THE RULE OF ROME

§ CXVII. THE RISE OF THE HERODIAN HOUSE

rebel

(Jos.

Now Alexander, that son of Aristobulus who ran away 1. The from Pompey, after a time gathered together a considerable lion led body of men and made a strong attack upon Hyrcanus, and by Alexoverran Judea, and was on the point of dethroning him. ander And indeed he would have come to Jerusalem, and would Jew. have ventured to rebuild its wall that had been thrown down War, I, 82) by Pompey, had not Gabinius, who was sent as Scaurus's successor in Syria, showed his bravery by making an attack on Alexander. Alexander, being afraid at his approach, assembled a larger army composed of ten thousand armed footmen and fifteen hundred horsemen.

Gabin

(4, 5)

Now when Gabinius came to Alexandrium, finding a great 2. Its many encamped there, he tried by promising them pardon presfor their former offences to attach them to him before it came sion by to fighting; but when they would listen to nothing reason- ius able, he slew a great number of them and shut up the rest in the citadel. Therefore when Alexander despaired of ever obtaining the rulership, he sent ambassadors to Gabinius and besought him to pardon his offences. He also surrendered to him the remaining fortresses, Hyrcanium and Macherus. After this Gabinius brought Hyrcanus back to Jerusalem and put him in charge of the temple. He also divided the entire nation into five districts, assigning one to Jerusalem, another to Gadara, another to Amathus, a fourth to Jericho, and the fifth to Sepphoris, a city of Galilee.

3. Sup

pre

sion of

the re

bellion

led by

Not long after Aristobulus became the cause of new disturbances by fleeing from Rome. He again assembled many of the Jews who were desirous of a change and those who were devoted to him of old; and when he had taken Alexandrium in the first place, he attempted to build a wall about it. But the Romans followed him, and when it came to battle, Aris- () tobulus's party for a long time fought bravely, but at last

Aristobulus

4. An

tipater's

aid in putting

third

they were overcome by the Romans and of them five thousand fell. Aristobulus was again carried to Rome by Gabinius.

Now when Gabinius set out to make war against the Parthians, Antipater furnished him with money and weapons and corn and auxiliaries, but during Gabinius's absence the down a other parts of Syria were in insurrection, and Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, stirred the Jews again to revolt. But at the battle fought near Mount Tabor ten thousand of them were slain and the rest of the multitude scattered in flight. So Gabinius came to Jerusalem and settled the government as Antipater desired.

rebel

lion

(7)

5. Antipater's

Now this Antipater married a wife of an eminent family among the Arabians, whose name was Cypros. And she family bore him four sons, Phasælus and Herod, who was afterward king, and besides these Joseph and Pheroras. And he had a daughter by the name of Salome.

(9b)

6. Death

(91)

But after the flight of Pompey and of the senate beyond of Aris- the Ionian Sea, Cæsar gained possession of Rome and of the tobulus Empire and released Aristobulus from his bonds. He also intrusted two legions to him and sent him in haste into Syria, hoping that by his efforts he would easily conquer that country and the territory adjoining Judea. But he was poisoned by Pompey's sympathizers.

7. Antipater's

to

Cæsar

(3a, c,

, c, 5)

Now after Pompey died, Antipater changed sides and cultivated a friendship with Cæsar. And when Mithridates of services Pergamus with the force he led against Egypt was shut out from the roads about Pelusium and was forced to stay at Ascalon, Antipater persuaded the Arabians among whom he had lived to assist him and came himself at the head of three thousand armed Jews. He also urged the men of power in Syria to come to his assistance. In the attack on Pelusium Antipater distinguished himself pre-eminently, for he pulled down that part of the wall which was opposite him and leaped first of all into the city with the men who were about him. Thus was Pelusium taken. Moreover, as he was marching on, those Jews who inhabited the district called Onias stopped him, but Antipater not only persuaded them not to hinder but also to supply provisions for their army. Thereupon in the Delta Antipater fell upon those

who pursued Mithridates and slew many of them and pursued the rest till he captured their camp, while he lost no more than eighty of his own men. Thereupon Cæsar encouraged Antipater to undertake other hazardous enterprises for him by giving him great commendations and hopes of reward. In all these enterprises Antipater showed himself a most venturesome warrior, and he had many wounds almost all over his body as proofs of his courage.

re

And when Cæsar had settled the affairs of Egypt and re- 8. His turned again into Syria, he gave Antipater the rights of a wards Roman citizen and freedom from taxes, and made him an ob- (5b) ject of admiration because of the other honors and marks of friendship that he bestowed upon him. It was on this account that he also confirmed Hyrcanus in the high priesthood.

It was about this time that Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, came to Cæsar and became in a surprising manner the cause of Antipater's further advance. For he proceeded to denounce Hyrcanus and Antipater. Then Antipater threw off his garments and showed the many wounds he had, and said that regarding his good will to Cæsar it was not necessary for him to say a word because his body cried aloud, though he himself said nothing. When Cæsar heard this he declared Hyrcanus to be most deserving of the high priesthood, and Antipater was appointed procurator of all Judea and also obtained permission to rebuild those walls of his country that had been thrown down.

As soon as Antipater had conducted Cæsar out of Syria, he returned to Judea, and the first thing he did was to rebuild the walls of his own country. Then he went over the country and quieted the tumults therein. And at this time he settled the affairs of the country by himself, because he saw that Hyrcanus was inactive and not capable of managing the affairs of the kingdom. So Antipater appointed his oldest son, Phasælus, governor of Jerusalem and the surrounding territory. He also sent his second son, Herod, who was very young, with equal authority into Galilee.

Now Herod was a very active man and soon found a field for his energy. When, therefore, he found that Hezekias, the leader of the robbers, overran the adjoining parts of Syria with a great band of men, he caught him and slew him

9. His

vindi

cation

3)

2,

10. His

rule of

Judea

(*)

11. Herod's

effec

tive

work in

Galilee

(5a, b)

12. The murder

of Cæsar

and the

death of

Antip-
ater
(1144)

13. Herod's growing power

116,

123)

14.

Con

tion

of his

ity by

and many more of the robbers. This exploit was especially pleasing to the Syrians, so that songs were sung in Herod's commendation both in the villages and in the cities, because he had secured peace for them and had preserved their possessions.

At this time a mighty war arose among the Romans after the treacherous murder of Cæsar by Cassius and Brutus. Accordingly Cassius came into Syria and assumed command of the army, and went about exacting tribute of the cities to such a degree that they were not able to endure it. During the war between Cassius and Brutus on the one side, against the younger Cæsar (Augustus) and Antony.on the other, Cassius and Murcus gathered an army out of Syria. And because Herod had furnished a great part of the necessities, they made him procurator of all Syria and gave him an army of infantry and cavalry. Cassius promised him also that after the war was over he would make him king of Judea. But it so happened that the power and hopes of his son became the cause of Antipater's destruction. For inasmuch as a certain Malichus was afraid of this, he bribed one of the king's cup-bearers to give a poisoned potion to Antipater. Thus he became a sacrifice to Malichus's wickedness and died after the feast.

Herod, however, avenged himself upon Malichus. And those who hitherto did not favor him now joined him because of his marriage into the family of Hyrcanus, for he had formerly married a wife from his own country of noble blood, Doris by name, who bore to him Antipater. Now he planned to marry Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus and the grandson of Hyrcanus.

But when Cæsar and Antony had slain Cassius near Phifirma- lippi and Cæsar had gone to Italy and Antony to Asia, the great men of the Jews came and accused Phasælus and Herod author- that they held the government by force and that Hyrcanus had nothing more than an honorable name. Herod apAntony peared ready to answer this accusation, and having made Antony his friend by the large sums of money which he gave him, influenced him not to listen to the charges spoken against him by enemies. After this a hundred of the principal men among the Jews came to Antony at Daphne near

(4, 5)

Antioch and accused Phasælus and Herod. But Massala opposed them and defended the brothers with the help of Hyrcanus. When Antony had heard both sides, he asked Hyrcanus which party was best fitted to govern. Hyrcanus replied that Herod and his party were the best fitted. Therefore Antony appointed the brothers tetrarchs, and intrusted to them the rulership of Judea.

tora

Jewish

ship

sians

Ant.

Now two years after, when Barzaphanes, a Parthian gov- 15. Resernor, and Pacorus, the king's son, had captured Syria, they to were persuaded by the promise of a thousand talents and of the five hundred women to bring back Antigonus to his kingdom kingand to turn Hyrcanus out of it. Thus Antigonus was brought by the back into Judea by the king of the Parthians, and received PerHyrcanus and Phasælus as prisoners. Being afraid that (13 Hyrcanus, who was under the guard of the Parthians, might XIV, have his kingdom restored to him by the multitude, Antigonus cut off his ears and thereby guarded against the possibility that the high priesthood would ever come to him again, inasmuch as he was maimed, and the law required that this dignity should belong to none but those who had all their members intact. Phasælus, perceiving that he was to be put to death, dashed his head against a great stone and thereby took away his own life.

Herod's

escape

(Jew. War, I,

137, &c. 141b, 2)

Herod, however, went off by night, taking those nearest 16. related to him. As soon as the Parthians perceived it, they pursued after him, but when at every assault he had slain a great many of them, he came to the stronghold of Masada, and there he left eight hundred of his men to guard the women, and provisions sufficient for a siege; but he himself hastened to Petra in Arabia. He was not able, however, to find any friendship among the Arabians, for their king sent to him and commanded him to turn back immediately from the country. So when Herod found that the Arabians were his enemies, he turned back to Egypt. And when he came to Pelusium, he could not obtain passage from those who lay with the fleet. Therefore he besought their captains to let him go with them. So out of respect for the fame and rank of the man they carried him to Alexandria. And when he came to the city, he was received with great splendor by Cleopatra, who hoped he might be persuaded to be the com