra's misfortunes, made the case her own, and would not let Antony be quiet, but excited him to punish the child's murder; for that it was an unworthy thing that Herod, who had been by him made king of a kingdom that no way belonged to him, should be guilty of such horrid crimes against those that were of the royal blood in reality. Antony was persuaded by these arguments; and when he came to Laodicea, he sent and commanded Herod to come and make his defence, as to what He had done to Aristobulus, for that such a treacherous de-* sign was not well done, if he had any hand in it. Herod was now in fear, both of the accusation, and of Cleopatra's ill-will to him, which was such, that she was ever endeavouring to make Antony hate him. He, therefore, determined to obey his summons, for he had no possible way to avoid it; so he left his uncle, Joseph, procurator for his government, and for the public affairs, and gave him a private charge, that if Antony should kill him he also should kill Mariamne immediately, for that he had a tender affection for this his wife, and was afraid of the injury that should be offered him, if, after his death, she, for her beauty, should be engaged to some other man: but his intimation was nothing but this at the bottom, that Antony had fallen in love with her, when he had formerly heard somewhat of her beauty. So when Herod had given Joseph this charge, and had indeed no sure hope of escaping with his life, he went away to Antony.

6. But, as Joseph was administering the public affairs of the kingdom, and, for that reason, was very frequently with Mariamne, both because his business required it, and because of the respect he ought to pay to the queen, he frequently let himself into discourses about Herod's kindness