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that nobody, to be fure, is of noble birth but Alexander, and that his father was inglorious tor want of fuch nobility. If they be at any time hunting, and he fays nothing, he gives of fence; and if he commends any body, they take it in way of. jeft: That they always find their father unmercifully fevere, and have no natural affection for any of them but for Antipater; on which accounts, if his plot does not take he is very willing to die; but that in cafe he kill his father, he hath fufficient opportunities for faving himfelf. In the first place, he hath Archelaus his father-in-law to whom he can easily fly; and in the next place he hath Cæfar, who hath never known Herod's character to this day; for that he fhall not appear then before him with that dread he used to do, when his father was there to terrify him; and that he will not then produce the accufations that concerned himself alone, but would, in the first place, openly infift on the calamities of their nation, and how they are taxed to death, and in what ways of luxury and wicked practices that wealth is ipent which was gotten by blood-fhed; what fort of perfons they are that get our riches, and to whom thofe cities belong, upon whom he beftows his favours; that he would have enquiry made what became of his grand-father [Hyrcanus], and his mother [Mariamne]; and would openly proclaim the grols wickedness that was in the kingdom; on which accounts he fhould not be deemed a parricide."

3. When Euricles had made this' portentous fpeech, he greatly commended Antipater, as the only child that had an affection for his father, and on that account was an impediment to the others plot against him. Hereupon the king, who had hardly repreffed his anger upon the former acculations, was exafperated to an incurable degree. At which time Antipater took another occafion to fend in other perfons to his father to accufe his brethren, and to tell him, that they had privately difcourfed with Jucundus and Tyranus, who had once been masters of the horie to the king, but for fome offences had been put out of that honourable employment. Herod was in a very great rage at these informations, and prefently ordered thofe men to be tortured: Yet did not they confels any thing of what the king had been informed; but a certain letter was produced, as written by Alexander to the governor of a castle, to defire him to receive him and Ariftobulus into the caftle when he had killed his father, and to give them weapons and what other affiftance he could upon that occafion. Alexander faid, that this letter was a forgery of Diophantus. This Diophantus was the king's fecretary, a bold man, and cunning in counterfeiting any one's hand; and after he had counterfeited a great number, he was at last put to death for it. Herod did alfo order the governor of the castle to be tortured, but got nothing out of him of what the accufations fuggefted,

4. However, although Herod found the proofs too weak, he gave order to have his fons kept in cuftody; for till now they had been at liberty. He alfo called that peft of his family, and forger of all this vile accufation, Eurycles, his faviour and benefactor, and gave him a reward of fifty talents. Upon which he prevented any accurate accounts that could come of what he had done, by going immediately into Cappadocia, and there he got money of Archelaus, having the impudence to pretend that he had reconciled Herod to Alexander. He thence palled over into Greece, and ufed what he had thus wickedly gotten to the like wicked purposes. Accordingly he was twice accufed before Cæfar, that he had filled Achaia with fedition, and had plundered its cities; and lo he was fent into banishment. And thus was he punished for what wicked actions he had been guilty of about Ariftobulus and Alexander.

5. But it will be now worth while to put Euaratus of Cos in oppofition to this Spartan; for as he was one of Alexander's moft intimate friends, and came to him in his travels at the fame time that Eurycles came, fo the king put the question to him, whether those things of which Alexander was accused were true? He affured him upon oath, that he had never heard any fuch things from the young men; yet did this teftimony avail nothing for the clearing those milerable creatures; for Herod was only difpofed and moft ready to hearken to what made against them; and every one was most agreeable to him, that would believe they were guilty, and thewed their indignation at them.

CHAP. XXVII.

Herod, by Cafar's direction, accufes his fons at Berytus. They are not produced before the court but yet are condemned; and in a little time they are fent to Sebafle, and frangled there.

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1. MOREOVER Salome exafperated Herod's cruelty

againft his fons; for Ariftobulus was defirous to bring her, who was his mother-in-law and his aunt, into the like dangers with themselves; fo he fent to her to take care of her own fafety, and told her, that the king was preparing to put her to death, on account of the accufation that was laid against her, as it when the formerly endeavoured to marry herfelf to Sylleus the Arabian, the had difcovered the king's grand fecrets to him, who was the king's enemy; and this it was that came as the laft ftorm, and entirely funk the young men when they were in great danger before. For Salome came running to the king, and informed him of what admonition had been given her, whereupon he could bare no longer, but commanded both the young men to be bound, and kept the one asunder from the other. He alfo fent Volumnius, the

general of his army, to Cæfar immediately, as alfo his friend Olympus with him, who carried the informations in writing along with them. Now as foon as they had failed to Rome, and delivered the king's letters to Cæfar, Cæfar was mightily troubled at the cafe of the young ren; yet did not he think he ought to take the power from the father of condemning his fons; fo he wrote back to him, and appointed him to have the power over his fons; but faid withal, that " he would do well to make an examination into this matter of the plot against him, in a public court, and to take for his affeffors his own kindred, and the governors of the province. And if those fons be found guilty, to put them to death; but if they appear to have thought of no more than flying away from him, that he thould moderate their punishment.'

2. With thefe directions Herod complied, and came to Berytus, where Cæfar had ordered the court to be affembled, and got the judicature together. The prefidents fat firft, as Cæfar's letters had appointed, who were Saturninus, and Pedanius, and their lieutenants that were with them, with whom was the procurator Volumnius alfo; next to them fat the king's kinfmen and friends, with Salome alfo, and Pheroras; after whom fat the principal men of all Syria, excepting Archelaus; for Herod had a fufpicion of him, because he was Alexander's father-in-law. Yet did not he produce his fons in open court; and this was done very cunningly, for he knew well enough that had they but appeared only, they would certainly have been pitied; and it withal they had been futfered to speak, Alexander would eafily have answered what they were accused of; but they were in cuftody at Platane, a village of the Sidonians.

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3. So the king got up, and inveighed against his fons as if they were prefent; and as for that part of the accufation that they had plotted against him, he urged it but faintly, becaufe he was deftitute of proofs; but he infifted before the affeffors on the reproaches, and jefts, and injurious carriage, and ten thoufand the like offences against him, which were heavier than death itfelf; and when no body contradicted him, he moved them to pity his cafe, as though he had been condemned himself, now he had gained a bitter victory against his fons. So he asked every one's fentence, which fentence was first of all given by Saturninus, and was this, That he condemned the young men, but not to death; for that it was not fit for him, who had three fons of his own now present, to give his vote for the deftruction of the son of another. The two lieutenants alfo gave the like vote; fome others there were also who followed their example; but Volumnius began to vote on the more melancholy fide, and all thofe that came after him condemned the young men to die, fome out of flattery, and fome out of hatred to Herod; but none out of indignation at their crimes. And now all Syria and Judea was in great expectaVOL. III.

MJudea

tion, and waited for the laft act of this tragedy; yet did no bo dy fuppofe that Herod would be fo barbarous as to murder his children; however, he carried them away to Tyre, and thence failed to Cæfarea, and deliberated with himfelt what fort of death the young men fhould fuffer.

4. Now there was a certain old foldier of the king's, whose name was Tero, who had a fon that was very familiar with, and a friend to Alexander, and who himfelf particularly loved the young men. This foldier was in a manner distracted out of the excefs of the indignation he had at what was doing; and at first he cried out aloud as he went about, "That juftice was trampled under foot; that truth was perifhed, and nature, confounded; and that the life of man was full of iniquity," and every thing else that paffion could fuggeft to a man who fpared not his own life; and at laft he ventured to go to the king, and faid, "Truly, I think, thou art a most miserable man, when thou hearkeneft to moft wicked wretches, against thofe that ought to be dearest to thee; fince thou haft frequently refolved that Pheroras and Salome fhould be put to death, and yet believeft them against thy fons; while thefe, by cutting off the fucceffion of thine own fons, leave all wholly to Antipater, and thereby choose to have thee fuch a king as may be thoroughly in their own power. However, confider whether this death of Antipater's brethren will not make him hated by the foldiers; for there is no body but commiferates the young men, and of the captains a great many fhew their indignation at it openly." Upon his faying this, he named thofe that had fuch indignation; but the king ordered those men, with Tero himself, and his fon to be feized upon immediately.

5. At which time there was a certain barber, whofe name was Trypho. This man leaped out from among the people in a kind of madness, and accufed himfelf, and faid "This Tero endeavoured to perfuade me alfo to cut thy throat with my razor, when I trimmed thee, and promifed that Alexander fhould give me large prefents for fo doing." When Herod heard this, he examined Tero, with his fon and the barber, by the torture; but as the others denied the accufation, and he faid nothing farther, Herod gave order that Tero fhould be wracked more feverely; but his fon, out of pity to his father, promifed to difcover the whole to the king if he would grant [that his father fhould be no longer tortured ;] when he had agreed to this, he faid, That" his father, at the perfuafion of Alexander, had an intention to kill him." Now fome faid this was forged, in order to tree his father from his torments, and some faid it was true.

6. And now Herod accufed the captains, and Tero, in an affembly of the people, and brought the people together in a body against them; and accordingly, there were they put to death, together with [Trypho] the barber; they were killed

by the pieces of wood, and the ftones that were thrown at them. He alfo fent his fons to Sebafte, a city not far from Cæfarea, and ordered them to be there ftrangled: And as what he had ordered was executed immediately, fo he commanded that their dead bodies should be brought to the fortress Alexandrium, to be buried with Alexander, their grandfather by the mother's fide, And this was the end of Alexander and Ariftobulus,

CHAP. XXVIII.

How Antipater is hated of all Men; and how the King ef poufes the Sons of thofe that had been flain to his Kindred; but that Antipater made him change them for other Women. Of Herod's Marriages, and Children.

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UT an intolerable hatred fell upon Antipater from the nation, though he had now an indifputable title to the fucceffion; becaule they all knew that he was the perion who contrived all the calumnies against his brethren. However, he began to be in a terrible fear, as he faw the pofterity of those that had been flain growing up; for Alexander had two fons by Glaphyra, Tigranes and Alexander; and Ariftobulus had Herod, and Agrippa, and Ariftobulus his fons, with Herodias and Mariamne his daughters, and all by Bernice, Salome's daughter; as for Glaphyra, Herod, as soon as he had killed Alexander, fent her back, together with her portion to Cappadocia. He married Bernice, Ariftobulus's daughter, to Antipater's uncle by his mother, and it was Antipater, who, in order to reconcile her to him, when she had been at variance with him. contrived this match: He also got into Pheroras's favour, and into the favour of Cæfar's friends by prefents, and other ways of obfequioufnefs, and fent no mall fums of money to Rome: Saturninus alfo, and his friends in Syria, were all well replenished with the prefents he made them; yet the more he gave, the more he was hated, as not making thefe prefents out of generofity, but spending his money out of fear. Accordingly it to fell out, that the receivers bore him no more good-will than before, but that thofe to whom he gave nothing were his more bitter enemies. However, he bestowed his money every day more and more profufely, on obferving that, contrary to his expectations. the king was taking care about the orphans, and difcovering at the fame time his repentance for killing their fathers, by his commiferation of those that fprang from them.

2. Accordingly Herod got together his kindred and friends, and fet before them the children, and with his eyes full of tears, faid thus to them; " It was an unlucky fate that took away from me hese childrens fathers, which children are re

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